FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 - SECT 7 Publication of information concerning functions etc. of agencies

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 - SECT 7

S. 7(1) amended by No. 58/1993 s. 17(1).

    (1)     The responsible Minister of an agency, other than a council, shall—

S. 7(1)(a) amended by No. 58/1993 s. 5(1)(a)(b).

        (a)     cause to be published as soon as practicable after the commencement of this Part in a form approved by the Minister administering this Act—

              (i)     a statement setting out particulars of the organization and functions of the agency, indicating, as far as practicable, the decision-making powers and other powers affecting members of the public that are involved in those functions and particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, bodies and persons outside the government administration in relation to the formulation of policy in, or the administration of, the agency;

              (ii)     a statement of the categories of documents that are maintained in the possession of the agency;

              (iii)     a statement of the material that has been prepared by the agency under this Part for publication or for inspection by members of the public, and the places at which a person may inspect or obtain that material;

              (iv)     a statement listing the literature available by way of subscription services or free mailing lists;

              (v)     a statement of the procedure to be followed by a person when a request for access to a document is made to the agency;

              (vi)     a statement designating by name the officer or officers responsible within each agency for the initial receipt of, and action upon, requests for access to a document;

              (vii)     a statement listing all boards, councils, committees and other bodies constituted by two or more persons, that are a part of, or that have been established for the purpose of advising, the agency, and whose meetings are open to the public, or the minutes of whose meetings are available for public inspection; and

              (viii)     if the agency maintains a library or reading room that is available for public use—a statement of that fact including details of the address and hours of opening of the library or reading room; and

S. 7(1)(b) substituted by No. 58/1993 s. 5(2).

        (b)     during the year commencing on 1 January next following the publication, in respect of an agency, of the statements under paragraph (a) that are the statements first published under that paragraph, and during each succeeding year, cause to be published statements bringing up to date the information contained in the previous statements.

S. 7(1A) inserted by No. 58/1993 s. 17(2).

    (1A)     Subsection (1) applies to an agency that is a council as if the reference to the responsible Minister of an agency were a reference to the council.

S. 7(2) amended by No. 58/1993 s. 5(3).

    (2)     The approved forms under subsection (1) shall be appropriate for the purposes of assisting members of the public to exercise effectively their rights under this Act.

    (3)     Nothing in this section requires the publication of information that is of such a nature that its inclusion in a document of an agency would cause that document to be an exempt document.

S. 7(4) substituted by No. 58/1993 s. 5(4), amended by No. 58/1993 s. 17(3).

    (4)     The information to be published in accordance with this section by an agency, that is a department or prescribed agency, must be published by including it—

        (a)     in the annual report of the agency to the responsible Minister of the agency; or

        (b)     if there is no such annual report—in the annual report of the department, or a department administered, or part of which is administered, by the responsible Minister of the agency.

S. 7(4A) inserted by No. 58/1993 s. 5(4).

    (4A)     Subsection (1) applies to an agency that becomes an agency on or after the commencement of section 5 of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 1993 as if references in that subsection to the commencement of this Part were references to the day on which that agency became an agency.

S. 7(4AA) inserted by No. 58/1993 s. 17(4).

    (4AA)     The information to be published in accordance with this section by an agency that is a council must be published—

S. 7(4AA)(a) amended by No. 9/2020 s. 390(Sch.  1 item 44.2).

        (a)     by including it in the annual report of the council under the Local Government Act 2020 ; or

        (b)     separately, as soon as practicable after the commencement of section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 1993 and at intervals of not less than 12 months.

    (5)     Subject to subsection (6) of this section, section 15 shall not be read so as to require the responsible Minister of an agency to include in a statement of the categories of documents prepared under subsection (1)(a)(ii) information relating to any document in the custody of the Public Record Office of Victoria.

    (6)     The statement of the categories of documents that are maintained in the possession of the Public Record Office of Victoria prepared under subsection (1)(a)(ii) by the Minister administering the Public Records Act 1973 shall include a statement of the categories of all documents that are maintained in the custody of the Public Record Office of Victoria, including those documents to which section 15 applies.

    (7)     The prescribed form of publication of the statement of the categories of documents prepared under subsection (1)(a)(ii) may be such as to allow for categories of documents that are maintained in common by more than one agency to be listed in a single statement prepared under subsection (1)(a)(ii) by the Minister administering the Public Records Act 1973 .

    (8)     For the purposes of this section, "statement of the categories of documents prepared under subsection (1)(a)(ii)" includes statements prepared under subsection (1)(b).