If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
12 June 2014
Ms Olivia Grace-Curran
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our reference: LEX 14033
Dear Ms Grace-Curran
1.
I refer to your request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (the
FOI Act). I have taken your request to be for:
‘I respectfully request access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 the total
amount of Child Support arrears owed by paying parents in Australia. Please also
itemize a breakdown of arrears in each state currently outstanding as of June 10th
2015.’
2.
Your request was received by the department on 9 June 2015 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date. You
should therefore expect a decision from the department by 9 July 2015.
Request for extension of time
3.
The processing time for FOI requests may be extended in certain circumstances under
the FOI Act. Section 15AA of the FOI Act provides that the decision notification period
can be extended by a period of no more than 30 days where the applicant agrees to
this in writing and the department gives written notice of the agreement to the
Australian Information Commissioner.
4.
Due to the nature of your request, I kindly request a 30 day extension of time for
processing your request. This additional time will allow the department to conduct all
relevant searches for any documents within the scope of your request.
5.
If you agree to a 30 day extension of time for processing your request, please respond
to this letter by email with
“Yes”. I would be grateful for your response
by 18 June
2015.
Charges
6.
The department 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
7.
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send notices
to. You have advised your electronic address i
s foi+request-1091-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. We will send all notices and correspondence to this
address. Please advise us if you wish correspondence to be sent to another address or
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if your address changes as soon as possible. If you do not advise us of changes to
your address, correspondence and notices will continue to be sent to the address
specified above.
Disclosure Log
8.
Please note that information released under FOI Act may be published in a disclosure
log on the department'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 departmental officers details
9.
The department is working towards ensuring that all employees 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 that these details are out of scope of your
request and they will be redacted under section 22 of the FOI Act.
10. Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please send an email to
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
FOI Delegate
Freedom of Information & Litigation Branch
Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
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Department of Human Services
