Good morning,

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 requires all applicants to pay an application fee of $32.70. Payment can be made online via online.foi.vic.gov.au and selecting “Department of Transport” as the agency.

Payment may be waived or reduced if it would cause financial hardship to the applicant. Evidence in support of a claim of hardship would include a copy of a Pension Card or Health Care Card. This can be mailed or emailed through to our office at [email address].

To avoid any further delays clear indication of the documents sought to be provided.

Your request will be processed upon receipt of the above information. Until such time, your request is considered invalid and will not be processed.

Should you have any queries regarding this matter, please feel free to contact this unit on 9854 1982 or by email at [email address].

Regards,
Kristian

Privacy and Information Access Officer
E [email address]
W dtp.vic.gov.au

DISCLAIMER
The following conditions apply to this communication and any attachments: the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) reserves all of its copyright; the information is intended for the addressees only and may be confidential and/or privileged - it must not be passed on by any other recipients; any expressed opinions are those of the sender and not necessarily DTP; DTP accepts no liability for any consequences arising from the recipient's use of this means of communication and/or the information contained in and/or attached to this communication. If this communication has been received in error, please contact the person who sent this communication and delete all copies. Any personal or sensitive information in this email and attachments must be handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

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[1]FOI Letter head

 
16/07/2024

Our Ref: CS015224a

Jarred Crowe

By email: [2][FOI #11703 email]

Dear Jarred,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – Acknowledgement

I refer to your request received by Department of Transport and Planning
on 16/07/2024, in which you sought access to documents under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

Specifically, you advised you are seeking access in relation to the
following:
 

o I am formally requesting access to documents under FOI, in relation to
outages and copper cable theft at street lighting sites managed by
DTP/VicRoads/Regional Roads Victoria (RRV) between 1 January 2023 and
16 July 2024.

I kindly request the following documents;

1. A spreadsheet containing a list of all street lighting sites
managed by DTP/VicRoads/RRV,
2. All Documents that contain details of the extent of the street
lighting outages, the copper cable theft issue and any impact this has
on the safety of Victorian Roads. Including meeting minutes, reports,
and correspondence between officials concerning these topics.
3. All Documents that discuss/detail plans or attempts to repair
street lighting faults and reduce/combat the copper cable theft issue.
Including meeting minutes, and correspondence between officials,
utility providers and councils concerning this issue.
4. All Documents that reference street lighting faults and/or copper
cable theft at sites C124 Breakwater Bridge and M1 Geelong Ring Road.
5. All correspondence between DTP officials and the Minister for Roads
and Road Safety in relation to the copper cable theft issue and street
lighting outages.

I do not seek access to any private/personally identifiable
information and parts of documents that are not relevant to this
request. For example, Meeting minutes that contain other topics/items
may have these sections redacted.

For clarity in this request the term "street lighting" refers to
lighting for which the sole purpose is to illuminate a road, footpath
or public place to improve visibility and safety, This request is not
related to Traffic Signals.

Valid request

We received the application fee on 16/07/2024.

Your request is valid, and we are processing it. We have 30 days from the
date we validated your request to provide you with a decision. As such,
the due date for us to make a decision on your request is 15/08/2024.

Extension of time

We may need to extend the due date if we need to consult with third
parties. Consultation is required if the document you requested contain
information relating to third parties. If we extend the time, we will
notify you and advise you of why it has been extended and by how long.
We may also request your agreement for an extension of time, if we are
unable to provide you with a decision on time.

Third Party Personal Information

To speed up the process, please let us know whether you agree not to seek
names, phone numbers, email addresses or any type of personal information
of other people contained in the documents relevant to your request. As
such, any personal information can be marked as 'Not Relevant' in the
documents we review.

Additionally, if you are seeking documents containing your personal
information, and if not already provided, please reply to this email with
a copy of documents that could verify your identity, for example, your
driver’s licence.

More information

Should you have any queries regarding this matter, please feel free to
contact us by email at [3][email address].

Yours sincerely

FOI Coordinator
Privacy and Information Access
DTP Legal | Department of Transport and Planning   

1 Spring Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
[4][email address]
[5]dtp.vic.gov.au

 
[6]DOT FOI Footer

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[FOI #11703 email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. https://transport.vic.gov.au/
https://transport.vic.gov.au/

[1]FOI Letter head

 
Our Ref:CS015224b

Jarred Crowe

By email: [2][FOI #11703 email]

Dear Jarred,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – NOTICE OF DECISION

I refer to your request received by Department of Transport and Planning
(DTP), in which you sought access to the following documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act):

o I am formally requesting access to documents under FOI, in relation to
outages and copper cable theft at street lighting sites managed by
DTP/VicRoads/Regional Roads Victoria (RRV) between 1 January 2023 and
16 July 2024.

I kindly request the following documents;

1. A spreadsheet containing a list of all street lighting sites
managed by DTP/VicRoads/RRV,
2. All Documents that contain details of the extent of the street
lighting outages, the copper cable theft issue and any impact this has
on the safety of Victorian Roads. Including meeting minutes, reports,
and correspondence between officials concerning these topics.
3. All Documents that discuss/detail plans or attempts to repair
street lighting faults and reduce/combat the copper cable theft issue.
Including meeting minutes, and correspondence between officials,
utility providers and councils concerning this issue.
4. All Documents that reference street lighting faults and/or copper
cable theft at sites C124 Breakwater Bridge and M1 Geelong Ring Road.
5. All correspondence between DTP officials and the Minister for Roads
and Road Safety in relation to the copper cable theft issue and street
lighting outages.

I do not seek access to any private/personally identifiable
information and parts of documents that are not relevant to this
request. For example, Meeting minutes that contain other topics/items
may have these sections redacted.

