Freedom of Information

Part II Information Statement

Museums Victoria is committed to providing access to our documents and information to members of the public. Providing easily accessible information reduces the need to submit Freedom of Information requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act). This Part II Statement provides an overview of the functions of Museums Victoria and an overview of the types of documents and information held by Museums Victoria. This statement is a statutory requirement under the Act.

The content presented within this Part II Information Statement provides only a snapshot of the information that is available. You may find information by searching this website, or use the contact us page.

Statement 1 – Organisation and functions

Museums Victoria is Australia’s largest public museum organisation. As the state museum for Victoria, we are responsible for looking after the State Collection, conducting research and providing cultural and science programs for the people of Victoria and visitors from interstate and overseas.

Museums Victoria undertakes high-quality research on historical and contemporary issues in the fields of science, history and technology, and Indigenous cultures. Our research is based on a world-class collection of more than 17 million items and is carried out by expert curators. Museums Victoria operates three museums: Immigration Museum, Scienceworks and Melbourne Museum, a collection storage facility, and a non-collection facility, and is custodian for the World Heritage–listed Royal Exhibition Building.

The Museums Board of Victoria, a statutory body established under the Museums Act 1983 (Vic.), is directly accountable to the Victorian Government, through the Minister for Creative Industries, and works with Creative Victoria to deliver policy objectives. The Board is responsible for maintaining the standards of management of Museums Victoria set out in the Museums Act 1983, Section 23, which has the following Statutory Functions:

control, manage, operate, promote, develop and maintain Museums Victoria
control, manage, operate, promote, develop and maintain the exhibition land as a place for holding public exhibitions and for the assembly, education, instruction, entertainment and recreation of the public
develop and maintain the state collections of natural sciences, Indigenous cultures, social history and science and technology
exhibit material from those collections for the purposes of education and entertainment
promote the use of those collections for scientific research
promote the use of the museum’s resources for education in Victoria
research, present and promote issues of public relevance and benefit
act as a repository for specimens upon which scientific studies have been made or which may have special cultural or historical significance
provide leadership to museums in Victoria
advise the Victorian Minister for Creative Industries on matters relating to museums and the coordination of museum services in Victoria.

Further information about Museums Victoria can be found in the about us section of our website.

Members of the public may also contact us or write directly to the Museum seeking information on any aspect of our operations.

Statement 2 – Categories of Documents

Document Types

Document types in the possession of Museums Victoria include:

Records pertaining to our buildings and other assets
Records pertaining to objects in the Museums Victoria collection
Museums Victoria policies and procedures
Records of divisional operations e.g. research, marketing, development
Records of Museums Board of Victoria meetings
Finance and accounting records
Volunteer records
Personnel and salary records
Board member records
Museums Victoria member records.

Categories of Documents

The documents mentioned above are organised under the following categories according to our file plan scheme.

Category	Description
Collection Management	The function of selecting, acquiring, maintaining, interpreting and promoting items in the collection includes materials used in permanent display and loans that are not part of an exhibition.
Commercial Operations	The function of providing products and services on a commercial basis.
Community Relations	The function of establishing rapport with the community and raising and maintaining Museum Victoria's broad public profile.
Equipment and Stores	The function of acquiring, supplying, maintaining, repairing and disposing of equipment and stores stocked and used by Museum Victoria.
Exhibition Management	The function of providing a program of exhibitions from a variety of sources and in various formats. Exhibitions can be designed and assembled by Museum Victoria and/or outside organisations.
Financial Management	The function of managing Museum Victoria's financial resources.
Fleet Management	The function of acquiring, managing, maintaining, repairing and disposing of vehicles.
Governance	The function of providing support for the Museums Board of Victoria. This includes recording and reporting in compliance with legislative responsibilities..
Government Relations	The function of administering the formal relationship between Museum Victoria and those processes of Government.
Human Resources	The function of managing employees and other workers in Museum Victoria.
Industrial Relations	The function of establishing formal relations with Museum Victoria's employees and their representatives to achieve a harmonious workplace.
Information Management	The function of managing Museum Victoria's information resources.
Legal Services	The function of providing legal services to Museum Victoria.
Occupational Health & Safety	The function of implementing and co-ordinating statutory occupational health and safety measures throughout Museum Victoria.
Property Management	The function of managing land and premises owned, rented or leased by Museum Victoria.
Public & Education Programs	The function of providing information and services to stimulate and broaden interest, enjoyment and understanding of the institution in its cultural context.
Strategic Management	The function of applying broad systematic management planning for Museum Victoria.
Technology & Telecommunications	The function of developing, acquiring, testing, implementing and maintaining applications, databases and automated systems to support the business needs of Museum Victoria.

Statement 3 – Freedom of Information Arrangements

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic.), members of the public have the right to request information and access documents about their personal affairs and the activities of Museums Victoria.

Informal Access to Documents

In some cases, Museums Victoria may provide information outside of the formal Freedom of Information process. Please contact the FOI Officer to enquire about availability of documents and information: [email protected]

Access to Documents

A Freedom of Information Request must be made in writing to the relevant agency in possession of the documents. Requests for documents in the possession of Museums Victoria need to be addressed to [email protected] or by post:

Freedom of Information Officer
Museums Victoria
GPO Box 666
Melbourne VIC 3001

Each request should be accompanied by the prescribed application fee of two fee units. Details about fee units can be found here. Application fees can be paid by EFT, cheque or money order. The application fee may be waived if you provide a statement of how payment of the application fee would cause you financial hardship, or if you are requesting access to documents relating to your own personal information only.

In addition to the application fee, Museums Victoria may charge fees for access to documents in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Access Charges) Regulations 2014. The access charges will vary for each request and may include, for example, charges for time spent searching for documents, charges per page for providing documents in hard copy format or charges for supervised inspection.

An applicant may request copies of documents or inspection of specific documents at Museums Victoria, or else other access arrangements as may be appropriate to the application.

Decision of Request

Section 21 of the Act requires that all reasonable steps be taken to notify the applicant of the decision concerning the release of documents as soon as practicable. It must be no later than 30 days after the date on which the request was received. If we need to consult with others about the release of certain information, then the timeframe extends to 45 days, to enable them to respond.

For more information about Freedom of Information look here.

Statement 4 - Publications

The Museum publishes books and journals on a range of subjects, including natural history, indigenous cultures and history. This can be viewed through our Books and Journals sections on our site.

Thousands of museum objects, specimens, free images, articles and stories are available to view online at Museums Victoria Collections.

The current Strategic Plan and recent Annual Reports are available on the Corporate Documents page.

Statement 5 – Rules, Policies and Procedures

Codes of conduct, policies and procedures are in place to govern the daily operations of Museums Victoria and support its administrative functions. Some Museums Victoria’s policies and procedures are accessible through our website.

Other related items can be found on the Legals page.

Statement 6 – Report Literature

Several reports are available through the about us section of the website.