Victoria Police is taking an average of nine months to process Freedom of Information requests – unchanged since at least 2022, when it was attributed to COVID-19.

The force's FOI page at police.vic.gov.au continues to advise: "We are currently experiencing a significant increase in Freedom of Information (FOI) submissions. It will take 35 weeks on average to process your FOI request."

The delay stands in stark contrast to the FOI Act's requirement that agencies respond within 30 to 45 days.

Victoria Police told ABC News this week that a new records management system would be implemented “soon”.

In May 2024, RecordPoint announced it had been awarded a seven-year, $A7.2 million contract to replace the Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP) - Victoria Police's electronic document and records management system used to classify, store, access and manage documentation across the force's 23,000-plus staff.

LEAP has been a long-running problem for the force. A 2016 report revealed Victoria Police had already extended LEAP's life by seven years after a planned replacement project was abandoned in 2011, having cost $A45 million without delivering a workable outcome.

OVIC data shows record demand, worsening compliance

The Victoria Police delays sit within a broader picture of FOI demand surging across Victoria. The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) 2024-25 annual report recorded 58,181 FOI requests across Victoria in 2024-25 - a 9.4 per cent increase from the previous year and another record high.

Victoria Police was the top agency in Victoria by number of OVIC review applications received in 2024-25, ahead of the Departments of Families, Fairness and Housing; Justice and Community Safety; Transport and Planning; and Energy, Environment and Climate Action.

The nine-month average wait is materially worse than the figure that prompted OVIC's own formal investigation. In 2021, OVIC's Commissioner conducted an own-motion investigation into FOI timeliness at five Victorian agencies, including Victoria Police.

That investigation found applicants were waiting an average of six months. Then-Commissioner Sven Bluemmel called it "an unacceptable level of delay" that "deprives Victorians of an important right."

A follow-up report twelve months later found delays had not improved at Victoria Police, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, or the Department of Transport.

The current nine-month figure represents a 50 per cent blow-out beyond the benchmark OVIC had already condemned. No formal enforcement action against Victoria Police has resolved the situation in the intervening period.

Reform stuck in review

Victoria's FOI legislation is also under question at the parliamentary level. The Victorian Parliament's Integrity and Oversight Committee tabled an inquiry report in September 2024 finding that the Freedom of Information Act 1982 was no longer fit for purpose.

The committee called for the Act to be replaced with a modern right-to-information framework. The Victorian Government's subsequent response indicated it needed more time to assess the recommendations, citing complex policy, legal, cultural and resourcing issues.

OVIC said it welcomed the committee's recommendations but would continue to push for improved agency practices in the meantime.

The Right to Know platform, which publishes FOI requests made to Australian public sector agencies, shows Victoria Police responses routinely contain the standard advisory that the office "is experiencing considerable delays in responding to requests and correspondence."