LEX 56478
Decision and Statement of reasons issued under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982
Decision and reason for decision of Natalie (Position Number 62211022),
Senior Information Access Officer, Information Access Unit, Client Access and Rehabilitation
Branch, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Applicant:
Mr Alan Ashmore
Decision date:
2 June 2023
FOI reference number:
LEX 56478
Sent by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Ashmore,
Freedom of Information Request: LEX 56478
Decision
1.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (
Department) has undertaken a reasonable search of its
records and has not been able to identify any documents relevant to your request.
2.
For this reason, I have made a decision to refuse your request under section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of
the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act), as the documents do not exist.
Authority to make decision
3.
I, Natalie (Position Number 62211022), Senior Information Access Officer, Information
Access Unit, Client Rehabilitation Access Branch, am an officer authorised by the Secretary of
the Department to make decisions about access to documents in the possession of the
Department in accordance with section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Summary
4.
On 6 March 2023, you made a request for access to documents in the possession of the
Department. Your request sought access to:
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‘….I am seeking:
: All documents, including internal emails, prior to the formal commencement of
reassessing relevant batches where excessive error rates are noted, and
: All documents, including internal emails, pertaining to the results of all reviews
undertaken as a result of Recommendation 9.3...'
Background: -
Recommendation 9.3 of the Productivity Commission, June 2019 was, “if DVA’s
quality assurance processes identifies excessive error rates (for example, greater
than the Department’s internal targets), all claims in the batch which the sample
was obtained should be recalled for assessment.”
DVA’s response on their website noted, “Progressing,” then “the implementation of
this recommendation will involve on-going improvement…’
5.
On 9 March 2023, the Department acknowledged your request via email.
6.
As no extensions of time have been applied to process your request, a decision on your
request was due by 5 April 2023.
Material taken into account
7.
In accordance with section 26(1)(a) of the FOI Act, my findings on any material question of
fact, the material on which those findings were based and the reasons for my decision to
refuse access to your request follows.
8.
I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:
the terms of your request on 6 March 2023;
the types of documents that are in the possession of the Department;
my correspondence with different business areas within the Department;
Sections 3, 11 and 11A of the FOI Act which give the Australian community a legally
enforceable right to obtain access to information held by the Government of the
Commonwealth. I also considered the following provisions of the FOI Act relevant to
my decision:
- Section 15 Request for Access;
- Section 17
Requests involving use of computers etc. (e.g. requests for the
Department to create a document)
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- Section 24A Request may be refused if documents cannot be found or do not
exist
Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of
the FOI Act (
FOI Guidelines).
9.
A full extract of all FOI Act provisions used to make my decision are provided in
Schedule 2.
Reasons for decision
Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or have not been received
(section 24A)
10. Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides that an agency or Minister may refuse a request for
access to a document if:
a. all reasonable steps have been taken to find the
document; and
b.
the agency or Minister is s
atisfied that the document:
(i)
is in the agency's or Minister's possession but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist.
11. I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to find information relevant to your
request, having regard to:
the terms of your request;
the subject matter of the documents;
the current and past file management systems and the practice of orderly destruction
or removal of documents;
the Department’s record management systems and practices; and
the individuals and areas within the Department who may be able to assist with the
location of the information you seek access to.
12. Despite the reasonable searches undertaken, the Department has been unable to identify
documents relevant to your request. A description of the searches undertaken to locate the
documents which you are seeking to access is at
Schedule 1.
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13. For these reasons, I am refusing your request for access to documents as described in your
request in accordance with section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act, on the basis that the
document do not exist.
Requests involving use of computers etc. (section 17)
14. In making my decision to refuse your request I also considered the application of section 17
of the FOI Act and whether a document could be created to meet the terms of this part of
your request.
15. Subject to section 17(1)(c)(i), I decided that the department was not in a position to create a
written document, via the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available
to the department for the purposes of retrieving or collating stored information.
Your rights of review
16. If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or request the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (
OAIC) review my decision. We
encourage you to seek internal review as a first step to resolve any concerns you may have.
