Australian Securities
and Investments Commission
Office address (inc courier deliveries):
Level 5, 100 Market Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
Mail address for Sydney office:
GPO Box 9827,
Brisbane QLD 4001
Tel: +61 1300 935 075
foi+request-10222-
www.asic.gov.au/
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our Reference: FOI 071-2023
12 May 2023
Dear Me
Freedom of Information Request No. FOI 071-2023
Notice of a practical refusal ground under s24AB of the FOI Act
I refer to your request dated 5 May 2023 under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (
FOI Act) in which you seek access to documents in the possession of the
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (
ASIC).
Your request seeks access to the fol owing:
…
all documents in ASIC's possession that relate to ASIC receiving, considering,
refusing, or failing to consider, assessing, determining, accepting, rejecting, or
otherwise dealing with, CDDA applications made to ASIC.
For the avoidance of doubt, this does not include individual CDDA
applications themselves.
Practical refusal ground(s)
Section 24AA of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal ground exists in
relation to a request for documents if either (or both) of the fol owing applies:
• the work involved in processing the request would substantial y and
unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other
operations (s24AA(1)(a)).
• the request does not satisfy the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b) of
the FOI Act (s24AA(1)(b))
2
In relation to your request, I find section 24AA(1)(a
) applies.
Section 24AA(1)(a) FOI Act – broad scope
My preliminary assessment of your request suggests that the scope is broad. In
my view, conducting searches relevant to the request as it currently stands,
would be difficult because of the broad category of documents it
encompasses and the absence of a specific timeframe.
Undertaking searches would substantially and unreasonably divert the
resources of ASIC from its other operations. Accordingly, I consider that a
practical refusal reason within the meaning of section 24AA(1)(a) of the FOI
Act exists in relation to your request. This is because:
ASIC has not been authorised to make decisions under the Scheme
for Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration
(
CDDA Scheme) since September 2015.
a) the request is not time specific and would therefore capture al
documents concerning or otherwise relating to applications made
under the CDDA Scheme before and after September 2015. This
would include internal correspondence within ASIC, and external
correspondence with applicants and other third parties.
b) It would require staff members to undertake searches of their
mailboxes and searches of the mailboxes of former staff members
which hold documents concerning or otherwise relating to
applications made under the CDDA Scheme before and after
September 2015.
Given that conducting a search for documents within the scope of the request
in its current form would substantially and unreasonably divert ASIC’s resources
from its other operations, you may wish to consider narrowing the scope of your
request by:
a) considering the guidance above and the information at
Financial
compensation schemes | ASIC and excluding some types of
documents and
b) limiting the scope of the request to documents within a certain
date range
Intention to refuse request
For the reasons stated above, it would be my intention to refuse your request
given that a practical refusal reason exists within the meaning of section
24AA(1)(a) of the FOI Act. However, before ASIC makes a final decision, I invite
you to revise the terms of your request as proposed above.
Timeframe
3
The statutory timeframe for notifying an applicant of a decision on a request
for access under the FOI Act is 30 days from the day the agency receives the
request. Please note that in accordance with section 24AB (8) of the FOI Act,
the time for processing your request is suspended from the day that you receive
this letter, and resumes on the day after you provide ASIC with one of the
fol owing:
• written notification that you wish to withdraw the request.
• a revised written request addressing the matters raised above; or
• written notification that you do not wish to revise your request.
If you choose to do one of the three things listed above, you must do so within
14 days
of the date of this letter
(the consultation period). If you do not do one
of the three things listed above during the consultation period, your request wil
be considered withdrawn in accordance with section 24AB (7) of the FOI Act.
During the consultation period you may wish to seek assistance in reframing
your request. If you have any questions or wish to discuss, please contact me
using the details below.
Yours sincerely,
Sandra Wavamunno
Senior Lawyer, FOI & Privacy, Chief Legal Office
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Level 5, 100 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 9911 2267 | Mob: 0435700178
xxxxxx.xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
(Authorised decision-maker pursuant to subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act)