OFFICIAL
Our ref: FOI-2025-80053
21 May 2025
Lex (last name not given)
By ema
il: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Lex
Freedom of Information request - Access decision
1. I refer to your 8 May 2025 request to this Office under the
Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (FOI Act), for access to documents in the following terms:
On 6 May 2025, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Iain Anderson, presented an
address titled "best practices for ensuring transparency and accountability in
decision-making processes" at the Public Sector Integrity and Governance
colloquium in Canberra.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), I request access to any and al
documents of the address delivered by Iain Anderson at the Public Sector
Integrity and Governance col oquium.
For the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, the concept of a document
extends to traditional documents, as wel as digital documents, audio
recordings and video recordings. If a written record (e.g. written on paper, saved
as a Microsoft Word or PDF document, or a transcript) of the address does not
exist but a recording of the address exists (i.e. audio or video), please provide a
recording of the address.
2. The scope of your FOI request is understood to be for al documents
of the address
delivered by Iain Anderson, at the Public Sector Integrity and Governance
colloquium (emphasis added).
3. I have interpreted this to mean a request for a copy of the address that was
delivered by Iain Anderson, both written and recorded.
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Helping people, improving government
1300 362 072 ombudsman.gov.au GPO Box 442, Canberra ACT 2601
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Decision
4. This letter constitutes notice of my decision on your request for access. I am
authorised to make decisions on behalf of our Office under section 23 of the FOI Act.
5. When processing an FOI request, an agency is required to ensure that al reasonable
steps have been taken to find documents within the scope of the FOI request in
accordance with section 24A of the FOI Act.
6. Searches have been undertaken of our case management and record
management systems, using key words for any documents this Office may hold,
that would fal within the scope of your request. I have also undertaken consultation
directly with the Ombudsman, Iain Anderson, who would be best placed to identify
what documents responsive to your request are in existence.
7. The Ombudsman did not prepare a written speech. The Office does not hold a
video/ audio recording of the address.
8. Our Office has identified one (1) document relevant to your request, being the slides
that accompanied the speech. I grant full access.
9. A schedule setting out the relevant document is at Attachment A.
Material taken into account
10. In making my decision I had regard to the following:
• the terms of your request
• relevant provisions of the FOI Act
• internal consultation with relevant areas within the Office
• Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under s 93A of
the FOI Act, available
at www.oaic.gov.au (FOI Guidelines).
Disclosure Log
11. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires our Office to publish documents released through
an FOI request on our website (FOI disclosure log) within 10 days of release, unless
an exception applies.
The disclosure log requirements do not apply to:
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Helping people, improving government
1300 362 072 ombudsman.gov.au GPO Box 442, Canberra ACT 2601
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a. personal information about any person if publication of that information
would be 'unreasonable'
b. information about the business, commercial, financial or professional affairs
of any person if publication of that information would be 'unreasonable'
c. other information covered by a determination made by the Ombudsman if
publication of that information would be 'unreasonable'
d. any information if it is not reasonably practicable to publish the information
because of the extent of modifications that would need to be made to delete
the information listed in the above dot points.
12. Having regard to the nature of the information captured by your request, I have not
identified an exception to publication of the material and have decided to publish
the documents on the Office’s disclosure log. As a result, they wil be published on
our disclosure log within 10 days of the documents being released to you.
Review Rights
Internal review
13. No particular form is required to apply for review although it wil assist your case to
set out the grounds on which you believe that the original decision should be
changed. Applications for internal review can be made:
• via email to
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
• by mail to Commonwealth Ombudsman GPO Box 442 Canberra ACT 2601
14. If you choose to seek an internal review, you wil afterward have a right to apply for
Information Commissioner review (IC review) of the internal review decision.
Information Commissioner review or complaint
15. You also have the right to seek IC review of this decision. For FOI applicants, an
application for IC review must be made in writing within 60 days of the decision. For
third parties who object to disclosure of their information, an application for IC
review must be made in writing within 30 days of the decision.
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Helping people, improving government
1300 362 072 ombudsman.gov.au GPO Box 442, Canberra ACT 2601
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16. If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your FOI request, you
can lodge a complaint with the OAIC. However, the OAIC suggests that complaints
are made to the agency in the first instance.
17. While there is no particular form required to make a complaint to the OAIC, the
complaint should be in writing and set out the reasons for why you are dissatisfied
with the way your request was processed. It should also identify the Ombudsman’s
Office as the agency about which you are complaining.
18. You can make an IC review application or make an FOI complaint in one of the
following ways:
• online at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-
information-rights/freedom-of-information-complaints/make-an-foi-
complaint
• via email to
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
• by mail to GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001, or
• by fax to 02 9284 9666.
19. More information about the Information Commissioner reviews and complaints is
available at its website:
www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-review-
process.
Contact
20. You may contact me via email
at xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx or via
telephone on 1300 362 072.
Yours sincerely
Carolina
Senior Legal Officer
Legal Team
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Helping people, improving government
1300 362 072 ombudsman.gov.au GPO Box 442, Canberra ACT 2601
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Attachment A
Schedule of Documents - Freedom of Information Request FOI-2025-80053
Doc
Total pages
Description of Document
Decision on
Exemption
No.
Access
1.
15
Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in
Full access
N/A
Decision-Making, Commonwealth Ombudsman
(PowerPoint presentation presented by Iain
Anderson)
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