Traffic accident reports

Victoria Police provides a service to individuals and organisations wishing to obtain information about vehicle accidents that occurred in Victoria and were reported to Victoria Police.

Please note that if no person was injured in the accident and all involved parties have exchanged name and address details, Victoria Police will not normally make a formal report of the accident. In that case the Accident Records Office will not be able to provide a report of the accident.

Who can apply for a traffic accident report?

Any person who is injured or suffers property damage as a result of a traffic accident may apply for a copy of the report, or may authorise a person to represent them and apply on their behalf..
If applying as an individual, you will be required to supply the following documents with your application:
- Statutory declaration
- Copy of an approved form of identification, i.e., your driver’s licences, passport or birth certificate.
If an individual involved in the accident is unable provide their representation, provided they have written authority to obtain information on their behalf, a third party may apply for a copy of the report. For example, the individual is a child, disabled, does not have the legal capacity, or has died as a result of the vehicle accident.
If applying as a personal representative, you will be required to supply the following documents with your application:
- Statutory declaration
- Copy of an approved form of identification, i.e., your driver’s licences, passport or birth certificate.
- Documentary proof of marriage, parentage or guardianship/ proof of administration or guardianship under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1986/ proof of power of attorney/ proof of administration or execution of the person’s estate.
Insurers and other third parties with written authorisation from an individual involved in the accident may obtain information on the individual’s behalf.
Representatives or employees of an organisation that own the property or vehicle involved in an accident should also apply as an authorised representative.
If applying as an authorised representative, you will be required to supply the following documents with your application:
- Statutory declaration
- Signed authority - Solicitors, loss assessors and investigators must supply a signed authority from their client which clearly authorises the representative to obtain information on their client’s behalf. If the client is a company, the authority must be on official letter head and be signed by a company employee or officer on official company letterhead. In situations where a solicitor or loss assessor is representing an insurance company who in turn is representing an individual, a signed authority must be obtained from the individual.

Apply for a traffic accident report

To apply for a traffic accident report, complete the online Vehicle Accident Information Application Form:

Vehicle Accident Report Information Application Form(opens in a new window)

As part of your application, you will be required to upload a number of supporting documents, including a statutory declaration.

Please allow a minimum of 10 working days for your application to be processed.

Delays may result from:

difficulty locating witnesses or persons involved in the accident
obtaining statements, or
if there is a need to further clarify the circumstances surrounding an accident.

Statutory declaration

Each application must be accompanied by a statutory declaration signed by the applicant certifying that the:

applicant is a person to whom section 248(1) of the Victoria Police Act 2013 applies;
information is being sought for an authorised purpose under section 246 Victoria Police Act 2013;
information obtained from Victoria Police will be managed in accordance with section 251 of the Victoria Police Act 2013; and
information will not be used or disclosed for a purpose other than the authorised purpose.

Traffic Accident Report Statutory Declaration

PDF 113.97 KB

Fees

The Victoria Police (Fees and Charges) Regulations 2024 are now in effect. The Regulations set out fees and charges for services by police officers and Victoria Police employees. This follows public consultation via Engage Victoria.

The Victorian Government indexes certain fees and fines each year. Fees will increase from 1 July.

Please refer to the below tables for the most up-to-date information.

The non-refundable search fee provides for a search of relevant records to supply a copy of the Collision Report and, if applicable, the first 10 pages of statements and photographs combined.

If the report contains additional pages of statements and photographs, they will be available for a further fee per page.

Accident report (including 10-page statements)	$84.90
Each additional page	$1.00

Note: for emailed reports there is no added charge for additional pages

Interview request

In certain circumstances, police members may be interviewed in relation to motor vehicle collisions. This is granted at Victoria Police discretion.

All requests for interviews are to be submitted using the below form:

Interview request form

PDF 946.7 KB

Fees are charged for the first hour or part thereof and subsequent half hour or part thereafter as follows:

Officer (Inspector and above)	$233.50
Officer subsequent half-hour	$117.60
Sub-Officer (Sergeant and Senior Sergeant)	$171.50
Sub-Officer subsequent half-hour	$86.50
Other ranks (Constable and Senior Constable)	$120.80
Other ranks subsequent half-hour	$60.40

How may vehicle accident information be used?

Information may only be requested for the following authorised purposes:

Obtain legal advice regarding the accident.
Recover any loss or damage incurred or suffered, or costs incurred.
Assess insurance claims relating to death or injury of a person; damage or destruction of property.
Assess a claim for compensation relating to the death or injury of a person.
Investigation of a vehicle accident for any of the above purposes.

The disclosure or use of vehicle accident information for a purpose other than those listed above is prohibited and will incur penalties.

Information release policy

Victoria Police applies strict guidelines to the release of traffic accident information to individuals and organisations outside Victoria Police.

This release policy applies when vehicle accident information is requested by an insurance company, loss assessor/investigator, solicitor, personal representative or an individual who was a party to the accident.

This policy does not relate to the release of information to police forces and organisations with responsibility for law enforcement, the Traffic Accident Commission or VicRoads.

The release of information by the Accident Records Office is dependent upon whether or not the traffic matter has been approved at the time of the application. If the matter has been approved, in most cases the following level of information may be released to authorised parties.

Released

What is released:

Copy of Victoria Police’s collision report.
Statements from all persons who witnessed the accident including personal details.

Not released

What is not released:

Blood alcohol and preliminary breath test results.
Details of penalty notice or court results.
Statements from persons who did not witness the accident.

A traffic matter may be outstanding (yet to be approved) in cases where the matter is still under investigation by members of Victoria Police, or the offender has not been located.

In situations where information has been requested on a traffic matter that has not been approved, the Traffic Incident Report will be forwarded once the report becomes available.

No information may be released if the Traffic Incident has not yet been approved.

If authorised parties require material that is contained in the police brief of evidence, a request must be made to Victoria Police - Freedom of Information Division.

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Updated 23 July 2024