Responding to a referral request

Online forms for Ministerial Permits and Applications should be used by referral groups to access application documents and respond to referral requests.

The following guide will assist a contact of a referral group/s in using the online forms to access application documents to respond to a referral request and includes guidance on how referral group contacts can manage access to their own referral group records.

Sign up and register

To access application documents related to a referral request, the referral group must have a contact that has registered and can log into online forms. There can be more than one contact added to each referral group but each contact must be registered to use the system.

Each staff member from the referral group can sign up and register to use the system, OR
A generic account can be created for the referral group for staff of the group to use. The first name and last name can be anything deemed appropriate.

Once the relevant staff member account(s) or generic account is created, please provide us details by emailing development.approvals@delwp.vic.gov.au with the first name, last name and email address of the registered user(s) as these details will be added to the referral group in our system.

If already registered, go to step 8.

Access online forms
Select Sign up.
Complete the sign-up form and select Sign up.
Ensure that you do not close the signup window as you will need to enter a verification code to confirm the account. An email will be sent to the email address entered during the signup process. You may need to check your junk email folders for the email.
Enter the verification code and select confirm account.
At the login screen, enter the same email address and password used during the signup process and select Sign in.
Email development.approvals@delwp.vic.gov.au with the first name, last name and email address of the registered user(s) as these details will be added to the referral group in our system so that when a referral request is sent to the main contact, any other contact linked to the referral group who is registered to use online forms can access application documents and respond to referral requests online.

Add or remove a referral contact to a referral group

A system feature is available under a user’s profile that enables a current referral contact to manage the members of any referral group where they themselves are a member. This allows referral group contacts to self-manage the members of their referral group/s. Contacts of a referral group will be able to access and respond to any referral requests that have been linked to the referral group.

While logged into the system, select your profile located top right of screen.
Select Manage Groups.
From the Groups field, use the drop-down to select the referral group.
With the group selected, select Add Member.
Enter the email address of the new member and select Add.
Where the email address is already associated with a registered user of the system, it will add the user to the referral group as a member. If the entered email address is not found in the system, you will be asked to add the first and last name. Select Add after updating the fields. An email will be sent to the new contact advising of the user account being created for them. They will have 24 hours to complete the account setup. Once setup, the new contact will have access to any referral requests that have been sent to the referral group.
A member of a referral group can also remove themselves or other members from the referral group by selecting the remove from group icon located to the right of each member and confirm the removal by selecting Remove.

Access application documents and respond to referral request

Where the department requires a referral group to review and advise on a ministerial application, an email will be sent to the main referral group contact. The email will include a direct link to the referral request and will include an attachment listing to access shared documents relevant to the application. Any other registered user of online forms who is also linked as a contact to the referral group can also access application documents and respond to the request.

Open the email received from the department. A PDF copy of the referral letter may be attached in the email as well. Click on the link and sign-in to access supporting documents related to the application.
By selecting the link in the email, the signed in user will see the application details including the referral due date and application documents will be listed in the Attachments section.
To download and view an attachment, select the download icon.
‘My dashboard’ can be selected to access and respond to referral requests for other applications.
Select ‘Respond to referral’ when ready to provide a response to the referral request. If an extension of time is required to respond, the referral agency can apply for an extension of time (see steps 23 to 24).
From the Referral response screen, select the appropriate option from the Referral decision drop-down, adding in comments. Changes will be automatically saved.
Supporting documents to the referral response can be uploaded. You may upload as many documents as necessary. Maximum file size allowed is 250MB.
Once all mandatory fields are completed, the Submit button can be selected.
The assigned department planner will be notified of the referral response via email.

Apply for an extension of time to submit a referral response

If additional time is required by the referral agency to respond to a referral request, the agency can apply for more time to respond by sending an email directly to the department planner.

At this stage, there is no functionality available in online forms to submit an extension of time request via the portal.
Email a request to the department planner who has been assigned the application. This can be found on the referral letter received at the time of the referral request.