Freedom of Information

We publish certain information and documents on our website and make other information or documents available upon request without the need for you to make a request under the Act.

Before you make a request, visit our website or contact us to see if the information you would like to access:

• is publicly available on our website;
• is available for purchase;
• is available for inspection;
• is available under an informal release scheme; or
• can be provided to you by telephone or email outside of the Act.

Providing information outside of the Act is called proactive release and informal release. For more information on what proactive and informal release means, read the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner’s (OVIC) Proactive and Informal Release of Information – Guidance for the Public.

If you cannot access information outside of the Act, please continue reading to learn how to make a valid freedom of information (FOI) request. 

Under section 17 of the FOI Act, a request must meet three requirements to be valid:

1. your request must be in writing;
2. you must provide sufficient information about the documents you are requesting to enable us to identify and locate relevant documents; and
3. you must pay the application fee, or if payment of the application fee would cause you hardship you can request us to waive the fee in full or in part.

Visit OVIC’s website for more information on how to make a valid FOI request. 

An application to access documents can be made on the form provided: FOI application for access to documents form(PDF, 567KB) or in writing to council.  Email applications are acceptable.

All requests for access to council documents under the FOI Act must provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the documents to be identified.

In accordance with Section 17(2B) of the FOI Act, you may ask for the application fee to be reduced or waived and if you apply for the application to be reduced or waived please supply evidence that payment would cause you hardship. (eg Health Care or Pension Concession card or other documentation)

Please note that your request may incur search and access charges in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Access Charges) Regulations 2014. You will be supplied with a statement of any applicable charges as your request progresses.

What documents are available?

Council makes a lot of documents available to the public already so before making a request for access, you should first view the list of documents in the FOI FOI Part II Statement that are available directly to the public and search our website.

You can ask for any documents held by the council; however, not all documents will be able to be provided, some or parts thereof may be exempt under the FOI Act for personal or business reasons.

Examples include:

• law enforcement documents
• confidential matters considered by council
• some internal working documents
• documents covered by legal professional privilege such as legal advice
• documents with personal information about other people
• documents with Commercial-in-confidence information or trade secrets
• information obtained in confidence.

Where a decision is made to refuse or defer access, you will be notified in writing of the reasons for denial/deferral.  If you are not satisfied with the reasons you can seek a review from the Victorian Information Commissioner.

Your application may be refused if it is considered to be ‘voluminous in nature’, in that it would interfere unreasonably with the operations or performance of the council.

Before submitting your request, ring the FOI Officer on 03 5358 8700 or email foi.privacy@ngshire.vic.gov.au to discuss what you are after, how you want it, fees and charges, timelines, consultation with third parties and exempt documents. 

Applicants are entitled to make a complaint to the Victorian Information Commissioner concerning any action taken or failed to have been taken by this agency in making the decision to disclose the information. The complaint must be made within 60 days after the action or conduct occurred.

For more information about FOI or the complaints process, see the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner website.

After you submit a request, we will assess it to ensure it meets the requirements outlined in section 17 of the FOI Act. If we determine that your request is not valid, we will notify you within 21 days from the date we received your request and provide you with assistance to help you make the request valid. If your request is valid, we will begin processing it. 

Timeframes
We have 30 days from the day after we receive your valid request to provide you with a decision. However, we can extend this time by up to 15 days if we need to consult with third parties whose information may be contained in the requested documents. We may also extend this time by up to 30 days with your agreement. We will let you know if the timeframe changes.

Other charges
We may require you to pay certain charges before access is provided to the requested document(s). For example, we may charge for providing copies of the document(s) or supervising an inspection of the document(s). If these charges exceed $50.00, we will notify you and request that you pay a deposit before proceeding with your request.  

Application fee $32.66 set July 1, 2024.

Search and retrieval of documents $24.495 per hour or part thereof rounded to the nearest 10 cents.

Photocopying of documents (B&W) 20 cents per A4 page.

Supervised inspection of documents $24.495 per hour to be calculated per 1/4 hour or part of a 1/4 hour, rounded to the nearest 10 cents.

A number of payment options are available, and fees and charges can by paid using BPoint for phone credit card payments, mail and over the counter, including Eftpos.

The personal information collected on this form by the Northern Grampians Shire Council will only be used to assist in the processing of your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982. If you do not provide all or part of the personal information required we may not be able to process your request in an effective and efficient manner and you may not receive all the information that you could be entitled to. Your personal information will not be disclosed to any external party without your consent, unless required or authorised by law, and you have the right to seek access and correction of your personal information.

Your personal information is collected for the purpose of processing your request. We may notify and consult with third parties in considering whether an exemption under sections 29, 31, 31A, 33, 34 or 35 of the FOI Act applies. This may involve disclosing details such as your name, the terms of your request, and the documents falling within the scope of your request that concern the relevant third parties.

If necessary, we may transfer your request under section 18 of the FOI Act to another agency or Minister who is better placed to handle your request. We will tell you if we do this.

At the start of each year council prepares, publishes and makes available to the public a document that summarises its organisation, functions, the categories of documents it holds, public bodies it supports and how Freedom of Information (FOI) requests can be made. This document is commonly referred to as a 'FOI Part II Statement' as the requirement for council to prepare this document is set out in the Freedom of Information Act 1982.  Click here to download the FOI Part II Statement 2025(PDF, 600KB).