Freedom of Information - Part II Information Statements

Summary

Agencies, including Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA), are required to publish a list of documents and information in accordance with Part II of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) (FOI Act).

A Part II Information Statement contains information relating to types of documents held by an agency, what the agency does and how a person can access the information they require.

Background

The purpose of Part II of the FOI Act is to assist the public to exercise the right to obtain access to information held by agencies. The Part II Information Statement provides information in relation to what the agency does, how it acts, what information it holds and how to access the information.

The Part II Information Statement comprises 6 categories of documents listed in Statements 1–6:

• Statement 1 – Organisations and functions
• Statement 2 – Categories of documents
• Statement 3 – FOI arrangements
• Statement 4 – Publications
• Statement 5 – Rules, policies and procedures
• Statement 6 – Report literature

Statement 1: Organisation and function

ESTA was established as a statutory authority by the Emergency Services Telecommunications Act 2004 (ESTA Act).

Its functions pursuant to section 7 of the Act are:

1. to provide or enable and control the provision by others of emergency telecommunications and other communications services
2. to promote and develop policies and procedures to improve the standard and provision of emergency telecommunications and other communications services
3. to advise the Minister for Emergency Services on the administration of this Act and on any other matter referred to Authority by the Minister
4. any other functions that are conferred on the Authority by this or any other Act.

ESTA provides the critical link between the Victorian community and the State’s emergency service agencies. It provides Victoria’s, 24 hour emergency call-taking and dispatch services for police, fire, ambulance and SES. ESTA takes more than 2 million calls for assistance a year. On average this is a call every 13 seconds, the majority of which come via the Triple Zero emergency call service.

ESTA also provides advanced, operational communications for Victoria’s emergency services.

It supports police, fire, ambulance and VICSES personnel in the field by:

• carrying close to 20 million radio calls over the Metropolitan Mobile Radio Service (MMR)
• supporting 6.7 million data transactions on the Mobile Data Network (MDN)
• delivering more than a million messages to CFA, VICSES and Ambulance Victoria volunteers and staff via the State-wide Emergency Alerting System (EAS).

Further information relating to ESTA and its functions can be found on this website.

Statement 2: Categories of Documents

ESTA records Triple Zero calls from the public and other operational telephone calls made and received relating to the provision of emergency call-taking and dispatch services.

Other categories of documents created and/or handled include:

• standards and policies
• procedures and standard operating procedures
• reports and briefings
• correspondence
• financial records
• meeting records
• technical records.

ESTA uses a computerised records management system to manage its documents. Other computer systems manage financial, human resources and operational activities. Manual files are also employed at ESTA.

Statement 3: Freedom of Information Arrangements

People wanting access to ESTA documentation under the FOI Act should write to:

Company Secretary
Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority
33 Lakeside Drive
Burwood East VIC 3151

General inquiries concerning Freedom of Information can be made by emailing FOI.request@esta.vic.gov.au

Further information relating to how to make an FOI request to ESTA can be found at ESTA’s Freedom of Information page.

In June 2013, ESTA was also given a Ministerial authorisation enabling it to release information that would otherwise be confidential under the ESTA Act and therefore unable to be released under the FOI Act.

This authorisation now allows ESTA in certain circumstances to release information for the purposes of:

• educating the community or any section of the community about the role of and the services offered by the Authority
• promoting public health and safety
• responding to complaints, enquiries or compliments about or relating to the Authority, a Member of or acting Member of the Authority or an employee of the Authority
• support for the staff of the Authority, which may include commendations or other recognition
• responding to requests for access to records under the FOI Act so far as the exemptions contained in that Act (other than that contained in s 38 of that Act) do not apply to the information.

For further information on obtaining Triple Zero calls, please refer to our Audio Request page.

For further information on the Freedom of Information in Victoria, please visit the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner.

Statement 4: Publications

Publications produced by ESTA are available on this website.

Statement 5: Rules, Policies and Procedures

ESTA has a range of internal rules, policies and procedures for its staff. These may be made available on request, subject to the provisions of the FOI Act.

Statement 6: Report literature

Brochures and reports produced by ESTA are available on this website.