OFFICIAL
LEGAL, INTERNATIONAL AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS
CASA Ref: F24/5860 Mr Mark Newton
Via email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Newton,
Notice of Intention to Refuse – Request Consultation Process (s.24AB)
I refer to your email dated 16 February 2024 seeking access to under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982
(the Act). Your request was for:
- any documents which identify the "key milestones associated with the Class 5 medical certificate
exemption instrument" to be completed before timeframes for the Class 4 medical certificate can be
confirmed.
- any documents which contain actual or proposed timeframes for the delivery of Class 4 medical
certificate regulations.
- any documents containing full or partial proposals for the content of regulations pertaining to the
Class 4 medical certificate.
On 27 February 2024, CASA acknowledged your above request and assigned it with the reference number,
F24/5860. On 18 March 2024, I wrote to you requesting an extension of time for the processing of your
request. On the same date, you responded agreeing to the extension of time. A final decision on your above
request is due to be made by COB Monday 8 April 2024, subject to any adjustments that are permitted under
the FOI Act including for this consultation process. I note that, despite your agreement to extend the
timeframe until 8 April, CASA wil endeavour to complete your request earlier than that date if possible, and
this letter is part of our attempts to do so.
I am writing to tell you that I believe that the work involved in processing your request, in its current form as
understood by CASA, would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of this agency from its other
operations due to its size and broad scope, creating a ‘practical refusal reason’ (section 24AA).
On this basis, I intend to refuse access to the documents you requested. However, before I make a final
decision to do this, you have an opportunity to revise this request. This is called a ‘request consultation
process’ as set out under section 24AB of the Act. You have 14 days to respond to this notice in one of the
ways set out below.
Why I intend to refuse the request
I have decided that a practical refusal reason exists because:
• Searches relating to the scope of your request have identified a large number of documents and files
that may be within the scope of your request. CASA would need to examine each of these records
individually; and
• Reviewing and indexing these documents could be expected to take a considerable and unreasonable
amount of time.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 Canberra ACT 2601 | Telephone: 131 757
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• Consulting with relevant persons or bodies in relation to the request could be expected to take a
considerable and unreasonable amount of time.
You now have an opportunity to revise this request to enable it to proceed.
Before the end of this consultation period, you must do one of the following, in writing:
1.
withdraw the request
2.
make a revised request
3.
tell us that you do not wish to revise your request.
The consultation period runs for a 14-day period, commencing the day after you receive this notice, which I
infer wil mean that your response is due on Wednesday 3 April 2024.
Consultation
Presently, your access request extends to a broad range of documents in CASA’s possession that relate to
the matter. Searches have been conducted of CASA’s Records Management System and Vault Search
System, and preliminary consultations have been performed with various business areas within CASA who
may hold documents in relation to your scope.
I have identified over 28,000 email items that may relate to the scope of your request. In conducting the
searches, through Vault Search, the system requires a description of terms in order to generate results that
fall within the scope of the request. In conducting the search, the following description below automated
28,441 items:
(“timeframes” OR “milestones”) and (“Class 5” OR “Class 4”) and “regulation” and “Class 4”
The Vault Search system is used to ensure that a complete search of CASA’s records and emails is
conducted to identify any and all documents that fall within the scope of your request, whilst also checking
with individual business areas to provide any information they may hold on the subject matter. Although the
search string above already conflates some limbs of your request, you can see that a large number of
potentially relevant documents were identified. If you believe there are any other terms within the current
scope of your request that should be used to identify the documents, please let us know.
Reducing the scope of your access request may involve limiting your request to be for a specific document,
narrowing to specific subject matter contained in an email and further limiting the date range. In addition, the
scope of your request may change based on any clarification you provide to the unclear aspect of your
request mentioned above.
Whether the suggestions that I have made wil remove the grounds for a practical refusal decision I wil be
unsure of until such time as the scope of your initial application is revised, any suggestion is guidance only.
Should you decide to revise your request, this does not guarantee that the practical refusal reason wil no
longer exist. If it does no longer exist, this does not guarantee documents wil be released without
exemptions applied. These types of decisions are made when any documents that are the subject of the
revised request are assessed.
During the consultation period, you are welcome to seek assistance from me. If you revise the request in a
way that adequately addresses the practical refusal grounds outlined above, I wil recommence processing it
(please note that the time taken to consult you regarding the scope of the request is not taken into account
for the purposes of the 30-day time limit for processing the request).
If you do not do one of the three things above during the consultation period or you do not consult me as the
contact officer during this period, your request wil be taken to have been withdrawn.
Yours sincerely,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 Canberra ACT 2601 | Telephone: 131 757
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Advisory and Drafting Branch
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
19 March 2024
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 Canberra ACT 2601 | Telephone: 131 757
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