ESTA Act and Ministerial Authorisation
Section 33 of the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority Act 2004 (ESTA is titled “Secrecy”. It protects the privacy of all information shared during Triple Zero calls. The law restricts how ESTA, its employees, and others can access and use that information.
ESTA has Ministerial Authorisation to release confidential information, but only with the written consent of:
- the person who made the call, and
- any other people identified in the call.
ESTA is not able to share personally identifiable information without consent from the individual/s or organisation/s involved.
Personally identifiable information may include an individual’s:
- voice
- name
- description
- address or location
- work or profession
- relationship to the caller
- circumstances being reported to Triple Zero.
If someone doesn't give permission to release their call, ESTA will refuse access under Section 33 of the ESTA Act. In such cases, ESTA will look into identification concerns and may provide access to redacted call audio (with personally identifiable information edited out).
Requesting Triple Zero audio recordings
ESTA has limitations on the information it can share and the people it can share it with.
To request Triple Zero audio recordings, you need to be either:
- the person who made the call (or their agent)
- the next of kin of a person who made a call, who is either a child or is deceased
- a person who is a subject of the Triple Zero call where the caller has provided consent or cannot be identified.
Proof of identity
To access Triple Zero call audio, you must provide photographic proof of identification. ESTA cannot give you access without valid identification.
- If the request is related to you, you'll need to submit a copy of your photo ID (such as your driver's licence or passport) as proof of identification.
- If you are a next of kin, you will need to provide your identification and proof of your relationship, such as a death certificate or a child’s birth certificate that includes your name on the document.
- If you are not the person who made the call, then you should (if you can) provide proof of identification from the person who made the call and that person’s written consent to release this information.
- If the call relates to you, but the caller is unknown to you, ESTA may be able to contact the caller to obtain their consent. We will not be able to release a call if we do not receive their written consent.
- After filling in the Audio Request form on this page, email a copy of the relevant proof of identity to FOI.Request@ESTA.vic.gov.au. Please include the reference number you received via email after completing the form.
Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
How to submit a request
- Before completing the form, please ensure you have all the information relating to the call that will enable us to locate the event and consider release. This includes:
- date and time of call
- location of event including street and suburb (call audio requests limited to Triple Zero calls in Victoria only)
- telephone number used to contact Triple Zero (if known)
- caller and requester identification document
- next of kin authority, proof of relationship or death certificate (if relevant)
- consent of any person that is identified in the call, including the caller (if known).
ESTA Act Consent (106.29kb)
- Complete the form at the bottom of this page. Please note the following:
- You can’t include/send documents via the form.
- Once your request is lodged you will receive an automatic reply with an “INF number”. Please check junk folder if you do not receive a response back.
- Reply back to the email with your proof of identity documents.
- If you need to contact us, email FOI.Request@esta.vic.gov.au or call (03) 9259 3737.
ESTA receives a high number of audio requests each month, so it may take some time to process your request. We apologise for any delays and advise we are unable to provide updates on the progress of your request.
Information for law firms requesting information
To make your request quicker for us to process, please provide ESTA with as much information as possible about the call you need access to, including:
- date and time of call/incident
- location of call/incident
- brief description of the incident
- whether your client is the caller
- what number your client called from
- whether your client agrees for their name and involvement in the event to be released to a third party for the purpose of consultation.
- a signed and dated authorisation from your client that specifically addresses the details of your request. An authorization that only mentions "health information" is not enough
- any information they know about the caller, such as their name and the phone number they called from, if your client was not the caller.
If you have an urgent request due to a court date or any other important reason, please let us know and include relevant documentation when submitting your request.
Further points to note:
- ESTA is currently only able to provide the call recordings themselves. We are unable to provide.
- We may redact the call audio in certain circumstances.
- We are unable to provide updates for individual cases due to the volume of requests we receive.
Other ways to request information
If you need information relating to the actual services that attended an event, consider making a Freedom of Information request to the agency:
- Victoria Police – Freedom of
- Ambulance Victoria – Freedom of
- Country Fire Authority (CFA) – Freedom of
- Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) – Freedom of
- SES Victoria – Freedom of
- Court matter – consider issuing ESTA with a subpoena to produce the call audio. Victoria’s court websites have links to the appropriate forms.
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Reviewed 17 August 2023