About questionnaires and surveys
The Victorian Law Reform Commission is an independent, government-funded organisation that develops, reviews and recommends reform of Victoria’s laws. We have a charter to consult with the community and advise the Attorney-General on how to improve and update Victorian laws under review.
To ensure our work is informed by the views and experiences of the community, we engage with the community in a number of ways including through consultation and submissions. For some projects we also seek community responses through a project questionnaire or survey. Questionnaires and surveys are carried out in accordance with our Information Privacy Policy.
Questionnaires and surveys invite responses to a number of questions. These questions are similar to those contained in the Issues or Consultation Paper for a project but are generally shorter and more targeted. Questionnaires and surveys generally ask a few simple questions about people’s experience of the law being reviewed.
We use online questionnaires and surveys to obtain responses from sections of the community who are unlikely to, or do not have the time to make a formal submission.
A questionnaire or survey may be posted on our website or run through a third-party platform, such as SurveyMonkey or Engage Victoria.
How do I respond to a questionnaire or survey?
See the ‘Consultation Information’ or project page for each project to find out how to participate in a questionnaire or survey and submit a response.
Unless a project specifies this, survey responses are anonymous and you are not required to answer every question. However, the more relevant information you provide, the more we can consider your views on an issue.
We only consider the matters which are outlined in the Terms of Reference for each project. We recommend using the consultation or issues paper for a project to help guide your survey response and ensure that the information you provide is relevant.
We request that you do not include information in your response which identifies you or another person. This includes personal information such as your name, date of birth or address. This also includes information which someone could use to figure out your identity, such as your age, school or the place where you live. If we receive unsolicited personal information in a survey response, it will be removed and your survey response handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic).
We sometimes ask questionnaire and survey participants to provide their post code. This helps us to collect information about trends and issues within a particular region of Victoria and to identify if further consultation in a particular locality would be helpful. We also sometimes ask questionnaire and survey participants to provide details about themselves, such as their age range, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnic, cultural, language or faith background. We ask these questions because they help us to identify how a law or legal issue may impact communities or groups. If a question or survey asks these questions, you do not have to answer them.
Sometimes questionnaire and survey participants choose to provide their email address. If you do this we may contact you to further discuss your response, and we may send you a final copy of our report if you wish to receive it.
You may respond to a survey during a project’s consultation period. Details about this are made available on the relevant project page for each project including the closing date for questionnaire or survey responses. We provide a deadline so that we have enough time to consider all responses and write our reports. We are unable to consider late responses to questionnaires or surveys.
What if I would like help to complete a questionnaire or survey?
If you need assistance to complete a questionnaire or survey, such as the use of an interpreter, or you need to complete it in a different format, please contact us by:
- Email: law.reform@lawreform.vic.gov.au (or the project email available on the project page) or
- Phone (03) 8608 7800.
How will my questionnaire or survey response be used?
Questionnaires and surveys help us to understand the different views and experiences people have about the law. Responses will be analysed and used to understand community views, make findings and develop recommendations.
We do not publish questionnaire or survey responses on our website. However, we refer to responses in our publications, and we provide information about the number of questionnaire or survey responses we receive in our publications.
When we refer to extracts from survey responses in our publications, we will remove personally identifying information. When we refer to a survey response in our report, we will use a general description which does not identify you (e.g. ‘Online Survey Response #20’).
Although we do not make survey responses public, a member of the public may make a request to see the responses under Freedom of Information legislation. Any such request will be determined in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic), which has provisions designed to protect personal information and information given in confidence. Further information can be found at: Freedom of Information – Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner.
How will my privacy be protected?
Survey responses which contain personal information or personally identifying information will be collected, stored and used in accordance with the Commission’s Information Privacy Policy the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) and other relevant laws.
Any request by someone outside the Commission for access to survey responses will be refused unless a formal Freedom of Information (FOI) request has been made. Such a request will be determined in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic), which is designed to protect personal information and information given in confidence. Further information can be found at: Freedom of Information – Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner.
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