For clarity in this request the term "street lighting" refers to
lighting for which the sole purpose is to illuminate a road, footpath
or public place to improve visibility and safety, This request is not
related to Traffic Signals.

Under section 25A(6) of the FOI Act, I give you notice of the intention of
this agency to refuse access to the documents you seek. This letter is an
interim response only.

At present, I am satisfied that the work involved in processing your
request would divert this agency’s resources substantially and
unreasonably from its other operations. In deciding to give you this
notice, I have had regard to the resources which would be used:

 a. In identifying, locating or collating the documents;
 b. In deciding whether to grant or refuse access to the documents or to
grant access to edited copies of such documents, including resources
which would have to be used;

                                                               i.      in
examining the documents; or

                                                             ii.      in
consulting with any person or body in relation to the request;

 c. In making a copy, or an edited copy, of the documents;   and
 d. In notifying you and third parties of any interim or final decision on
the request.

Accordingly, I invite you to consult with me with a view to amending your
request to be in a form which would remove this ground for refusal. In
order to make your request in a form that removes the ground for refusal,
we propose the following:

o A list of all Victorian street lighting sights managed by DTP with a
flag that indicates if the site has been affected by cable theft (this
list will include sites C124 Breakwater Bridge and M1 Geelong Ring
Road).
o An Internal noting brief to a Tier 2 Network and Operations Committee
lead by a Dep Sec., outlining the problem and what actions are being
taken.
o A document that provides the status update of an ongoing cable theft
treatment trial within a section of the M80.

Alternatively, you could advise if there is a/are ‘specific’ documents you
seek. This will allow us to provide you with exact documents, thereby
reducing the scope of the request dramatically, and hence eliminating the
need to refuse access.

If you wish to discuss any aspect of this letter, please contact me. I
will advise you of your review rights in the event consultation does not
occur within a reasonable time or does not remove this ground for refusal
in which case access will be refused under section 25A(1) of the FOI Act.

MORE INFORMATION

Should you have any queries regarding this matter, please feel free to
contact me by email at [3][email address].

Yours sincerely

Kristian Dzolev
PRIVACY AND INFORMATION ACCESS LEAD

 
[4]DOT FOI Footer

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[FOI #11703 email]
3. mailto:[email address]

Hi Jarred,

Regarding your email below yes this is correct, to allow us time to action this with the business area and complete the FOI review process can I request a 30 day extension bringing your request to 16 September 2024?

In accordance with section 21(4) of the FOI Act, if you agree to this extension, the due date of your decision will be on 16/09/2024.

Please kindly advise by reply email if you agree to this extension.

You do not have to agree to this extension however I am obligated under the FOI act to request.

Kind Regards,

Mikaela

Privacy & Information Access Advisor
Privacy and Information Access
DTP Legal | Department of Transport and Planning   

1 Spring Street,
Melbourne, VIC 3000

I acknowledge the Traditional Aboriginal Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pay my
respects to Elders past and present, and to the ongoing living culture of Aboriginal people.

This email, including all attachments, is confidential and may contain information that is legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not disclose, distribute, copy or use the information in this email or attachments. Any confidentiality or privilege is not waived or lost because this email (and any attachments) has been sent to you in error. If you have received it in error, please let us know by reply email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies (including any attachments). Any personal or sensitive information in this email and attachments must be handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

show quoted sections

[1]FOI Letter head

 
Our Ref: CS015224

Jarred Crowe

By email: [2][FOI #11703 email]

Dear Jarred
 

Freedom of Information - Extension Request

I refer to your FOI request received by Department of Transport and
Planning (DTP).

In accordance with section 21(4) of the FOI Act, I am writing to you to
request your agreement to an extension of the due date of your Freedom of
Information request by 15 days.

If you agree to this extension, the due date of your decision will be
on 1/10/2024

More information

Please kindly advise by reply email if you agree to this extension.

Should you have any queries regarding this matter, please feel free to
contact us by email at [3][email address].

Yours sincerely,

Privacy and Information Access Coordinator
DTP Legal | Department of Transport and Planning   

1 Spring Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
[4][email address]
[5]dtp.vic.gov.au
[6]DOT FOI Footer

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[FOI #11703 email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. https://transport.vic.gov.au/
https://transport.vic.gov.au/

Hi Jarred,

Due to the nature of the documents located in response to your request, additional review is required, as a result, I am requesting an additional 30 day extension to process your request.

I am currently in the process of consulting with the relevant business area; however, at this stage, it is likely that the documents will be denied in full pursuant to section 31(1)(d) and 29A(1B)(a) of the FOI Act. This is because the documents contain methods and procedures for preventing, detecting, and investigating cable theft. Additionally a detailed list of all street lighting flagging vulnerable sites is a risk to Victoria's Critical Infrastructure.

If you have questions, please contact me by responding to this email.

Sincerely,

Mary (they/them) | Privacy & Information Access Lead
DTP Legal, Public Law and Information Access
Department of Transport and Planning

1 Spring Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
T: (03) 9854 1982
[email address]

I acknowledge the Traditional Aboriginal Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pay my
respect to Elders past, present and emerging and to the ongoing living culture of Aboriginal people.

show quoted sections

Hi Jarred,

Your FOI request has been finalised. Please see attached decision letter
for your reference.

Thank you for your patience. If you have questions, please contact me by
responding to this email.

Sincerely,

Mary (they/them) | A/Manager Privacy & Information Access
DTP Legal, Public Law and Information Access

Department of Transport and Planning   
1 Spring Street

Melbourne VIC 3000

[1][email address]

[2][email address]

I acknowledge the Traditional Aboriginal Owners of Country throughout
Victoria and pay my
respect to Elders past, present and emerging and to the ongoing living
culture of Aboriginal people.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]