Decision letter Jarred Crowe.pdf

PROTECTED Legal Privilege
Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au
28 January 2025
Mr Jarred Crowe
By email only: foi+request-12431-06c83837@righ oknow.org.au
Dear Jarred,
No ce of decision – request for documents under the Freedom of Informa on Act 1982 (Vic)
1.
This le er contains my decision on behalf of V/Line Corpora on in rela on to your request for
documents under the Freedom of Informa on Act 1982 (Vic) (FOI Act).
2.
In making my decision, I have considered the object of the FOI Act, which is to create a general
right of access to informa on, limited only by excep ons and exemp ons necessary to protect
essen al public interests, privacy, and business aﬀairs.
3.
My decision and reasons are provided below. A schedule outlining the documents, and my
decision is also a ached to this le er.
Background
4.
On 1 December 2024, you requested the following documents in rela on to an incident that
occurred on 22/11/2024, in which a train at Gisborne expelled an oil-like ﬂuid onto the sta on
pla orm and adjoining track.
Speciﬁcally, I request access to the following documents:
1. Incident report
2. The most recent maintenance report for the aﬀected train prior to the incident.
Documents relevant to your request
5.
A thorough and diligent search for documents within the terms of your request was
undertaken. The following searches were conducted:
(a)
Emails sent to the following internal business units to conduct search for documents
under the scope of the FOI request:

Customer Rela ons

Media

Communica ons

Opera ons

Security

Customer Service and Accessibility

Customer Inves ga ons
V/Line Corporation, Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au ABN 91 273 289 190
PROTECTED Legal Privilege

PROTECTED Legal Privilege
Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au
6.
On this basis, we located three documents in rela on to the terms of your request.
7.
These documents consist of an internal email between agency oﬃcers, an incident report and a
maintenance report.
Decision on each document
8.
I have decided to:
(a)
release 1 document in part; and
(b)
refuse access to 2 documents in full.
Reason for decision
9.
In making my decision, I applied the following exemp ons:
Sec on 33(1) – Documents aﬀec ng personal privacy
10.
Sec on 33(1) exempts from disclosure any document (or any part thereof) that would
unreasonably disclose informa on rela ng to the personal aﬀairs of another person (including a
deceased person).
11.
For this exemp on to apply to a document, two parts must be sa sﬁed:
(a)
the informa on contained in the document must relate to the personal aﬀairs of a
person; and
(b)
the release of the informa on would be an unreasonable disclosure.
12.
Sec on 33(9) deﬁnes ‘informa on rela ng to the personal aﬀairs of any person’ to include
informa on that iden ﬁes any person or discloses their address or loca on, or informa on from
which any person’s iden ty, address or loca on can reasonably be determined.
13.
This exemp on has been applied to signatures and names of internal administra ve V/Line
employees and external third par es. Release of this informa on would be unreasonable as it is
not apparent that the individuals concerned would reasonably expect this informa on to be
disclosed under the Act.
14.
Having considered the sensi ve nature and context in which the personal aﬀairs informa on
was recorded, I consider the relevant third par es would likely object to the release of their
personal aﬀairs informa on. Accordingly, I have determined consulta on with the relevant third
par es is not prac cable under sec on 33(2C) of the FOI Act.
15.
I have determined the release of certain informa on in the documents would be unreasonable
for the following reasons:
V/Line Corporation, Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au ABN 91 273 289 190
PROTECTED Legal Privilege

PROTECTED Legal Privilege
Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au
(a)
generally, the direct contact details of an agency oﬃcers are not made widely available;
(b)
I do not consider disclosure of this personal informa on rela ng to third par es and
agency oﬃcers peripheral to the ma er would assist the Applicant;
(c)
The agency oﬃcers recorded in the documents are not the decision makers in rela on to
the context and nature of the request. They only performed administra ve tasks and
recorded their name in the documents as administra ve requirement.
(d)
having considered the broad implica ons regarding disclosure of third par es in this
ma er, I am not sa sﬁed the Applicant’s interest is outweighed by the public interest in
ensuring the privacy of individuals who assist the Agency during their complaint is
maintained.
16.
This exemp on has been applied to certain informa on in Document 1, 2 and 3.
Sec ons 34(1)(b) and 34(4)(a)(ii) - Business, Commercial or ﬁnancial informa on of an undertaking
17.
Sec on 34(1)(b) provides a document is an exempt document if its disclosure under the FOI Act
would disclose informa on acquired by an agency from a business, commercial or ﬁnancial
undertaking and:
(a)
The informa on relates to other ma ers of a business, commercial or ﬁnancial nature;
(b)
The disclosure of the informa on would be likely to expose the undertaking unreasonably
to disadvantage.
18.
A document is exempt under sec on 34(4)(a)(ii) if:
(a)
the agency is engaged in trade or commerce;
(b)
the document contains informa on of a business, commercial or ﬁnancial nature; and
(c)
disclosure of which would be likely to expose the agency unreasonably to disadvantage.
19.
These exemp ons have been applied to both document 2 and 3 in full.
20.
To determine whether this exemp on applies, V/Line must provide the third party undertaking
with the opportunity to provide a submission establishing how the disclosure would expose it to
disadvantage.
21.
Under sec on 34(3) of the FOI Act, V/Line is required to no fy and seek the undertaking’s views
as to disclosure of informa on in the documents. V/Line received a submission from the
undertaking, who objected to the release of both documents 2 and 3 in full.
V/Line Corporation, Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au ABN 91 273 289 190
PROTECTED Legal Privilege

