4 September 2015
Cameron Watt
Sent via email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our Ref: 1516/14.02
Dear Mr Watt,
FOI Application – UNI-DSL Specification
I am writing in relation to your request, made under the
Freedom of Information Act, 1982 (
the FOI Act),
seeking information about the UNI-DSL specification maintained by
nbn. Once you have considered this letter,
please contact me using the contact details set out below in order to clarify the terms of this request.
Scope of FOI Application On 30 August 2015,
nbn received
a request from you under the FOI Act, in the following terms:
“I seek access to UNI-DSL Specification which defines the minimum performance and functionality for
CPE to be used and registered on the NBN Co network.
Specifically I request the specification as it exists or is expected to exist at the time of launch in the
following NBN Co published documents.
WBA Product Catalogue - Product Technical Specification – NBN Co Ethernet Bitstream Service - FTTB
(http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/sfaa-wba2-product-catalogue-nebs-
product-tech-spec-fttb_20150824.pdf) dated 24-08-2015
and
7/08/2015 notification – WBA Product Catalogue - Product Description - NBN Co Ethernet Bitstream
Service (clean) (http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/sfaa-wba2-product-
catalogue-nebs-product-tech-spec-fttb-fttn_FTTN-launch.pdf) FTTN Commercial Launch Date*”
I am unclear as to what you are seeking in relation to the “UNI-DSL Specification which defines the minimum
performance and functionality for CPE…” I note that the term CPE does not appear to be defined in the
documents you have referred to in your request. In addition, I am unclear as to what you are seeking in
relation to the specification as it is “expected to exist at the time of launch in the following NBN Co published
documents”. I refer you to section
15(2)(b) of the FOI Act, which requires an applicant to provide sufficient
information so as to enable the agency to identify the relevant documents. Again, I would ask that you contact
me to clarify the terms of your request. Until those terms are clarified, the statutory time frame for completing
this request will not commence.
FOI Charging Processes Please note that processing charges may be imposed in relation to this FOI application. In that regard, I would
refer you to
nbn’s FOI processing charges policy, which is outlined at the following hyperlink
: Submission to
the OAIC Charges Review. In particular,
nbn supports – and will generally apply – Recommendation 24 in the
Hawke Review into FOI Legislation, which suggests a 40-hour ceiling for FOI processing charges.
nbn’s Commercial Activities Exemption
I also refer you to
nbn’s commercial activities exemption (
the CAE), as pe
r section 7(3A) and
Part II of
Schedule 2 of the FOI Act. In particular, you should be aware that documents that are in relation to
nbn’s “commercial activities” are not subject to the operation of the FOI Act. For your reference, the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner (
the OAIC) completed a review decision in January 2012 (
the
Internode Decision), which provides background and guidance as to the application of the CAE to
nbn. The
Internode Decision may be found by clicking on the following
link. The OAIC completed an additional review at
the end of July 2013 –
the Battersby Decision, which further clarified the scope of
nbn’s CAE or commercial
activities exemption. While I am not making a formal decision, depending on the level of detail you are seeking
for the structure charts, there is a possibility that documents falling within the terms of this FOI request may be
subject to the CAE, among other exemptions from release.
Disclosure Log Notification In accordance with the FOI Act,
nbn is required to publish documents provided to FOI applicants within 10
working days after release. The information you seek may be published in full (as released to you) or with
some additional redactions as per section 11C of the FOI Act. For further information, visit ou
r Disclosure Log
on
nbn’s website.
If you have any questions or need to discuss your FOI application, please feel free to contact the writer on Tel.
8918 5655 or via email on
xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx. Sincerely,
An Vo
Associate Legal Counsel
FOI, Privacy & Knowledge Management
