Your Ref
Our Ref
LEX 1609
Bob Buckley
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Buckley
Your Freedom of Information request - consultation
I refer to your request, received by the Department of Education (department) on 19 June
2025, for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the following
documents:
“information about (records of) communication since 1/9/2024 relating to the National
Autism Strategy (NAS) that was released earlier this year (2025) between officials in your
department and the Department of Social Security (especially its NAS Oversight Committee or
its Secretariat).”
Practical refusal reason
I am writing to you, under sections 24AA(1)(a)(i), 24AA(2) and 24 of the FOI Act to tel you
that it is likely that processing your request in its current form would substantial y and
unreasonably divert the resources of the department.
I have consulted with departmental officers in the Inclusion and Disability Branch regarding
the number and nature of documents held by the department which are likely to be relevant
to your request, and the work involved in processing your request.
I am asking for your assistance in reducing the scope of your request. If we are unable to
reach a satisfactory agreement on the scope of your request, it is likely that I will decide to
refuse your request as currently worded under section 24 of the FOI Act.
To assist you, I have set out the relevant sections of the FOI Act at
Attachment A.
Amount of time to process your request
To process your request, the department must undertake extensive searches to find the
documents you have sought. Preliminary searches indicate the department may hold more
than 550 pages relevant to your request.
GPO Box 9880, Canberra ACT 2601 | Phone 1300 488 064 | www.education.gov.au | ABN 12 862 898 150
Based on my experience with the type and volume of records you want, I estimate it would
take more than 55 hours in processing time. This includes consulting with other Government
departments, looking at the documents to see if any of the pages might need redactions,
scheduling and writing a statement of reasons.
For the purposes of this estimate, I have assumed you are only seeking the final email of
email chains within in the scope of your request (unless earlier emails in the chain contain
attachments not captured by the final email in the chain) and excluding duplicate
documents. I consider this to be a reasonable interpretation of the scope of your request in
the circumstances, as it is intended to facilitate the efficient processing of your request by
reducing the number of documents. If you do not agree with this interpretation of your
request, please let me know when responding to this notice.
Suggestions for clarifying the scope of your request
To assist you in narrowing the request, I provide the below suggestions that may al ow the
department to process your request:
• specifying a more limited date range for your request (e.g. a 3-month period),
• excluding attachments to emails, and/or
• excluding material that is marked ‘Cabinet’.
Action required from you under the FOI Act
Before I make a final decision on your request, you can submit a revised request.
Under the FOI Act, you must do one of the fol owing things in the next 14 days:
• make a revised request
• tell us that you do not want to revise your request
• withdraw your request.
Contact officer
I am the contact officer for your request. During the consultation period you can contact me
to ask for help revising your request by emailing xxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
In accordance with section 24AB of the FOI Act, your response will be expected by
23 July 2025. If I do not receive a response from you within the time frame, your request will
be taken to be withdrawn by the operation of the FOI Act.
Further assistance
If you have any questions, please email xxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Lauren
Authorised decision maker
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education
9 July 2025
Attachment A
Relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Section 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal reason exists in relation
to an FOI request if the work involved in processing the request would substantial y and
unreasonably divert the resources of the department from its other operations.
Section 24AA(2) of the FOI Act sets out certain factors which the department must consider
when determining whether providing access in relation to a request would substantial y and
unreasonably divert resources. The department must specifically have regard to the
resources that would have to be used for:
• identifying, locating or col ating the documents
• deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document to which the
request relates, or to grant access to an edited copy of such a document, including
resources that would have to be used for examining the document or consulting in
relation to the request
• making a copy, or an edited copy, of the document
• notifying any interim or final decision on the request.
Section 24AB(7) of the FOI Act provides that the request is taken to have been withdrawn at
the end of the consultation period if:
• the applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with the notice
• the applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection (6) before the
end of the consultation period.
Section 24AB(6) says that the applicant must, before the end of the consultation period, do
one of the following, by written notice to the agency or Minister:
• withdraw the request
• make a revised request
• indicate that the applicant does not wish to revise the request.
