If you would like to obtain VEC records, you may write to the VEC to request access. Slightly different processes and considerations apply depending on whether you want to see any documents about your personal affairs, or to obtain non-personal records such as policy documents.
If you are seeking access to personal information about yourself, it may not be necessary to make a formal Freedom of Information request. You should contact the VEC's Privacy Officer to discuss what you need.
You may ask to inspect or to obtain a copy of printed documents. You may also request different types of access if the document you require takes a different form. For example, if the document you are seeking is information held on computer equipment, you may request a printed document containing that information.
It is important that your freedom of information (FOI) request contain sufficient detail for the VEC to identify the documents you are seeking. Your request should indicate the documents' subject-matter. It should also indicate approximate dates for the documents. If your request does not provide us with enough information, the VEC's FOI Officer will help you clarify your request.
Once you have provided the VEC with enough information to identify the documents you are seeking, and once you have paid the application fee, we will search for the documents. If the documents are available, we will notify you in writing and provide the documents to you within 45 days of receiving your application.
Some documents are exempted from release by Part IV of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. This means that we may not be able to grant access to the documents you have requested or that we may be able to provide only partial access to those documents.
The VEC will advise you in writing if the documents you have requested are exempt or partially exempt and we will provide you with written reasons for their exempt status. We will also let you know how you can seek an internal review of any decision to claim an exemption for any document, or part of any document.
If you make an FOI request, you will be required to pay an application fee and any other fees that may apply. Charges for access to documents are set out in the Freedom of Information (Access Charges) Regulations 2004. They include:
- application fee: $24.40;
- search fees: if the VEC needs to identify and locate the documents - $20.00 per hour or part of an hour;
- supervision fees: if you choose to inspect documents at the VEC under the supervision of an officer - $5.00 per quarter hour or part of a quarter hour;
- photocopy fees: 20 cents per A4 page, non-coloured photocopy;
- other fees: the reasonable costs incurred by the VEC in producing a copy - for example, the reasonable costs incurred in creating a microfiche of a file, or of retrieving information from a computer file; and
- deposits: where charges will be substantial, we may require a deposit of $25.00 before we will grant access.
In certain circumstances, the VEC may waive or reduce the fees that apply to your request. We may, for example, consider taking such action where you can show that payment would cause you hardship.
You may ask for any information contained in VEC documents that relates to your personal affairs to be corrected or amended.
You may do so where you consider that the information is incorrect, incomplete, out of date, or where it would give a misleading impression. You may do this regardless of when the documents were created.
To request the correction or amendment of personal information that is contained in a VEC document, you should contact us in writing. You should specify:
- your contact address;
- your telephone contact number;
- why you think the information is incomplete, inaccurate, incorrect, out of date or misleading; and
- the changes that you would like to be made.
If you would like to request access to VEC records or if you would like to amend any personal details contained in VEC documents, you may write to:
- Freedom of Information Officer
Victorian Electoral Commission
Level 11, 530 Collins Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Telephone: (03) 8620 1100
Facsimile: (03) 9629 9330
Email: foi@vec.vic.gov.au
