Ben Little
By email to:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ben
Freedom of Information Internal Review LEX 53597
I refer to your application under
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act) made to the Department
of Social Services (
the Department) on 24 April 2025. The application seeks internal review of the
decision made in respect of the FOI request LEX 53354 (
original decision) which sought access to:
The Foundational Supports report from the consultations held by the Social Deck in
2024. My request is for both the summary and full version.
I am authorised to make internal review decisions under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act and am
writing to inform you of that decision.
The original decision
The original decision refused the request under section 24A of the FOI Act. This is because the
Department took al reasonable steps to locate the documents and found that we did not have
possession of the documents sought by this request.
A copy of the original decision is enclosed at
Attachment A.
Internal review decision
I have decided to affirm the original decision to refuse the request under section 24A of the FOI Act.
The reasons for my decision are set out below.
Material relied upon in making this decision
I relied on the following material in coming to this decision:
• the terms of the FOI request;
• the application for internal review;
• the documents subject to the FOI request;
• advice from subject matter experts within the Department regarding the nature and sensitivity of
the documents subject to the request;
• the FOI Act; and
• the Guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (
FOI Guidelines).
Reasons for Decision
The application for internal review argued that the primary request was reasonable and the report was
due to be made public early in 2025.
I have addressed these points as part of my reasons below.
Primary request was reasonable
The Department considered the request made on 24 April 2025 was reasonable, meaning that it did
not issue a practical refusal notice in respect of it, and it was then processed in accordance with the
FOI Act and its established procedures.
Documents do not exist
In its original decision, the Department advised that the final version of the report and the subsequent
summary had not yet been finalised at the time of the request. Therefore, the Department determined
that the documents sought by the request did not exist and refused the request under section 24A of
the FOI Act.
I have reviewed the document searches undertaken by the Department and advice from the relevant
business area, and affirm the original decision to refuse the request on the grounds that the
documents did not exist at the time of the request.
Report to be made public early in 2025
The Department’s website advises a summary report of community consultation will be published
early in 2025. You may conside
r subscribing to the Foundational Supports newsletter to receive
notification of when the report is published.
Review rights and complaints
Information concerning how you may seek a review of this decision or make a complaint about the
handling of this request is at
Attachment B.
Contact
If you would like to discuss any aspect of my decision, please contact me
at xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Sarah B
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
22 May 2025
Attachments
Attachment A – Original decision
Attachment B – Review Rights
ATTACHMENT B
REVIEW RIGHTS
Review or Complaints to the Information Commissioner
You may seek review of this decision via the Australian Information Commissioner (
Information
Commissioner) within 60 days of the receipt of this decision letter.
You may also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner concerning actions taken by the
Department while exercising its powers or performing its functions under the FOI Act.
Further details on both processes above can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
