Vehicle Testing Notices Statistics & Processes.
Jarred Crowe made this Freedom of Information request to Environment Protection Authority Victoria
Dear Environment Protection Authority Victoria,
I am formally requesting access to documents under FOI relating to vehicle testing notices issued in the period between January 1, 2023, and December 24, 2023.
I kindly request the following documents;
1. Statistical reports that detail the number of vehicle testing notices issued for the above period indicating the required tests (smoke or noise), per suburb, postcode or local government area.
2. Statistical reports for the above period, that detail the outcomes of issued vehicle testing notices, indicating the percentage of passed/failed vehicles tested, or the percentage of notices that returned a certificate of compliance.
3. EPA authorised officer handbook/training information, Only sections relating to processes and requirements for issuing vehicle testing notices and related best practices.
4. All informational papers that are sent to vehicle owners who receive a vehicle testing notice, explaining noise or smoke tests, legislation, CoC process and associated fees.
Yours faithfully,
Jarred Crowe
OFFICIAL
Hi Jarred,
Please see below for steps on how to pay the application fee for your
request.
Paying the application fee
Under section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act), a
request for access to documents must be accompanied by a fee of $31.80.
You can pay by credit card, electronic funds transfer (from your bank)
(EFT), or cheque. Instructions on how to pay the application fee are given
below.
The EPA may waive or reduce the amount required if payment of the
application fee would cause you hardship. Please provide evidence if you
are experiencing hardship and would like to have the application fee
waived or reduced. Evidence of hardship is typically a photocopy of a
Commonwealth Government Health Care or Pensioner Concession Card issued to
you, or a statutory declaration of hardship made by you and accompanied by
a recent bank statement showing your bank balance.
Credit Card payment or EFT
You can pay the application fee by credit card online by using the
following link:
[1]https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-epa/onl...
From this page, please:
1. Input the reference number ‘00032024’
2. Input the amount of $31.80
3. Proceed to make payment
Please email [2][Environment Protection Authority Victoria request email] to tell us when you have made the
payment so that we can check with our Finance Branch and proceed with the
other steps required to check whether you have a valid request. If there
are any additional issues with the validity of your request (for example,
there may be issues with the clarity of the terms of your request), we
will contact you. Please note that, until a request is valid, EPA cannot
process it.
Cheque
You can make payment of the application fee by forwarding a cheque made
out to the Environment Protection Authority to the following address:
FOI unit
Environment Protection Authority
GPO Box 4395
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
To correspond your payment with your request, either include a copy of the
request with the cheque, or a note that the cheque is for the FOI
application fee for request FOI-003-2024.
For more information about the process of making an FOI request to the
EPA, please go to this webpage:
[3]https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-epa/law...
Please contact me if you have any questions about this matter.
Kind regards,
Julia she/her
Freedom of Information Officer
Civil Litigation & Advice
E [4][Environment Protection Authority Victoria request email]
P
A 200 Victoria St, Carlton
[5]epa.vic.gov.au
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Hi Julia,
Thankyou for your reply,
I have processed payment using the provided instructions,
Kindly,
Jarred Crowe
OFFICIAL
Hi Jared,
A deposit for the access charges, which have been estimated to apply in the case of your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, is required. Please find attached a letter about the requirements.
Kind regards,
Julia she/her
Freedom of Information Officer
Civil Litigation & Advice
E [4][Environment Protection Authority Victoria request email] P A 200 Victoria St, Carlton
[5]epa.vic.gov.au
[6][IMG][7]|[8][IMG]|[9][IMG]|[10][IMG]
Hi Julia,
I do believe these access charges to be unreasonably high,
I believe that the total cost should be closer to $71.55.
The FOI Act Sections 22(1)(a) and 22(1)(b) value search and/or Supervision time at 1.5 fee units per hour.
The current value of a fee unit is $15.90
15.90 x 1.5 = 23.85
23.85 x 3(hours) = 71.55
As this fee is for document creation I do understand that this would incur additional costs to searching but this should be somewhat closer to the standard fees. As this circumstance involves creating a document from existing statistical data it is reasonable to expect it would be a semi-automated process therefore I do take issue with the full hourly rate of a VPS Officer 4.1 staff member being quoted as a fee.
However, to progress the request forward I have processed payment of the requested $69.15 deposit but am seeking clarification of the estimated total access charges.
Kindly,
Jarred Crowe
Hi Julia,
Unfortunately, I could not reach you when I called yesterday and didn't receive a call back.
It has been some time since I have heard anything regarding this request.
Could you please provide an update?
Kindly,
Jarred Crowe
OFFICIAL
Hi Jarred,
Thank you for your email.
The due date of your request is 9 March 2024. The current status of your request is that the documents are being assessed and the decision is being made as to their disclosure. Once the decision is made, it will be provided to you.
If anything further is needed from you before this time, someone on our team will be in touch.
Kind regards,
Julia she/her
Freedom of Information Officer
Civil Litigation & Advice
OFFICIAL
Dear Jarred,
This email is about the request you have made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and to ask you whether you want the
personal information of other people that is likely to appear in any
relevant documents.
