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OFFICIAL 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cathy Minnucci 
 
Office of General Counsel
GPO Box 367
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx 
CANBERRA CITY   ACT   2601
 
www.airservicesaustralia.com
 
Dear Ms Minnucci 
ABN 59 698 720 886
 
FOI 23-15 - Decision on Access 
 
I refer to the request made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) to 
Airservices Australia (Airservices) on 23 June 2023 (the request). It seeks access to: 
 
-  the final signed approval that resulted in the change to the pre-2017 flight path 
 
-  the document that lists the benefits (if any) that were attributed to the Southern Beaches 
community (Lewisham, Forcett, Dodges Ferry, Carlton, Primrose Sands and Connelly’s Marsh) 
when proposing the change to the pre-2017 flight path 
 
-  correspondence authored by Airservices Australia (from the top three tier levels of 
management) to either Airservices Australia (i.e. Internal – between own departments) and/or 
other Aviation/Federal Government bodies directly related to re-instating current Hobart flight 
path back to pre-2017 flight path over the water East of Dunalley. 
 
I am authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act and the Airservices Instrument of Delegation and 
Authorisation to make decisions on primary requests under the FOI Act. 
 
Decision 
 
I have decided to grant access to 5 documents in full and 5 in part as they contain material that is: 
 
  conditionally exempt under sections 47F (personal privacy) and access to that conditionally 
exempt material would be contrary to the public interest; or 
  irrelevant to the scope of the request under section 22 of the FOI Act. 
 
The documents and my decision in relation to each are set out in the schedule of documents at 
Attachment A (the Schedule). 
 
The reasons for my decision are set out in the Statement of Reasons at Attachment B. 
 
Review rights and complaints 
 
Information about your rights of review and how you can make a complaint about the handling of 
your request is at Attachment C. 
 
 
 
 
OFFICIAL 
 
Contact 
 
If you wish to discuss my decision please contact me at xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx. 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
Alan Hilvert-Bruce 
Authorised FOI Decision Maker 
 
21 July 2023
 
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OFFICIAL 
 
ATTACHMENT A 
 
SCHEDULE OF DOCUMENTS 
 
 
Doc No.  Description 
Decision 
1. 
CIRRIS Entry 
Release in part 
Legacy Environmental Assessment : EA-0001239 
Section 47F – names of Airservices Australia staff members. 
2. 
Environmental Assessment 
Release in part 
Environmental Assessment of Hobart Airport – Proposed SIDs and  Section 47F – names and signatures of Airservices Australia staff members. 
STARs 
28 June 2017 
3. 
Email 
Release in part 
Subject: YMHB update - 5NM. 
Section 22 – material that did not form part of original request. 
Section 47F – names and direct contact numbers of Airservices Australia staff 
members. 
3a. 
Standard Instrument Depatures (SIDS) 
Release in full 
Kanli One (RNAV) 
Hobart Tas (YMHB) 
3b. 
Standard Arrival Route (STAR) 
Release in full 
Clark One Alpha Arrival (RNAV) 
Hobart, Tas (YMHB) 
3c. 
Standard Arrival Route (STAR) 
Release in full 
Iplet One Alpha Arrival (RNA) 
Hobart, Tas (YMHB) 
3d. 
Annotated Google Earth Map 
Release in full 
4. 
SIDs and STARs Compliation 
Release in full 
 
OFFICIAL 
 
Doc No.  Description 
Decision 
5. 
Stakeholder Engagement Strategy 
Release in part 
Hobart SIDs and STARs 
Section 47F – names of Airservices Australia staff members. 
6. 
Signature page for Stakeholder Engagement Strategy 
Release in part 
Section 47F – names and signatures of Airservices Australia staff members. 
 
 
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OFFICIAL 
ATTACHMENT B 
 
STATEMENT OF REASONS 
 
Material on which the decision is based 
 
I relied on the following material in coming to this decision: 
 
  the terms of the request; 
  the documents subject to the FOI request;  
  advice from subject matter specialists within Airservices Australia (Airservices) regarding the 
nature and sensitivity of the documents subject to the request; 
  the FOI Act; and 
  the guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI 
Act (FOI Guidelines). 
 