OAIC review
17. Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the OAIC to review my decision. An
application for review by OAIC must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this
letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Facsimile:
(02) 9284 9666
Phone:
1300 363 992
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
18. More information about your review rights under the FOI Act is available in Fact Sheet 12
published by the OAIC:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-
complaints/information-commissioner-review/
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Contact us
19. If you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the Information Access
Unit using the following details:
Online:
https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview/reporting/freedom-
information/access-information
Post:
Information Access Unit
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001
Phone:
1800 838 372
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Natalie (Position Number 62211022)
Senior Information Access Officer
Information Access Unit
Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
2 June 2023
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LEX 56478
Schedule 1
Summary of document searches
While DVA supports the intent of the recommendation around improving quality of claims decisions,
DVA did not support the proposed reviewing of all decisions in a quality assurance batch where a
high error rate is found in response to Recommendation 9.3. DVA prefers to adopt a case by case
approach through its existing quality assurance program and takes corrective action on errors and
trends found in specific case decisions examined in quality assurance batches, for example, staff
training, system changes, and issue of guidance, policy clarification and new policy advice for staff,
and work in this space is ongoing. Therefore no documents exist within scope of your request.
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LEX 56478
Schedule 2
Schedule of relevant provisions in the FOI Act
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Objects - general
(1) The objects of this Act are to give the Australian community access to information held by the
Government of the Commonwealth or the Government of Norfolk Island, by:
(a) requiring agencies to publish the information; and
(b) providing for a right of access to documents.
(2) The Parliament intends, by these objects, to promote Australia’s representative democracy by
contributing towards the following:
(a) increasing public participation in Government processes, with a view to promoting
better-informed decision-making;
(b) increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government’s activities.
(3) The Parliament also intends, by these objects, to increase recognition that information held by the
Government is to be managed for public purposes, and is a national resource.
(4) The Parliament also intends that functions and powers given by this Act are to be performed and
exercised, as far as possible, to facilitate and promote public access to information, promptly and at
the lowest reasonable cost.
11 Right of access
(1) Subject to this Act, every person has a legally enforceable right to obtain access in accordance with
this Act to:
(a) a document of an agency, other than an exempt document; or
(b) an official document of a Minister, other than an exempt document.
(2) Subject to this Act, a person’s right of access is not affected by:
(a) any reasons the person gives for seeking access; or
(b) the agency’s or Minister’s belief as to what are his or her reasons for seeking access.
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11A Access to documents on request
Scope
(1) This section applies if:
(a) a request is made by a person, in accordance with subsection 15(2), to an agency or Minister for
access to:
a document of the agency; or
an official document of the Minister; and
(b) any charge that, under the regulations, is required to be paid before access is given has been
paid.
(2) This section applies subject to this Act.
Note:
Other provisions of this Act are relevant to decisions about access to documents, for example the
following:
(a) section 12 (documents otherwise available);
(b) section 13 (documents in national institutions);
(c) section 15A (personnel records);
(d) section 22 (access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted).
Mandatory access—general rule
(3) The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document in accordance with this Act,
subject to this section.
Exemptions and conditional exemptions
(4) The agency or Minister is not required by this Act to give the person access to the document at a
particular time if, at that time, the document is an exempt document.
Note:
Access may be given to an exempt document apart from under this Act, whether or not in response to a
request (see section 3A (objects—information or documents otherwise accessible)).
(5) The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document if it is conditionally exempt at a
particular time unless (in the circumstances) access to the document at that time would, on balance,
be contrary to the public interest.
Note 1:
Division 3 of Part IV provides for when a document is conditionally exempt.
Note 2:
A conditionally exempt document is an exempt document if access to the document would, on balance,
be contrary to the public interest (see section 31B (exempt documents for the purposes of Part IV)).
Note 3:
Section 11B deals with when it is contrary to the public interest to give a person access to the document.
(6) Despite subsection (5), the agency or Minister is not required to give access to the document at a
particular time if, at that time, the document is both:
(a) a conditionally exempt document; and
(b) an exempt document:
(i) under Division 2 of Part IV (exemptions); or
(ii) within the meaning of paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of exempt document in
subsection 4(1).
