Your Ref
Our Ref
LEX 1599
Vanessa Teague
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Vanessa
Your Freedom of Information request - decision
I refer to your revised request, received by the Department of Education (department) on
16 June 2025, for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the
following documents:
any general documents that describe the My Mind Check program which have
been provided to schools, either up front or upon request, to inform them about
the program.
My decision
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
The department holds 13 documents (totalling 104 pages) that fall within the scope of
your request. I have decided to grant you
access in full to the documents.
A schedule of the documents for release is at
Attachment A.
Charge
On 11 July 2025, the department made a preliminary assessment of the charge payable
to process your request in the amount of $223.00. On 28 July 2025, the department
received payment in full.
The preliminary assessment of the charge was based on a preliminary review of the
documents, which resulted in an estimate of 17 documents, comprising approximately
180 pages falling within the scope of your request. During the processing of your
request, it became apparent that some of the documents that had been identified as
GPO Box 9880, Canberra ACT 2601 | Phone 1300 488 064 | www.education.gov.au | ABN 12 862 898 150
potentially falling within the scope of your request did not include any relevant material
as they were not provided to schools.
Noting this, while the costs of processing your request exceeded the preliminary
estimate, I have re-assessed the charge under regulation 10 of the
Freedom of
Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 based on the reduced number of pages and the
charge amount is $165.00, which is lower than the preliminary assessment. As such, I
have decided to refund the difference between the amount of the preliminary
assessment of processing charges and the revised assessment of the charge. The
amount to be refunded is $58.00. I will be in contact with you once this refund has been
processed.
How we will send your documents
The documents are attached.
Background
On 16 June 2025, you made an FOI request to the department in the following terms:
‘… the general documentation provided to schools as part of the My Mind Check
program.
Note I am not asking for individual emails etc between schools and the
department - I am requesting all documents that describe My Mind Check, and
were provided to schools, either upfront or upon their request, to inform them
about the program.’
On 4 July 2025, the department advised you that the My Mind Check website
(https://mymindcheck.org.au/) and the related YouTube channel
(https://www.youtube.com/@MyMindCheck) contain some general information that is
provided to schools to inform them about the program. For example, the My Mind Check
website contains the program’s privacy collection notice and portal terms of use and
the YouTube channel includes informative videos often circulated to schools such as
the program’s introductory video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERNpi6dE6dU).
As such, the department notified you that it had interpreted your request to be seeking
access to ‘any general documents that describe the My Mind Check program which
have been provided to schools, either up front or upon request, to inform them about
the program’. This interpretation excluded publicly available materials, documents
provided to schools after they have signed up to the program or emails between schools
and the department. As we did not receive a response from you within the specified
period, I have continued to interpret your request on this basis.
On 11 July 2025, the department advised you that it would consult with certain third
parties because the requested documents contain information the third parties might
reasonably wish to contend should not be disclosed.
In reaching my decision, I took into account:
• your request dated 16 June 2025
• other correspondence with you
• the documents that fall within the scope of your request
• consultation with a third party about the documents
• consultations with departmental officers about the nature of the documents
and the operating environment and functions of the department
• the guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section
93A of the FOI Act (FOI Guidelines)
• the
Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 • the FOI Act.
You can ask for a review of my decision
If you disagree with any part of the decision, you can ask for a review. There are two
ways you can do this. You can ask for an internal review by the department or an
external review by the Australian Information Commissioner.
You can find information about your rights of review under the FOI Act, as well as
information about how to make a complaint at
Attachment B.
Further assistance
If you have any questions, please email xxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Jessica
Authorised decision maker
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education
29 August 2025
9.
19 - 25
October
My Mind Check Stakeholder
Grant access in
N/A
2024
communication toolkit. The toolkit full
was provided to education
authorities to share with
interested schools.
10.
26 – 46
October
My Mind Check webinar slides.
Grant access in
N/A
2024
full
11.
47 - 65
May 2025
My Mind Check webinar slides.
Grant access in
N/A
full
12.
66 - 87
October
My Mind Check introduction pack. Grant access in
N/A
2024
This pack is provided to schools
full
who enquire about the program.
13.
88 - 104
N/A
My Mind Check slides used to
Grant access in
N/A
assist schools to consider how
full
they may want to implement the
program.
Attachment B
YOUR RIGHTS OF REVIEW
Asking for a formal review of an FOI decision
If you believe the decision is incorrect, the FOI Act gives you the right to apply for a
review of the decision. Under sections 54 and 54L of the FOI Act, you can apply for a
review of an FOI decision by:
• an internal review officer in the department and/or
• the Australian Information Commissioner.
There are no fees for applying for a formal review.
Applying for an internal review by an internal review officer
If you apply for internal review, a different decision maker to the decision maker who
made the original decision will review your request. The internal review decision maker
will consider all aspects of the original decision afresh and decide whether the decision
should change.
An application for internal review must be made in writing within 30 days of receiving
this letter. You can lodge your application by email to xxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Applying for external review by the Australian Information Commissioner
If you do not agree with the original decision or the internal review decision, you can ask
the Australian Information Commissioner to review the decision.
You will have 60 days to apply in writing for a review by the Australian Information
Commissioner.
You can lodge your application in one of the following ways:
Online:
https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=ICReview&layoutcode=ICReviewWF
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Post:
Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
GPO Box 9880, Canberra ACT 2601 | Phone 1300 488 064 | www.education.gov.au | ABN 12 862 898 150
Complaints to the Australian Information Commissioner
Australian Information Commissioner
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action taken by
an agency in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act.
A complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner must be made in writing and
can be lodged in one of the following ways:
Online:
https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=Complaint&layoutcode=FOIComplaintW
F
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Post:
Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
