OFFICIAL

Dear Megan

Thank you for your FOI Application, which is currently being considered. 
We will be in contact soon to address the scope of your request. Please
note that our office has received an unforeseen surge in requests and a
simultaneous reduction in our senior staff which has led to an atypical
accumulation of pending inquiries. We are actively addressing the backlog
and are implementing measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this delay and thank you for
your patience and understanding.

Kind regards

Gillian

Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Education
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne VIC 3002

T: 03 7022 0856

E: [1][Victorian Department of Education request email]
W: [2]www.education.vic.gov.au

IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If
received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening
or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any
loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the
sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any
attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected
attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the
individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of
Education.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Victorian Department of Education request email]
2. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/

OFFICIAL Sensitive - Personal Privacy

Dear Megan

We note that our office has not yet received payment of the application
fee. Please see information on how to pay the application fee below.

Application Fee
Section 17(2A) of the Act requires a request to be accompanied by the
payment of the application fee, which is currently $32.70.
Payment can be made as follows:

o through the Victorian government FOI portal at the following
link: [1]https://online.foi.vic.gov.au/
o by money order addressed to the Department of Education and Training
and posted to:

Freedom of Information Manager
Department of Education 
GPO Box 4367

MELBOURNE VIC 3001

The application fee may be waived or reduced if you can provide the
department with evidence that payment of the fee would cause you client
financial hardship. We will accept a current health care card or other
documentation that shows you are in receipt of a government social
security benefit.  Please provide any evidence of financial hardship by
email to [2][Victorian Department of Education request email]. Please include the reference
contained in the subject line of this email.

Please note that until your request is made in the manner required by
section 17 of the Act, it cannot be processed and the 30-day time period
for which a formal decision is required has not as yet commenced.

If no amended request is received or consultation about the request has
not commenced within 21 days of today, the Department may refuse to comply
with the request by treating the request as having lapsed.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Unit on
7022 0856.

Kind regards,

Gillian

Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Education
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne VIC 3002

T: 03 7022 0856

E: [3][Victorian Department of Education request email]
W: [4]www.education.vic.gov.au

IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If
received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening
or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any
loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the
sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any
attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected
attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the
individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of
Education.

References

Visible links
1. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
https://online.foi.vic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[Victorian Department of Education request email]
mailto:[Victorian Department of Education request email]
3. mailto:[Victorian Department of Education request email]
4. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/

OFFICIAL Sensitive - Personal Privacy

Dear Megan

Please note that we are unable to provide an invoice. The link below is to our online portal, via which payment can be made. I apologise for any inconvenience.

Application Fee
Section 17(2A) of the Act requires a request to be accompanied by the payment of the application fee, which is currently $32.70.
Payment can be made as follows:
* through the Victorian government FOI portal at the following link: https://online.foi.vic.gov.au/
* by money order addressed to the Department of Education and Training and posted to:
Freedom of Information Manager
Department of Education
GPO Box 4367
MELBOURNE VIC 3001

The application fee may be waived or reduced if you can provide the department with evidence that payment of the fee would cause you/your client financial hardship. We will accept a current health care card or other documentation that shows you/they are in receipt of a government social security benefit. Please provide any evidence of financial hardship by email to [Victorian Department of Education request email]. Please include the reference contained in the subject line of this email.

Kind regards,

Gillian

Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Education
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne VIC 3002

T: 03 7022 0856
E: [Victorian Department of Education request email]
W: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/

show quoted sections

Dear Megan

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – FOI 2024-1004

We refer to your request received 8 October 2024 by the Department of
Education (the department) and email received on 4 November 2024
confirming payment of the application fee.

We confirm you are seeking access under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (the Act) to:

Please can you release data on all complaints (captured by the STAR case
management system) submitted from 2014 to 2024, for Melbourne Schools?

The fields of data to include: name of school, number of complaints, by
year, by type of school.

I recognise that there are 22,509 records on the STAR system, but the STAR
system should be able to automatically count these.

This email is to acknowledge your application is now valid and processing
of your request has commenced. The statutory due date for your request is
4 December 2024. We apologise for the delay in sending this
acknowledgement.  

We will contact you as this matter progresses.

If you have any queries regarding this matter, please contact the FOI Unit
on (03) 7022 0856 or by email at [1][Victorian Department of Education request email].

Best regards, Emily

Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Education
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne VIC 3002

T: 03 7022 0856

E: [2][Victorian Department of Education request email]
W: [3]www.education.vic.gov.au

show quoted sections

Dear Megan

Your request is currently being processed and a decision will be provided as soon as possible. Having said that, we need to have a conversation with you regarding the entries in the STaR system. Unfortunately your application did not provide us with a telephone number, allowing quick communication. This will cause a delay in responding to your application within the 30-day statutory response time. A decision is due by today, 4 December 2024, and at this stage the timeframe will not be met due to the above.

I do apologise for any inconvenience that this situation may cause you.

Consequently, section 21 of the Act states that an agency may further extend the 30-day period for deciding a request by a period of not more than 30 additional days beyond the due date, in agreement with you.

We are asking that you provide us with a contact number so that we may quickly settle our inquiry and provide you with our decision letter. Given the due date is today, we ask for an extension of 15 days, although we expect to complete the request sooner, assuming we can communicate with you via telephone.

If you agree to the extension your decision will be due by 19 December 2024.

Your advice in this regard will be much appreciated.

Kind regards

Lina
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Education
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne VIC 3002

T: 03 7022 0290
E: [Victorian Department of Education request email]
W: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/

show quoted sections