Freedom of Information Request - Represented Person

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Requesting information from CFA under Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act)

Advice to solicitors, law firms, unions and other parties representing FOI applicants.

Your assistance in providing the requested information is appreciated and will assist in limiting time delays in processing your request.

Please be as specific as you can about the type of documented information you are seeking access to, including a date range, as this assists the FOI Officer in locating and identifying information relevant to your request.

How to apply

The Act gives you the right, as far as possible, to access documents about your personal affairs and the operations of government agencies; it also provides the right to request amendments to documents that contain your personal information, where the information is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or gives a misleading impression.

From 1 July 2024 the following information will be required when submitting this online application:

Application fee - $32.70*
*The fee is set by government & changes annually on 1 July.
A direct debit, cheque or money order in the amount of $32.70* is required at the time of your application. If you choose direct debit please provide a copy of the receipt for payment with your FOI application.

CFA’s bank account details are:
Account Name: CFA
BSB: 063225
A/C: 10071353
Reference: New FOI
Signed and dated authority
Please note a signed authority is only considered valid for 12 months by this agency.
A signed and dated client authority is to clearly state that your client is authorising you to act on their behalf to obtain information from CFA.
Specific details of the documentation you/your client requires:
- The date and nature of the incident or matter.
- Your client's involvement in the incident or matter (e.g. passenger, property owner, witness etc.)
- The specific documentation you are seeking access to – including a date range.

Fire/Incident Reports and/or Fire Investigation Reports

Please note that Fire/Incident Reports and/or Fire Investigation Reports are available for purchase from our Fire Reports Requests team and are therefore not subject to or available through FOI.

Section 14(1)(b) of the Act provides that a person is not entitled to obtain access under Part III to:

“a document which contains information that is available for purchase by the public in accordance with arrangements made by an agency;”.

CFA has such an arrangement.

Should you wish to obtain access to the Fire/Incident Reports and/or Fire Investigation Reports and photographs please contact the Fire Report Request team using the online Fire Reports Request form.

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COLLECTION NOTICE

The personal information you provide on this FOI Application form, is being collected by the FOI Unit of CFA for the express purpose of processing your request. The staff within the FOI Unit will have access to the personal information you include on this form. The agency may need to consult with third parties in fulfilling your request and considering whether an exemption under sections 29, 31, 31A, 33, 34 or 35 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the 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 you wish to gain access to your information pertaining to this FOI Application, for the purpose of updating or amending, you may do so by emailing FOI@cfa.vic.gov.au or by post – FOI Unit, CFA, PO Box 701, Mt Waverley Vic 3149.

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

You are legally required to provide your personal details (as requested on the form) for the purpose of processing your request, as articulated within the Act. Access and disclosure, of your information, will only be for the purpose of processing your FOI Application, or where required or authorised by law, through other pieces of legislation. Where information is required for statistical reporting purposes, all identifying details will be removed.

The information and attachments input on this online form will be stored within CFA’s secure systems to facilitate your request and as required by law. CFA use third party providers to assist to meet our storage obligations. Your information will be stored via cloud-based server environment, in systems such as CFA’s Contact Management System or SharePoint, both located in Sydney, Australia.

For further information on how CFA protects your privacy, see our Privacy Statement HERE. You should contact CFA via privacy@cfa.vic.gov.au if you have any concerns about how the agency may handle your personal information.

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 ('the Act')

Name of law firm, union etc*

Name of solicitor or representative*

Address*

Suburb*

Postcode*

Telephone contact details*

Email contact details*

Name of person you are representing

Date of birth of person you are representing (if the request is for personal information pertaining to them)

Address of person you are representing

Suburb

Postcode

Your client's relationship to the matter* e.g. property owner, witness to incident, driver of vehicle etc

Documents to which you are requesting access

Information requested: To assist CFA in locating specific documentation, it is important that you describe in detail what you are seeking access to; including the specific documents you require.

The information you include should also identify relevant

date/s,
location of incident/s,
time/s,
details of known parties,
and any other information you deem relevant which will enable this office to conduct a search for information on your behalf.

Please avoid using wording such as ‘all documents’ because your request may end up being too large to process, or it may not be specific enough for the agency to identify the document(s). All costs for search time will be borne by you/your client.*

Please also confirm, do you require access to

draft documents

duplicate documents

commercial information relating to third parties

personal information relating to third parties

Please select all that apply

If a document has exemptions which are required to be redacted out, please confirm you will accept a redacted version

Yes

I have read and understood the collection notice*

Add documents

i.e. copy of receipt of payment, client authority and any other relevant documents

File Upload If you need to upload multiple documents, please select the "add new" button to upload each document.

Mandatory field(s) marked with *

Need more information?

If further information is required about any aspect of the Act, this can be obtained from the following web sites: ovic.vic.gov.au or vcat.vic.gov.au