Interpretation of scope 
 
All documents identified within the scope of this request fell within the first dot point of the scope 
which sought the “final signed approval that resulted in the change to the pre-2017 flight path” at 
Hobart Airport. Document 1 is the actual approval document while the additional 9 documents were 
attached to that approval document. 
 
No documents were identified falling within the second or third dot points of the request. This is likely 
because: 
 
-  when Airservices makes decisions regarding airspace changes its primary emphasis is on 
airspace safety, legislative compliance and ensuring that environmental impacts are mitigiated to 
the best of our ability. As part of this it will give reference to the impact on communities but 
generally will not explore the benefits that each may receive from the change; and 
 
-  re-instatement of the current Hobart flight path back to the pre-2017 flight path is not an option 
that Airservices can explore. This is because it would result in decreased safety for for aircraft 
and passengers traveling into Hobart Airport, and safety is Airservices’ paramount consideration. 
Further, the VOR Navigation System that was relied upon for the pre-2017 flight paths have been 
decommissioned.  
 
As reversion to the prior flight path is not an option for Airservices, there is no purpose to us 
generating correspondence seeking that outcome as sought by the request.  
 
 
Section 22 - Irrelevant material 
 
Section 22 of the FOI Act relevantly provides that if an agency may delete information from a 
document where it is irrelevant to a request. 
 
I have found that a document (identified in the Schedule) contains irrelevant matter and have 
deleted it pursuant to section 22 of the FOI Act. 
 
Section 47F - personal privacy 
 
Section 47F of the FOI Act relevantly provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its 
disclosure under this Act would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about 
any person (including a deceased person). Access to the conditionally exempt document may only 
be withheld where it is contrary to the public interest. 
 
Certain documents subject to the request (identified in the Schedule) contain personal information, 
specifically names, direct contact numbers and signatures of Airservices staff. I am satisfied that this 
personal information is not publicly available, nor are the individuals concerned well known to be 
involved in the matters described in the documents.  
 
OFFICIAL 
 
 
I therefore find that disclosure of this personal information would be unreasonable and conditionally 
exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act. 
 
When considering whether access to this personal information is contrary to the public interest I 
acknowledge that access would inherently promote the objects of the FOI Act, demonstrating full 
transparency of government. However, providing access to this personal information would also 
intrude on the privacy of the individuals to whom the personal information relates whilst also not 
providing great insight into the decision making processes of Airservices. This adverse effect 
outweights any benefit that could flow from disclosing that personal information. 
 
As a result, I am satisfied that access to the personal information would be contrary to the public 
interest, and have decided to withhold access to it. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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OFFICIAL 
 
ATTACHMENT C 
 
INFORMATION ON REVIEW RIGHTS 
 
 
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) gives you the right to apply for a review of this 
decision via: 
 
(a) 
an internal review; or 
(b) 
the Australian Information Commissioner (Information Commissioner). 
 
Internal review 
 
If you apply for internal review, it will be carried out by a different decision-maker who will make a 
fresh decision on your application.  An application for review must be: 
 
(a) 
made in writing; 
(b) 
made within 30 days of receiving this letter; and 
(c) 
sent to xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx. 
 
No particular form is required, but it is desirable to set out in the application the grounds upon which 
you consider the decision should be reviewed. 
 
If the internal review results in you not being provided access to all of the documents to which you 
have requested access, you have the right to seek a review of that decision by the Information 
Commissioner. 
 
Information Commissioner review 
You can opt to instead seek external review by the Information Commissioner. To seek review you 
must apply to the Information Commissioner within 60 days of the receipt of this decision letter. 
Further details on this process can be found on their website at https://www.oaic.gov.au/. 
You will also have the opportunity to seek Information Commissioner review of an Internal Review if 
you are dissatisfied with its outcome. 
 
Complaints to the Information Commissioner  
 
 
Information Commissioner 
 
You may also complain to the Information Commissioner concerning action taken by an agency in 
the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act. There is no fee for 
making a complaint. A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be made in writing. Further 
details on this process can be found on their website at https://www.oaic.gov.au/. 
 
 
 
 
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