Dear Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority,

Recent media reports have listed at least three safety incidents that have occurred on the North east Link's Eastern Freeway construction site, each or in combination reportedly serious enough to cause construction works to be suspended for nearly a week.

The reporting from the Herald Sun lists two crane collapses and a truck rollover, and Seven News reports include aerial footage of a crane on it's side.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victor...

The safety of the public using the Eastern Freeway is of paramount importance while these construction works occur, and so these serious safety incidents are of major public interest.

Request

I therefore request access to the following documents created, stored and transmitted in the Government's information system:

a) Documents outlining the details of the three serious safety incidents that occurred on Eastern Freeway construction site between April and October 2025;

b) Documents relating to any safety or incident notification alert issued by VIDA or it’s contractors for each of the three incidents that occurred on Eastern Freeway construction site between April and October 2025;

c) Documents relating to communications with WorkSafe Victoria relating to the safety notification or safety alert for each of the three incidents that occurred on Eastern Freeway construction site between April and October 2025; and

d) Documents related to planned remedial actions being undertaken by VIDA or its contractors relating to each of the three incidents that occurred on Eastern Freeway construction site between April and October 2025.

In making this request through the website Righttoknow.org.au, I have satisfied all requirements for a Request for access as per section 17 of the Act, in that it is a written request that clearly identifies the information and document requested, save payment of the fee.

I request VIDA to provide me with a way to make payment via credit card through this written channel of Righttoknow.org.au.

Request for documents include computer based information

This request for Government information is for information contained within the Government information system, as contemplated by section 19 of the Act.

This request therefore covers documents which include documents where an “agency could produce a written document containing the information in discrete form by—

(i) the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the agency for retrieving or collating stored information;

or (ii) the making of a transcript from a sound recording held in the agency—

the agency shall deal with the request as if it were a request for access to a written document so produced and containing that information.”

This request would include information contained in electronic form such as Aconex and Sharepoint.

Clarifications

For the avoidance of doubt, this request for Government Information does not cover the incident and related activities associated with the "sinkhole" encountered by the Tunnel Boring Machine in January/February 2025.

Also to be clear, I am not seeking names and details of people in any of the documents, so it would be appropriate to redact any references to people's names & contact details.

In making this request I note that section 16 of the Act outlines:

"16 Access to documents apart from Act

(1) Ministers and agencies shall administer this Act with a view to making the maximum amount of government information promptly and inexpensively available to the public"

If this request can be answered as informal request, please do so.

Otherwise, please proceed with this as a formal request under the Freedom of Information principles & framework, i.e. the Freedom of Information Act 1982 & regulations.

Yours faithfully,
Richard Smith