Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) gives you the right to request access to documents in the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (the Authority's) possession, unless they are exempt.

Before you submit a request, we recommend that you:

  1. Conduct searches to see if the information is already available on the Authority's website or from the website of another organisation
  2. Read our Information Statement
  3. Visit the Victorian Information Commissioner's website

     

How to make an FOI request

Requests must be made in writing and you must provide enough information about the documents you are requesting to enable us to identify and locate relevant documents.

You can email your request: foi@greatoceanroadauthority.vic.gov.au

or send it by post:

The Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority
Governance Coordinator
25 Baines Crescent
Torquay, Victoria 3228

If you make a request for personal documents about you, you must provide proof of your identity.

If another person makes a request on your behalf, for example a lawyer, they must show that they have permission to do so.

Effective requests

To avoid your request having to be re-scoped or declined, please do not make requests for:

  1. all documents about a topic
  2. for documents without a timeframe.

Further guidance can be found here:

 

Fees and Charges

When you make an FOI request, you must pay an application fee. There may also be access charges relevant to your request.

FOI fees and charges are in fee units set by the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF):

Please contact us to find out how to pay an FOI application fee, access charge or to determine whether your circumstances mean that you do not need to pay or are eligible for a fee reduction. The Authority can accept payment of these fees and charges via electronic funds transfer.

Application Fee

When making an FOI request, you must pay an application fee of two fee units as set by DTF for the current financial year. This fixed-cost is non-refundable.  

Access Charges

Access charges are what it costs the Authority to facilitate your FOI request under the Freedom of Information (Access Charges) Regulations 2014. They can include:

  1. Search time: 1.5 fee units per hour
  2. Staff supervision: 1.5 fee units per 15 minutes
  3. Photocopying: 20 cents per black-and-white A4 page
  4. Listening to audio or viewing video
  5. Writing transcripts of audio or video

If we estimate charges will be more than $50.00, we will advise you of our estimated charges and request a deposit before we process your request. If the charges are less than $50.00, we will let you know the payable charges when we send you our decision.

Part II Information Statement

A large amount of information is available on the Authority's website. We make available as much information as possible, limiting the need for the public to seek documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic).

This Part II Information Statement is designed to assist you in understanding the Authority's functions and the documents we hold relating to those functions. 

Statement 1: Organisation and functions

The Authority is a statutory authority established on 1 December 2020 under the Great Ocean Road and Environs Protection Act 2020 to protect, conserve, rehabilitate and manage Crown land and coastal assets within the Great Ocean Road coast and parks. 

The Authority is governed by a Board of Directors who were appointed by the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change in November 2020.

Our Chief Executive Officer, Jodie Sizer, oversees five organisational directorates lead by our Executive:

  1. Steve Major, Corporate Services
  2. Cath Olive, Infrastructure and Planning
  3. Andy Mathers, Commercial and Tourism Operations
  4. Lisa Mills, Environment and Coastal Operations

Further information about the Authority and our functions can be found on our website. 

Statement 2: Categories of documents

The Authority produces and stores a broad range of documents.

The types of documents we handle include:

  1. Policies and procedures
  2. Correspondence
  3. Registers and databases
  4. Applications, permits, agreements, leases and licences
  5. Briefings and reports
  6. Operational records

Documents are currently organised under the following categories:

  1. Administration
  2. Governance
  3. Strategic Planning
  4. Land and Marine Management
  5. Asset Management
  6. Projects
  7. Commercial Operations
  8. Stakeholders and Partners
  9. Communications and Community Engagement
  10. Executive Office
  11. Occupational Health and Safety
  12. Planning
  13. Procurement
  14. Reserves
  15. Strategy, Engagement and Transformation 

Statement 3: FOI arrangements

Click here for information regarding how to submit an FOI request to the Authority.

You can also visit the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner's website for further information.

Statement 4: Publications

The Authority produces a number of publications which are available on our website:

Statement 5: Rules, Policies and Procedures

The Authority creates rules, policies and procedures relating to our functions. A sample of our policies which can be found on our website include:

  1. Privacy Policy
  2. Caravan Park and Camping Ground Rules
  3. Dog and Animal Policy
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