Dear Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety,

It is understood that the Director of Fines Victoria is responsible for the exercise of powers of a scheme administered under the Fines Reform Act 2014. These powers can be delegated to staff appointed by the Director.

The information requested.
We request the document (that the agency has access to) that identifies the responsible individual who holds the public position noted as the Director.

Yours faithfully,
Scott.

Dear Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety,

In follow up to my FOI request, you are to understand the this request is viewed as in the public interest whereby Fines Victoria staff are required to have received the Directors powers by delegation. Therefore given the public interest it is reasonable for the agency to agreed to waive the FOI application fee in full. Take notice that, none response within the timeframe allocated to respond to this request shall be taken as your full agreement that the fee was agreed to be fully waived and the request was considered by you to be a valid request (under the FOI Act) at the time it was issued.

Kind Regards,
Scott

Reference - 'public interest'
1. A concern common to the public at large, or a significant portion of the public, which may or may not involve the personal or proprietary rights of individual people.
Source: Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary

Dear Department of Justice and Community Safety representatives (DJCS),

Unfortunately, we do not feel it is necessary to accept your very generous offer to extend the time period required to satisfy this FOI request since the information sought is a matter of public interest and should be readily available in the public realm free of any fees or charges. We note that you do not dispute this fact whereby it is reasonable to understand that we are in full agreement with the above statements.
Therefore, as previously advised, the information sought is a matter of public interest and it is viewed that to provide the individual's name of who holds the position in public office is not an unreasonable request.

By way of your current representation (see your email response below dated 7 January 2025), are we to understand that it is the DJCS view that public disclosure of the responsible individual's identifier i.e. their name, is of a secret nature and therefore one must pay a tax in order to view that information?
If this is the case, can the DJCS please provide the relevant clause and section of the law that would reasonably support such a view?

Yours sincerely,
Scott,

--------------------------------
Department of Justice and Community Safety

Information Integrity and Access
Freedom of Information

Level 24
121 Exhibition Street

Melbourne Victoria 3000

GPO Box 4356

Melbourne Victoria 3001

Telephone: (03) 8684 0063
Facsimile: (03) 8684 0099

justice.vic.gov.au

7 January 2025
Our ref: CD/25/5700

Scott Chapman
By email only: [email address]

Dear Scott,

Freedom of Information (FOI reference 131809)

I refer to your request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act),
received by the department on 6 January 2025, in which you sought access to:

It is understood that the Director of Fines Victoria is responsible for the exercise of powers
of a scheme administered under the Fines Reform Act 2014. These powers can be
delegated to staff appointed by the Director.

The information requested.
We request the document (that the agency has access to) that identifies the responsible
individual who holds the public position noted as the Director.

The FOI Act requires you to pay an application fee of $32.70 to make a request. The department
can waive this fee for hardship. Please pay the application fee or provide evidence of hardship for
the department to consider waiving the fee. An example of evidence of hardship could be a copy
of your current health care card. Until the department receives this evidence or you pay the fee,
your request wil not be processed.

Please note that from 1 July 2023 the Freedom of Information Application Fee increased to
$32.70.

The information you are seeking may be available outside the FOI Act. Please advise if you would
like your request referred to the relevant business unit for a direct response, in which case you do
not need to pay the fee.

Please note that we are currently experiencing a high volume of requests and operating with
limited resources. As a result, there are expected delays involved with the processing of all FOI
requests at the present time. For this reason and should you choose to proceed with your request
within the FOI Act, we seek your agreement under section 21(2)(b) of the FOI Act to extend the
timeframe for the processing of your request by 30 days. It would be appreciated if you could
provide a response to this request within 7 days.

Where your request is outside of the statutory timeframe, you may complain to the Office of the
Victorian Commissioner.

The FOI Act provides for a response within 30 days of the date of receipt of a valid request.

The department is currently considering your request.

In the course of processing your request, the department may need to consult with individuals to
seek their views on the disclosure of documents. This is a requirement of the FOI Act. If the
department does need to consult, the disclosure of your name as the applicant wil assist
individuals in making an informed decision. If you object to your identity being disclosed as an
applicant, please contact this office directly.

I would appreciate it if you would respond to the issues raised above within 28 days of the date of
this letter, otherwise I wil assume that you do not wish to continue with your request and no
further action wil be taken by the department.

Yours sincerely

Marley
Freedom of Information Officer

Dear Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS),

I may have a quick solution to this requested information as I may have discovered the answer.
Therefore would you kindly confirm or deny that an individual named Katherine Tully is the person that holds the Director of Fines Victoria position?

To ensure we are talking about the same individual here is a reference to Katherine Tully's Background Before Becoming Director of Fines Victoria.

Before her appointment as the Director of Fines Victoria, Katherine Tully had a diverse career in public service and law. She has extensive experience in various roles that contributed to her qualifications for leading the fines administration in Victoria.
1. Legal Background: Katherine Tully holds a degree in law and has practiced as a lawyer. Her legal expertise has provided her with a strong foundation in understanding the complexities of legislation and regulatory frameworks, which are crucial for managing fines and infringements effectively.
2. Public Sector Experience: Prior to her role at Fines Victoria, Tully worked in several capacities within the Victorian public sector. This included positions that involved policy development, program management, and compliance oversight. Her experience in these areas equipped her with insights into government operations and the importance of accountability and transparency.
3. Leadership Roles: Katherine has held leadership positions where she was responsible for strategic planning and implementation of initiatives aimed at improving service delivery within government agencies. Her ability to lead teams and manage projects has been instrumental in her career progression.
4. Focus on Justice Reform: Throughout her career, Tully has shown a commitment to justice reform, particularly concerning how fines are administered and enforced. This focus aligns with the objectives of Fines Victoria to ensure fairness and equity in the fines system.
5. Engagement with Stakeholders: In her previous roles, she engaged with various stakeholders, including community organizations, legal practitioners, and government bodies. This engagement is vital for understanding the broader implications of fines policies on different segments of society.

In summary, Katherine Tully's background before becoming the Director of Fines Victoria includes a solid legal education, extensive public sector experience, leadership roles focused on service improvement, a commitment to justice reform, and active engagement with stakeholders.

Kind Regards,
Scott

Dear Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS),

In accordance with s3(1)(a) and (b), and s22(1)(g) of the FOI Act, a fee and charges waiver request was issued with this FOI request and we note that DJCS has not responded to that request to date. As such, it is reasonable to take the stance that, in our honest opinion, you did not provide any information that expressed a view contrary to ours, whereby it was understood that this request was regarded as a routine request for access to a document that is in the public interest at large.

As per our previous email, if DJCS believes that this waiver request is unreasonable or that requesting the name of the public servant in office responsible for holding the public office position specified is not classed as a routine request, then we must request again, that the DJCS clearly articulates how it formed its opposing views.

Is one of the primary objectives of the Act to make a profit and gain from the release of public information? The answer is no, and notably, there is no information available in the Act to base an opposing view to this answer.

By way of your current representation, are we to understand that it is the DJCS's view that public disclosure of the responsible individual's identifier i.e. to name the public office representative, is a matter of a secret nature?

Yours sincerely,
Scott