Internal review – asking the Social Services Regulator to reconsider a decision

If you want the Social Services Regulator (SSR) to reconsider a reviewable action or decision it has made under the Social Services Regulation Act 2021 (the SSR Act) or under theChild Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (the CWS Act) you, as an affected party, can apply for an internal review.

What is an internal review?

The internal review process allows service providers (also referred to as “applicants”) to ask the SSR to re-consider some of the decisions made.

The following decisions made by the SSR are subject to an internal review:

If you have been issued with an improvement notice (including amendments), or a prohibition notice (including amendments) you can apply for an internal review under section 286 of the SSR Act.
If you have been issued with an infringement notice, you can apply for internal review under section 22 of the Infringements Act 2006.
If you have been issued with a notice to produce as an entity or a finding following an own motion investigation associated with a reportable allegation under the Reportable Conduct Scheme you can apply for an internal review under section 16ZI of the CWS Act.
If you have been issued with a notice to produce as the head of entity or any other person or you have been given a reportable conduct notice to comply, you can apply for an internal review under section 16ZZP of the CWS Act.

Receipt of application for review

The SSR will acknowledge receipt of your application.

We will assess your application to confirm that it is valid by checking that:

it relates to a type of decision that can be reviewed
is made by a person who may seek review, and
is within time.

We will then advise you of:

information about the internal review process and expected timelines
information about how to provide any further evidence or written submissions.

Applying for an internal review of an improvement notice or a prohibition notice

You can apply for an internal review of an improvement notice or a prohibition notice using the Application for Internal Review Form (statutory notices), which you can download below.

Once we have received and assessed your application the Regulator may:

decide not to change its decision regarding the notice you have been issued with. This is referred to in the Act as “affirming” the decision
amend or revoke the notice you have been issued with; or
make recommendations to the authorised officer who issued the notice.

While the Regulator considers an application for internal review, it may “stay” the decision to issue the improvement/prohibition notice. This means the Regulator puts the decision to issue or amend the improvement or prohibition notice on hold, and defers taking any enforcement action. If there is a stay on the decision the Regulator may attach conditions to it.

The Regulator will make a decision within 10 business days of receiving your application for internal review, unless that period is extended by the Regulator. If that happens the Regulator will notify you in writing.

Once the Regulator has made a decision it will provide you with a written notice explaining the decision to affirm, amend or revoke the notice.

Applying for an Internal review of an infringement notice

If you are the recipient or representative of organisation that is subject to an infringement notice, you can apply for an internal review of an infringement notice:

Online at fines.vic.gov.au (you will need your infringement number)

Using the application form included in your infringement notice (the form must be properly completed for the application to be valid.).

Your application must be made at any time before the outstanding amount of an infringement penalty together with any penalty reminder notice fee are registered with the Director under the Fines Reform Act 2014 or within 14 days of the applicant becoming aware of the infringement notice if the applicant was unaware of the notice having been served and that service of the infringement notice was not by personal service.

Unlike internal review applications for improvement and prohibition notices, internal reviews of infringement notices can only be requested on specific grounds, namely:

the decision to serve/issue the infringement notice was contrary to the law; and/or
the decision to serve/issue the infringement notice involved a mistake of identity; and/or
special circumstances apply to the recipient who received the notice (this is not applicable to corporate entities); and/or
the conduct for which the infringement notice was served should be excused having regard to any exceptional circumstances relating to the infringement offence; and/or
the person was unaware the notice was served and that the infringement notice was not served by personal service (for example, by an authorised officer or a process server).

Once an internal review application is received, the review process begins. During the review process any enforcement actions associated with the notice are suspended until the internal review is complete and the applicant is advised of the outcome.

The internal review must be finalised within 90 days of receiving your application.

The SSR may request additional information from you during the review process. If this happens the review process will be extended by 35 days. This will be counted either from the date the request has been made, or the date from when the additional information has been provided by the applicant, which ever allows for earlier conclusion of the review.

Applicants who are asked to provide additional information must provide it within 14 days or seek an extension. If an extension is granted the SSR will inform you in writing. If the information is not provided in time, we may proceed with the review. If requested information is received late, but before the end of an internal review, the SSR may still accept it.

Infringement notices issued by the SSR are managed by Fines Victoria.

This includes payment of infringements and coordination with the SSR when internal reviews or election to go to court is requested. Fines Victoria may also undertake a range of engagement activities to ensure compliance with the infringement notice.

If you have lost your infringement number, please contact the issuing Authorised Officer or email us using the below emails subject to your region:

Applying for an internal review of a notice to produce

If your organisation has received a notice to produce to an entity, associated with the Reportable Conduct Scheme, from the SSR issued under section 16ZG of the of the CWS Act or you have received a notice to produce issued to the head of an entity or any other person under section 16ZZI of the CWS Act you can apply for an internal review of the decision to issue the notice to produce using the Application for Internal Review Form (for statutory notices and findings), which you can download below.

You must lodge your application within 10 business days after the day on which the notice to produce was issued.

Once we have received and assessed your application the SSR may:

decide not to change its decision regarding the notice you have been issued with. This is referred to in the Act as “affirming” the decision
amend or revoke the notice you have been issued with; or
make recommendations to the officer who issued the notice.

The SSR will make a decision within 10 business days of receiving your application for internal review, unless that period is extended by the SSR. If that happens the SSR will notify you in writing.

Applying for an internal review of a reportable conduct notice to comply

If you are the head of an entity and you have received a reportable conduct notice to comply, associated with the Reportable Conduct Scheme, from the SSR issued under section 16ZZJ of the of the CWS you can apply for an internal review of the decision to issue the notice to produce using the Application for Internal Review Form (for statutory notices and findings), which you can download below.

You must lodge your application within 10 business days after the day on which the notice to produce was issued.

Once we have received and assessed your application the SSR may:

decide not to change its decision regarding the notice you have been issued with. This is referred to in the Act as “affirming” the decision
amend or revoke the notice you have been issued with; or
make recommendations to the officer who issued the notice.

The SSR will make a decision within 10 business days of receiving your application for internal review, unless that period is extended by the SSR. If that happens the SSR will notify you in writing.

Applications made outside of the applicable deadline

The SSR will accept applications out of time in exceptional circumstances only. If you wish to make an application for review out of time, you should provide written reasons in the space provided on the Application for Internal Review Form. If you think you may struggle to meet any deadlines, you should contact the SSR to discuss before the deadline expires.