LEX 63163 Final FOI Decision letter ASHMORE Alan released.pdf

LEX 63163

Decision and Statement of reasons issued under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982
Decision and reason for decision of Frankie (Position Number 62373489),
Senior Information Access Officer, Information Access Unit,
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch, Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Applicant:

Mr Alan Ashmore

Decision date:

21 December 2023

FOI reference number:
LEX 63163

Sent by email:

foi+request‐10946‐xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Mr Ashmore,
Freedom of Information Request: LEX 63163
Decision

1.
The Department of Veterans' Affairs (Department) has undertaken a reasonable search of its
records and, in accordance with section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
(FOI Act), I have made a decision to create and grant access in full to one (1) document that
meets the scope of your request.

2.
The document that I have chosen to grant access is set out in Schedule 1.

Authority to make decision

1.
I, Frankie (Position Number 62373489), Senior Information Access Officer, Information
Access Unit, Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch, am an officer
authorised by the Secretary of the Department to make decisions about access to
documents in the possession of the Department in accordance with section 23(1) of the
FOI Act.
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Summary

2.
On 4 December 2023, you made a request for access to documents in the possession of the
Department. Your request sought access to:

‘...I am seeking for each of the last 5 calendar or financial years the following
information.

: Number of veterans referred to Police for unacceptable behavior to DVA staff.

: The number of veterans charged by Police, and

: The number of veterans convicted…’

3.
On 7 December 2023, the Department acknowledged your request via email.

4.
As no extensions of time have been applied to process your request, a decision on your
request is due by 3 January 2024.

5.
I have decided not to impose a charge in relation to this request, in accordance with
Regulation 8 of the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019.

Material taken into account

6.
In accordance with section 26(1)(a) of the FOI Act, my findings on any material question of
fact, the material on which those findings were based and the reasons for my decision to
grant access to your request follows:

7.
I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:

  the terms of your request on 4 December 2023;

  the types of documents that are in the possession of the Department;

  my correspondence with different business areas within the Department;

  the availability of information relevant to your request, including the practicality and
time required in which the Department may create a document under section 17 of
the FOI Act;

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  Sections 3, 11 and 11A of the FOI Act which give the Australian community a legally
enforceable right to obtain access to information held by the Government of the
Commonwealth. I also considered the following provisions of the FOI Act relevant to
my decision:

‐  Section 15        Request for Access;
‐ Section 17
Requests involving use of computers etc. (e.g. requests for the

Department to create a document)

  Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of
the FOI Act (FOI Guidelines).

8.
A full extract of all FOI Act provisions used to make my decision are provided in Schedule 2.

Reasons for decision

9.
I have decided to grant full access to the document within the scope of your request, in
accordance with the following section of the FOI Act.

Requests involving use of computers etc. (section 17)

10.  In making my decision, I also considered the application of section 17 of the FOI Act and
whether a document could be created to meet the terms of this part of your request.

11.  After consultation with the Integrity Security and Property Branch it was determined that
information relevant to your request was not entirely held by the Department in a discrete
document form.

12.  In order to provide you access to all relevant information regarding your request, it was
requested the business area extract the data listed in the Department's wider database to
create a document.

13.  This document is comprised of the following data information, for the last five years:

  The number of veterans referred to Police for unacceptable behaviour to DVA staff;
  the number of veterans charged by Police, and
  The number of veterans convicted

14.  This document is listed in Schedule 1. This document was created in accordance with section
17 of the FOI Act.
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Access to documents

15.  The document released to you in accordance with the FOI Act is enclosed.

Information Publication Scheme

16.  The Information Publication Scheme requires the Department to publish information
released in response to individual requests made under the FOI Act, except in specified
circumstances.

17.  I am of the view that details of your request should be made available on the Department's
FOI Disclosure Log. As such, details of your request will be published on the Department's
FOI Disclosure Log which can be accessed at http://www.dva.gov.au/about‐dva/freedom‐
information/foi‐disclosure‐log. Please note that the Department does not publish details of
FOI applicants, it only publishes details of the FOI request and the documents released in
response to the request.

Your rights of review

18.  If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or request the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) review my decision. We
encourage you to seek internal review as a first step to resolve any concerns you may have.

Internal review

19.  Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Department for an Internal
Review of my decision. The Internal Review application must be made within 30 days of the
date of this letter. Where possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the
decision is necessary. The internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30
days.

20.  You can make your application for Internal Review in one of the following ways:

Post:
Information Access Unit,
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx

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OAIC review

21.  Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the OAIC to review my decision. An
application for review by OAIC must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this
letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:

Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Facsimile:
(02) 9284 9666
Phone:
1300 363 992
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx

22.  More information about your review rights under the FOI Act is available in Fact Sheet 12
published by the OAIC: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom‐of‐information/reviews‐and‐
complaints/information‐commissioner‐review/

Contact us

23.  If you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the Information Access
Unit using the following details:

Online:
https://www.dva.gov.au/about‐us/overview/reporting/freedom‐
information/access‐information
Post:
Information Access Unit
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001
Phone:
1800 838 372
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx

Yours sincerely,

Frankie (Position Number 62373489)
Senior Information Access Officer
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs

21 December 2023
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LEX 63163
Schedule 1

Schedule of documents

Applicant:
Mr Alan Ashmore

Decision date:

21 December 2023

FOI reference number:
LEX 63163

Document
Date of
Document description
Page
Decision
Exemption
reference
document
number
provision
1
20/12/2023  LEX 63163 – number of veterans referred to Police
1
Full Access
N/A
then got charged and convicted due to
unacceptable behaviour for last five years.
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LEX 63163
Schedule 2

Schedule of relevant provisions in the FOI Act
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Objects ‐ general

(1)  The objects of this Act are to give the Australian community access to information held by the
Government of the Commonwealth or the Government of Norfolk Island, by:

(a)  requiring agencies to publish the information; and

(b)  providing for a right of access to documents.