Attached to this email is an information sheet that provides further
detail about how the FOI Act treats information relating to the personal
affairs of any person.
Please read the information sheets carefully and then answer the questions
I have asked below.
Personal affairs information
1. Do you seek the personal affairs information of other
people that will appear in the documents relevant to your request?
2. If your answer to question 1 above is ‘Yes’, do you
consent to me sharing your name, as the applicant of the request, with the
people that I must consult about their personal affairs information?
Please contact me if you would like to discuss this matter.
I look forward to your response.
Kind regards,
Julia she/her
Freedom of Information Officer
Civil Litigation & Advice
E [email address]
P
A 200 Victoria St, Carlton
[1]epa.vic.gov.au
[2][IMG][3]|[4][IMG]|[5][IMG]|[6][IMG]
EPA acknowledges Aboriginal people as the first peoples and Traditional
custodians of the land and water on which we live work and depend. We pay
respect to Aboriginal Elders past and present and recognise the continuing
connection to and aspirations for the Country. This email (and any
attachments) is for the intended recipient only and may contain
privileged, confidential or copyright information. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use of this email is prohibited, please notify the
sender immediately or contact us at 1300 372 842, or
[7][email address] and delete the original. EPA does not warrant
that this email or any attachments are error or virus free and accepts no
liability for computer viruses, data corruption, delay or interruption,
unauthorised access or use. Any personal information in this email must be
handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic).
This email (and any attachments) is for the intended recipient only and
may contain privileged, confidential or copyright information. If you are
not the intended recipient, any use of this email is prohibited, please
notify the sender immediately or contact us on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA
VIC), or [email address] and delete the original. EPA does not
warrant that this email or any attachments are error or virus free and
accepts no liability for computer viruses, data corruption, delay or
interruption, unauthorised access or use. Any personal information in this
e-mail must be handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection
Act 2014 (Vic).
References
Visible links
1. https://epa.vic.gov.au/
2. https://twitter.com/VicGovEPA
3. https://twitter.com/VicGovEPA
4. https://www.facebook.com/VicGovEPA
5. https://www.linkedin.com/company/vicgovepa
6. https://www.youtube.com/user/epavictoria
7. mailto:[email address]
Hi Julia,
Thank you for your reply to this request,
I do not require any personal information.
I am seeking generalised statistical reports, handbooks and letters/papers that should not include any personally identifiable information, only generalised data per suburb, postcode or local government area.
Kindly, Jarred
OFFICIAL
Dear Jarred,
Attached is the decision on your recent Freedom of Information request.
Kind regards,
Julia Begley she/her
Freedom of Information Officer
Civil Litigation & Advice
E [email address]
P 03 8613 5499
A 200 Victoria St, Carlton
[1]epa.vic.gov.au
[2][IMG][3]|[4][IMG]|[5][IMG]|[6][IMG]
EPA acknowledges Aboriginal people as the first peoples and Traditional
custodians of the land and water on which we live work and depend. We pay
respect to Aboriginal Elders past and present and recognise the continuing
connection to and aspirations for the Country. This email (and any
attachments) is for the intended recipient only and may contain
privileged, confidential or copyright information. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use of this email is prohibited, please notify the
sender immediately or contact us at 1300 372 842, or
[7][email address] and delete the original. EPA does not warrant
that this email or any attachments are error or virus free and accepts no
liability for computer viruses, data corruption, delay or interruption,
unauthorised access or use. Any personal information in this email must be
handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic).
This email (and any attachments) is for the intended recipient only and
may contain privileged, confidential or copyright information. If you are
not the intended recipient, any use of this email is prohibited, please
notify the sender immediately or contact us on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA
VIC), or [email address] and delete the original. EPA does not
warrant that this email or any attachments are error or virus free and
accepts no liability for computer viruses, data corruption, delay or
interruption, unauthorised access or use. Any personal information in this
e-mail must be handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection
Act 2014 (Vic).
References
Visible links
1. https://epa.vic.gov.au/
2. https://twitter.com/VicGovEPA
3. https://twitter.com/VicGovEPA
4. https://www.facebook.com/VicGovEPA
5. https://www.linkedin.com/company/vicgovepa
6. https://www.youtube.com/user/epavictoria
7. mailto:[email address]
Hi Julia,
Thank you for granting access to these documents,
I have processed payment for the remaining $23.85
Could you please advise if you have received this and when documents can be emailed?
Kindly,
Jarred Crowe
OFFICIAL
Hi Jarred,
Please see attached for your payment receipt.
The files are too large to send via email attachment, and I am unable to use the 'Right To Know' email address to share the documents with you via our file sharing system. Can you please provide an alternative email address?
Kind regards,
Julia Begley she/her
Freedom of Information Officer
Civil Litigation & Advice
E [email address]
P 03 8613 5499
A 200 Victoria St, Carlton
Hi Julia,
I kindly ask that you please provide the files via direct upload to RightToKnow as per instrustions on this page; https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
Kindly,
Jarred Crowe
