LEX9261 DECISION LETTER Attachment B Reasons A6454810.pdf

Attachment B – Reasons – Freedom of Information
Request No. LEX9261
Authority
As a Senior Government Lawyer, Legal Services Branch, I am an authorised decision-maker under
section 23 of the FOI Act.
Retrieval process
To identify documents for your request, I arranged for relevant staff likely to be able identify documents
to undertake a comprehensive search of the relevant electronic holdings used by the AEC.
Relevant Documents
With regard to the Relevant Documents identified in At achment A, I have decided:
Edited copies
a)  to grant access to an edited copy of the following documents from which exempt matter and
irrelevant information has been deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act:
i.  Document Nos 1-2.
Material taken into account
I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:
a)  the content of the documents that fall within the scope of your FOI Request;
b)  the FOI Act, specifically sections 22, 47E and 47F;
c)  the guidelines (‘FOI Guidelines’) issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under
section 93A of the FOI Act;
d)  the FOI Guidance Notes, July 2011 issued by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet;
and
e)  the Privacy Act 1988.
Detailed Reasons
Attachment A indicates each Relevant Document to which access is refused or access is granted. My
reasons for refusing or granting access are given below.

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Exemptions
Section 47E - certain operations of agencies

Findings
Attachment A identifies the documents to which I consider section 47E applies. With respect
to these documents, I found they contain information that would, if disclosed, have a
substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the ABS’ operations.
Consideration
Section 47E of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document if its disclosure under the FOI
Act would, or could reasonably be expected to, do any of the following:
(a)  prejudice the effectiveness of procedures or methods for the conduct of tests,
examinations or audits by the AEC (amongst other entities);
(b)  prejudice the attainment of the objects of particular tests, examinations or
audits conducted or to be conducted by the AEC (amongst other entities);
(c)  have a substantial adverse effect on the management or assessment of
personnel by the AEC (amongst other entities);
(d)  have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the
operations of the AEC (amongst other entities).
Section 47E of the FOI Act provides:
47E  Public interest conditional exemptions—certain operations of
agencies
A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would, or
could reasonably be expected to, do any of the following:
(a)   prejudice the effectiveness of procedures or methods for the conduct
of tests, examinations or audits by an agency;
(b)  prejudice the attainment of the objects of particular tests,
examinations or audits conducted or to be conducted by an agency;
(c)  have a substantial adverse effect on the management or assessment
of personnel by the Commonwealth or by an agency;
(d)  have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct
of the operations of an agency.
Note:  Access must generally be given to a conditionally exempt document
unless it would be contrary to the public interest (see section 11A).

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In making my decision I had regard to:
(e)  Part 6 (Conditional Exemptions) of the FOI Guidelines, specifically paragraphs
6.112 – 6.118; and
(f)  the following matters that I considered relevant:
(i)  the extent to which the information is well known,
(ii)  the extent to which, and how, disclosure of the information would or could
reasonably be expected to adversely affect the proper and efficient
conduct of the operations of the ABS, and
(iii)  submissions made by third parties in response to consultation.
I determined that information identified in the documents within Attachment A contain email
addresses that are for use within the ABS.
Initial Outcome
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the documents identified in Attachment A are within the
scope of the conditional exemption for deliberative matter provided by section 47E(d) of the
FOI Act.
Weighing of public interest factors
Under subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act, access to a document covered by a conditional
exemption must be given unless it would be contrary to the public interest.
With respect to Documents identified in Attachment A my weighing of public interest factors
follows.
(a)  I considered the following factors favouring disclosure:
(i)  To promote the objects of the FOI Act (section 11B(3)(a) of the FOI Act).
(b)  I considered the following factors that militate against disclosure as disclosure
could reasonably be expected to:
(i)  Have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of
ABS’ operations
(ii)  Disclosure of particular email addresses could reasonably be expected to
impede the flow of information within the ABE, and
(iii)  There is no public interest in releasing the email addresses or information
on the way ABS conduct their operations,

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In accordance with subsection 11B(4) of the FOI Act I excluded from my consideration the
following matters:
(c)  access to the document could result in embarrassment to the Commonwealth
Government, or cause a loss of confidence in the Commonwealth Government;
(d)  access to the document could result in any person misinterpreting or
misunderstanding the document;
(e)  the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to which
the request for access to the document was made;
(f)  access to the document could result in confusion or unnecessary debate.
In considering the weighing of public interest factors I had regard to the FOI Guidelines at
paragraphs 6.7–6.28.
In my view, the factors against disclosure of the documents outweigh the factors in favour of
disclosure for reasons identified above.
Final Outcome
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the documents identified in Attachment A are conditionally
exempt section 47E of the FOI Act and, because disclosure would be contrary to the public
interest, the documents should be treated as exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act.

