Your Ref
Our Ref
[LEX657]
Gemma
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Gemma
Your Freedom of Information request - charge
I refer to your request, received by the Department of Education (department) on 6 May
2023, for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the following:
“
1. Please provide a copy of the department's current procedures for determining
breaches of the APS Code of Conduct and the imposition of sanctions that is currently
in force.
2. Please provide a copy of the department’s current social media policy (which
covers departmental use and/or private use by employees in an individual capacity).
2. Provide a provide a copy of the department’s current guidance material which is
available for employees to make informed decisions about their private social media
use.
3. Provide a copy of of guidance/information provided to employees regarding
expectations on their conduct in the lead up to the Voice Referendum.
4. Please advise:
A) In the last 6 months, have you received a complaint regarding social media post
made by an employee?
B) In the last 6 months, how many complaints have you received regarding social
media post made by your employees?”
GPO Box 9880, Canberra ACT 2601 | Phone 1300 488 064 | www.education.gov.au | ABN 12 862 898 150
Preliminary assessment of the charge
Under the FOI Act, I have decided that you are liable to pay a charge for the processing of
your request. My preliminary assessment of the charge is $162.50, calculated as follows:
Search and retrieval time: 1.5 hours, at $15.00 per hour
$22.50
Decision-making time including consultation with relevant third parties, after
$140.00
deduction of 5 hours*: 7 hours, at $20.00 per hour
TOTAL
$ 162.50
*The FOI Act provides that the first five hours of decision-making time are free of charge and this is reflected in
the calculation.
I am advised that the department has in its possession approximately 12 documents with
approximately 160 pages relevant to your request.
Required action
If you would like the department to continue processing your request, you must notify the
department in writing within 30 days of receiving this notice that you:
• agree to pay the charge
• wish to contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, should be reduced or
not imposed or both or
• withdraw your request.
If you do not respond within 30 days, your request wil be taken to have been withdrawn by
the operation of the FOI Act.
Option - pay the charge
As the charge exceeds $25, you are required to pay a deposit of $40.63 within 30 days of
receiving this notice. You may elect to pay the charge in full at this point.
Payment can be made by credit card by completing the attached credit card authorisation
and sending a scanned copy to
xxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
If you are unable to pay by credit card, please contact us on the above email.
Please note that the charge is a fee for processing your request, not a payment for access to
documents. Payment of the charge does not guarantee you access to any or all of the
documents you have requested. Access to documents wil be considered by the decision
maker in accordance with the FOI Act.
Option - seek reduction or non-imposition of the charge
If you want to ask the department to reduce or not to impose the charge, you should tel us
why and give us evidence to support your reasons. You may wish to tell us:
• whether paying the charge would cause you financial hardship and/or
• whether access to the documents is in the general public interest or in the interest
of a substantial section of the public.
We must take these matters into account in deciding whether or not to reduce or not
impose the charge.
Time limits for processing your request
Under the FOI Act, the time limit for processing your request is suspended from today until
the day fol owing payment of the charge (in full or the required deposit) or, if applicable, the
day following a decision not to impose the charge.
As an alternative, you may wish to consider revising the scope of your request. If you would
like to revise your request, please email xxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Calista
Authorised decision maker
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education
22 May 2023
Attachment A
Relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Charge
Section 29(1) of the FOI Act provides that, where the department decides that an applicant is
liable to pay a charge in respect of a request for access to a document, or the provision of
access to a document, the department must give the applicant written notice. The notice
must state, among other things, that the applicant must within 30 days after the notice was
given tell the department in writing that the applicant:
• agrees to pay the charge
• wishes to contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed or should be reduced
or not imposed or both or
• wishes to withdraw the request.
Under section 29(2) of the FOI Act, if the applicant does not do one of these things within 30
days, the request wil be taken to have been withdrawn.
Attachment B
Credit Card Authorisation
Use this form to pay a Freedom of Information charge by credit card
Applicant's details
Name
Phone number
Credit card details
Credit card type
Card holder's name
Credit card number
Expiry date
CCV number
Amount
Signature
Date
Privacy statement
Your personal information is col ected by the Department of Education for the purposes of processing
the payment of a charge imposed under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 and related purposes. If
you do not provide some or al of the information requested, the department may be unable to
process your credit card payment. Your personal information may be disclosed to other parties where
you have agreed, or where it is otherwise permitted by law. The department's Privacy Policy,
including information about how to make a complaint and access to and correction of your personal
information, can be found a
t https://www.education.gov.au/privacy.
Document Outline