(2)  The Parliament intends, by these objects, to promote Australia’s representative democracy by
contributing towards the following:

(a)  increasing public participation in Government processes, with a view to promoting
better‐informed decision‐making;

(b)  increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government’s activities.

(3)  The Parliament also intends, by these objects, to increase recognition that information held by the
Government is to be managed for public purposes, and is a national resource.

(4)  The Parliament also intends that functions and powers given by this Act are to be performed and
exercised, as far as possible, to facilitate and promote public access to information, promptly and at
the lowest reasonable cost.

11   Right of access

(1)  Subject to this Act, every person has a legally enforceable right to obtain access in accordance with
this Act to:

(a)  a document of an agency, other than an exempt document; or

(b)  an official document of a Minister, other than an exempt document.

(2)  Subject to this Act, a person’s right of access is not affected by:

(a)  any reasons the person gives for seeking access; or

(b)  the agency’s or Minister’s belief as to what are his or her reasons for seeking access.

11A   Access to documents on request

Scope

(1)  This section applies if:

(a)  a request is made by a person, in accordance with subsection 15(2), to an agency or Minister for
access to:
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
a document of the agency; or


an official document of the Minister; and

(b)  any charge that, under the regulations, is required to be paid before access is given has been
paid.

(2)  This section applies subject to this Act.

Note:
Other provisions of this Act are relevant to decisions about access to documents, for example the
following:
(a)  section 12 (documents otherwise available);
(b)  section 13 (documents in national institutions);
(c)  section 15A (personnel records);
(d)  section 22 (access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted).

Mandatory access—general rule

(3)  The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document in accordance with this Act,
subject to this section.

Exemptions and conditional exemptions

(4)  The agency or Minister is not required by this Act to give the person access to the document at a
particular time if, at that time, the document is an exempt document.

Note:
Access may be given to an exempt document apart from under this Act, whether or not in response to a
request (see section 3A (objects—information or documents otherwise accessible)).

(5)  The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document if it is conditionally exempt at a
particular time unless (in the circumstances) access to the document at that time would, on balance,
be contrary to the public interest.

Note 1:
Division 3 of Part IV provides for when a document is conditionally exempt.
Note 2:
A conditionally exempt document is an exempt document if access to the document would, on balance,
be contrary to the public interest (see section 31B (exempt documents for the purposes of Part IV)).
Note 3:
Section 11B deals with when it is contrary to the public interest to give a person access to the document.

(6)  Despite subsection (5), the agency or Minister is not required to give access to the document at a
particular time if, at that time, the document is both:

(a)  a conditionally exempt document; and

(b)  an exempt document:

(i)  under Division 2 of Part IV (exemptions); or

(ii)  within the meaning of paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of exempt document in
subsection 4(1).

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Requests involving use of computers etc
(1)
Where:
(a)
a request (including a request in relation to which a practical refusal reason exists)
is made in accordance with the requirements of subsection 15(2) to an agency;
(b)
It appears from the request that the desire of the applicant is for information that
is not available in discrete form in written documents of the agency; and
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(ba)
it does not appear from the request that the applicant wishes to be provided with
a computer tape or computer disk on which the information is recorded; and
(c)
the agency could produce a written document containing the information in
discrete form by:
(i)
the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the
agency for retrieving or collating stored information; or
(ii)
the making of a transcript from a sound recording held in the agency;

the agency shall deal with the request as if it were a request for access to a written
document so produced and containing that information and, for that purpose, this Act
applies as if the agency had such a document in its possession.
(2)
An agency is not required to comply with subsection (1) if compliance would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations.

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Decisions to be made by authorised persons

(1)  Subject to subsection (2), a decision in respect of a request made to an agency may be made, on
behalf of the agency, by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of the agency or, subject to
the regulations, by an officer of the agency acting within the scope of authority exercisable by him or
her in accordance with arrangements approved by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of
the agency.

(2)  A decision in respect of a request made to a court, or made to a tribunal, authority or body that is
specified in Schedule 1, may be made on behalf of that court, tribunal, authority or body by the
principal officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body or, subject to the regulations, by an officer
of that court, tribunal, authority or body acting within the scope of authority exercisable by him or
her in accordance with arrangements approved by the principal officer of that court, tribunal,
authority or body.
(see section 11A).

26    Reasons and other particulars of decisions to be given

(1)  Where, in relation to a request, a decision is made relating to a refusal to grant access to a document
in accordance with the request or deferring provision of access to a document, the decision‐maker
shall cause the applicant to be given notice in writing of the decision, and the notice shall:

(a)  state the findings on any material questions of fact, referring to the material on which those
findings were based, and state the reasons for the decision; and

(aa)  in the case of a decision to refuse to give access to a conditionally exempt document—include
in those reasons the public interest factors taken into account in making the decision; and

Note: Access must generally be given to a conditionally exempt document unless it would be contrary to the public
interest (see section 11A).

(b)  where the decision relates to a document of an agency, state the name and designation of the
person giving the decision; and
(c)  give to the applicant appropriate information concerning:

(i)
his or her rights with respect to review of the decision;

(ii)
his or her rights to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
relation to the decision; and

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(iii)
the procedure for the exercise of the rights referred to in subparagraphs (i) and
(ii); including (where applicable) particulars of the manner in which an
application for internal review (Part VI) and IC review (Part VII) may be made.

(1A) Section 13 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 does not apply to a decision
referred to in subsection (1).

(2) A notice under this section is not required to contain any matter that is of such a nature that its
inclusion in a document of an agency would cause that document to be an exempt document.
(see section 11A).

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