Section 47F - personal privacy
Findings
Attachment A identifies the documents to which I consider section 47F applies. With respect to these
documents, I found that they contain personal information of third parties including names, contact
details and signatures.
Consideration 
Section 47F of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document if its disclosure under the FOI Act
would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (with certain
exceptions regarding the disclosure to a person of their own personal information). 
Subsection 47F(1) of the FOI Act provides: 
(1)  A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would involve
the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a
deceased person). 
In making my decision I had regard to: 
(a) the extent to which the information is well known

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(b) whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have been)
associated with the matters dealt with in the document
(c)  the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources,
(d) Part 6 (Conditional Exemptions) of the FOI Guidelines, and
(e) Submissions made by third parties in response to consultation
I determined that the personal information identified (including but not limited to names contact
details and other personal information)  in these documents is not well known, nor is it available from
publicly accessible sources. 
Initial outcome 
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the documents identified fall within the scope of the conditional
exemption for personal privacy provided by section 47F of the FOI Act. 
Weighing of public interest factors 
Under subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act, access to a document covered by a conditional exemption
must be given unless it would be contrary to the public interest. 
In my weighing of public interest factors, I considered that the public interest in releasing the full
names of these individuals is extremely low. I have considered the relevant factors in s 11B of the
FOI Act, and the release of this information would not aid the public in scrutinising, commenting or
reviewing the activities of the AEC, nor would it further inform any public debate on a matter of
importance (s 11B(3)(b)). 
I have also balanced this public interest with the consideration of whether this disclosure of personal
information would be unreasonable. 
(a)  The disclosure of this information could reasonably be considered to prejudice the
relevant individuals’ right to privacy. 
(b)  The disclosure of ABS staff members’ personal information may expose these parties to
harm or a continued harassment campaign. 
In accordance with subsection 11B(4) of the FOI Act I excluded from my consideration the following
matters: 
(a) access to the document could result in embarrassment to the Commonwealth
Government, or cause a loss of confidence in the Commonwealth Government
(b) access to the document could result in any person misinterpreting or misunderstanding
the document
(c)  the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to which the request
for access to the document was made, or
(d) access to the document could result in confusion or unnecessary debate. 

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In my view, having regard to the above considerations and the factors set out in sections 11B and
47F of the FOI Act, I have decided that the balancing of considerations weighs in favour of not
releasing the personal information in the released document. 
Final Outcome 
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the documents identified in At achment A are conditionally exempt
under section 47F of the FOI Act and, because disclosure would be contrary to the public interest,
that the documents should be treated as exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act. 

Preparation of edited copy
In accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act, I considered whether it is possible and practicable to
prepare an edited copy of each of Document Nos. 1-2 from which exempt and irrelevant material is
redacted.
Findings
I found that:
(a)  it is possible to prepare an edited copy of each of Document Nos. 1-2 modified by deletions,
ensuring that:
(i)
access to each edited copy would be required to be given under section 11A
(access to documents on request) of the FOI Act; and
(ii)  each edited copy would not disclose any information that would reasonably be
regarded as irrelevant to the FOI Request;
(b)  it is reasonably practicable for the AEC to prepare each edited copy, having regard to:
(i)
the nature and extent of the modifications; and
(ii)  the resources available to modify each document; and
(c)  it is not apparent that you would decline access to each edited copy.
I had regard to section 22 of the FOI Act and paragraphs 3.95–3.100 of the FOI Guidelines.
Outcome
I concluded that it is both possible and practicable to prepare an edited copy of each of Document Nos.
1-2 from which exempt and irrelevant matter is redacted.

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