7.7  Access to information and the Freedom of Information Act 1982

A contract director for a Partnerships Victoria project should have an understanding of the obligations in the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act. Appendix E of this guide discusses some of the issues relevant to this area of public sector compliance. The contract director should seek advice from the FoI or legal units within the government party when developing its knowledge and information management strategy. The contract management team should also receive specific training on FoI, with advice from the FoI or legal units, to ensure that the contract management team complies with FoI requirements. The contract director will need to:

•  manage FoI issues when they arise; 

•  achieve an approach to records management that complies with the project knowledge and information management system;

•  record information in a way that supports operation of the FoI Act; and

•  ensure that the project deed (and associated project contracts) reflects government policies to maximising public access to project information.