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Requests for access (as related to the requirements for requests)
Persons may request access
(1)
Subject to section 15A, a person who wishes to obtain access to a document of an agency
or an official document of a Minister may request access to the document.
Requirements for request
(2)
The request must:
(a)
be in writing; and
(aa)
state that the request is an application for the purposes of this Act; and
(b)
provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably necessary to
enable a responsible officer of the agency, or the Minister, to identify it; and
(c)
give details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the applicant (for
example, by providing an electronic address to which notices may be sent by
electronic communication).
(2A) The request must be sent to the agency or Minister. The request may be sent in any of the
following ways:
(a)
delivery to an officer of the agency, or a member of the staff of the Minister, at the
address of any central or regional office of the agency or Minister specified in a
current telephone directory;
(b)
postage by pre-paid post to an address mentioned in paragraph (a);
(c)
sending by electronic communication to an electronic address specified by the
agency or Minister.
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Requests involving use of computers etc
(1)
Where:
(a)
a request (inc
luding a request in relation to w
hich a practical refusal reason exists)
is made in accordance with the requirements
of subsection 15(2)
to an agency;
(b)
It appears from t
he request that the desire of th
e applicant is for information that
is not available in discrete form in writte
n documents of th
e agency; and
(ba)
it does not appear from th
e request that t
he applicant wishes to be provided with
a computer tape or computer disk on which the information is recorded; and
(c)
the agency could produce a writ
ten 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 th
e 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 and, for that purpose, this Act
applies as if t
he agency ha
d such a document in its possession.
(2)
An agency is not required to comply
with subsection (1) if compliance would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the
agency from its other operations.
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Decisions to be made by authorised persons
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a decision in respect of a request made to an agency may be made, on
behalf of the agency, by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of the agency or, subject to
the regulations, by an officer of the agency acting within the scope of authority exercisable by him or
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her in accordance with arrangements approved by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of
the agency.
(2) A decision in respect of a request made to a court, or made to a tribunal, authority or body that is
specified in Schedule 1, may be made on behalf of that court, tribunal, authority or body by the
principal officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body or, subject to the regulations, by an officer
of that court, tribunal, authority or body acting within the scope of authority exercisable by him or
her in accordance with arrangements approved by the principal officer of that court, tribunal,
authority or body.
(see section 11A).
24A Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or have not been
received
Document lost or non-existent
(1)
An agency or Minister may ref
use a request for access to
a document if:
(a) all reasonable steps have been taken to find
the document; and
(b)
the agency or Minister is satisfied that the
document:
(i) is in
the agency's or Minister's possession but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist.
Document not received as required by contract
(2)
An agency may refus
e a request for access to
a document if:
(a) in order to co
mply with section 6C, the agency has taken contractual measures to ensure that it
receives t
he document; and
(b)
the agency has not received t
he document; and
(c)
the agency has taken all reasonable steps to receive t
he document in accordance with those
contractual measures.
26 Reasons and other particulars of decisions to be given
(1) Where, in relation to a request, a decision is made relating to a refusal to grant access to a document
in accordance with the request or deferring provision of access to a document, the decision-maker
shall cause the applicant to be given notice in writing of the decision, and the notice shall:
(a) state the findings on any material questions of fact, referring to the material on which those
findings were based, and state the reasons for the decision; and
(aa) in the case of a decision to refuse to give access to a conditionally exempt document—include
in those reasons the public interest factors taken into account in making the decision; and
Note: Access must generally be given to a conditionally exempt document unless it would be contrary to the public
interest (see section 11A).
(b) where the decision relates to a document of an agency, state the name and designation of the
person giving the decision; and
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(c) give to the applicant appropriate information concerning:
(i)
his or her rights with respect to review of the decision;
(ii)
his or her rights to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
relation to the decision; and
(iii)
the procedure for the exercise of the rights referred to in subparagraphs (i) and
(ii); including (where applicable) particulars of the manner in which an
application for internal review (Part VI) and IC review (Part VII) may be made.
(1A) Section 13 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 does not apply to a decision
referred to in subsection (1).
(2) A notice under this section is not required to contain any matter that is of such a nature that its
inclusion in a document of an agency would cause that document to be an exempt document.
(see section 11A).
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