PROTECTED Legal Privilege
Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au
22.
The undertaking submi ed the release of the informa on in both documents would likely
expose the undertaking unreasonably to disadvantage for the following reasons:
(a)
The associated contract is awarded following a compe
ve tender process run by the
State and these documents have the poten al to be used against the undertaking in
future business opportuni es.
(b)
The informa on is sensi ve and is not generally available to the public or compe tors.
(c)
The disclosure of this informa on could lead to unwarranted conclusions about the
undertaking’s obliga ons and posi on that may result in commercial and market
consequences.
23.
Having considered the informa on before me and the objec on from the undertaking, I am
sa sﬁed the informa on is sensi ve and may likely expose the undertaking unreasonably to
disadvantage.
Dele on of exempt or irrelevant informa on
24.
Sec on 25 of the FOI Act requires an agency to grant access to an edited copy of a document
containing exempt or irrelevant informa on if it is prac cable for the agency to delete that
informa on, and if the applicant is agreeable to receiving an edited copy.
25.
Determining what is ‘prac cable’ requires us to consider the eﬀort involved in making the
relevant dele ons and the eﬀec veness of those dele ons – that is, whether edi ng the
document would render it meaningless.
26.
In the current circumstances, I found it was prac cable to provide you with an edited copy of
the documents with exempt and irrelevant informa on deleted in accordance with sec on 25
of the FOI Act.
Access charges
27.
The Freedom of Informa on (Access Charges) Regula ons 2014 and sec on 22 of the FOI Act
outline that an agency may impose charges for providing access to a document and sets out
how to calculate those charges.
28.
In this instance, I decided to waive the access charges, and you do not need to pay anything.
Receiving a copy of the documents
29.
I have a ached copies of the released documents along with this decision le er.
Your review rights
30.
If you are not sa sﬁed with my decision, you have the right to apply for a review of my decision
by the Informa on Commissioner under sec on 49A(1)(a) of the FOI Act.
V/Line Corporation, Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au ABN 91 273 289 190
PROTECTED Legal Privilege

PROTECTED Legal Privilege
Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au
31.
A review applica on must be in wri ng, iden fy the decision to be reviewed and the agency
who made it.
32.
An applica on must be made to the Informa on Commissioner within 28 days from the day you
receive this le er.
33.
The Oﬃce of the Victorian Informa on Commissioner’s (OVIC) website has a review form you
may download, which contains more informa on about the review process and what you can
expect. OVIC’s contact details are:
Oﬃce of the Victorian Informa on Commissioner
PO Box 24274
Melbourne VIC 3001
Email: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xxx.xx
Phone: 1300 00 6842 (1300 00 OVIC)
www.ovic.vic.gov.au
More informa on
34.
If you have any ques ons about this decision, please contact us by email at xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
Ashley Peter-Budge
Lawyer – Public Law and Li ga on
V/Line Corporation, Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au ABN 91 273 289 190
PROTECTED Legal Privilege

PROTECTED Legal Privilege
Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au
Schedule of Documents
No.
Date of
Document
No. of pages
Decision
document
descrip on
1.
22/11/2024
Email
2
Released in part
correspondence
Sec on 33(1)
between agency
oﬃcers and
A marked up copy of the
incident report
document is provided with
this decision le er.
2.
22/11/2024
Incident report
4
Refused in full
Sec ons 33(1) and 34(1)(b),
34(4)(a)(ii)
3.
01/10/2024
Maintenance
10
Refused in full
report
Sec ons 33(1), 34(1)(b) and
34(4)(a)(ii)
V/Line Corporation, Level 6, 452 Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, GPO Box 5343, Melbourne VIC 3001
T (03) 9619 5900 F (03) 9619 5000 vline.com.au ABN 91 273 289 190
PROTECTED Legal Privilege