PO Box 7820, Canberra BC ACT 2610
20 October 2023
Our reference: LEX 76245
Frank n Fearless (Right to Know)
Only by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Frank N Fearless
Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982
(the FOI Act) made in the following terms:
According to DSS' Answer to Senate Question on Notice IQ23-000076
"Services Australia has commenced undertaking a desktop sampling exercise of
approximately 1,000 potential overpayments that may potentially be impacted by the
use of income apportionment of employment income prior to 7 December 2020.
It is not possible to state with certainty when this work will be completed. This will be
clearer as the work progresses. Services Australia are providing regular reports on
progress to the Department of Social Services"
I would like a copy of these "regular reports on progress".
Your request was received by Services Australia (the Agency) on 3 October 2023 and the 30
day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
You should therefore expect a decision from us by 2 November 2023. The period of 30 days
may be extended if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will advise you if
this happens.
Charges
The Agency will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request and the amount of
any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is payable for providing a person with
their own personal information.
Your Address
The FOI Act requires you provide us with an address which we can send notices to. You
have advised your electronic address is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
We will send all notices and correspondence to this address. Please advise us as soon as
possible if you wish correspondence to be sent to another address or if your address
changes. If you do not advise us of changes to your address, correspondence and notices
will continue to be sent to the address specified above.
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Administrative Release of Documents
The Agency has administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements') for the release of
certain documents without the need for a formal FOI request. Unless you advise us
otherwise, in processing your request we may provide you with documents under these
arrangements where appropriate and any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by
documents released under the arrangements will be considered to be withdrawn. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties. You will be notified
when documents are released to you under the arrangements.
Disclosure Log
Please note information released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log on
the agency's website. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication, however it is
subject to certain exceptions, including where publication of personal, business, professional
or commercial information would be unreasonable.
Exclusion of junior staff details
The Agency is working towards ensuring all staff have a choice about whether they provide
their full name, personal logon identifiers and direct contact details in response to public
enquiries. Where such details are included in the scope of a request, this may add to
processing time and applicable charges as it may be necessary to consider whether the
details are exempt under the FOI Act. On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will
assume these details are out of scope of your request and they will be redacted under
section 22 of the FOI Act.
Further assistance
If you have any questions please email
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely
TY
FOI Officer
Freedom of Information Team
FOI and Ombudsman Branch | Legal Services Division
Services Australia
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