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Our reference: FOI 25‐427
Christian Heinrich
By email: foi+request‐13318‐xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Heinrich
Decision on your Freedom of Information Request
1
Your request
On 23 June 2025, you submitted a request to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional
Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (the Department), seeking access to documents under
the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
You requested access to:
all documents related to the "IT Security Skills Certification in Australia" program lead by DCITA as
reported at https://www.zdnet.com/article/no‐need‐for‐aussie‐it‐security‐certification/ during 2005.
In addition to the deliverable, I am seeking all correspondence to/from:
‐ SIFT
‐ DCITA
‐ "... 40‐plus organisations interviewed by SIFT ..."
‐ "... 12‐15 of the ..." organisations "... invited to the workshop ..."
On 22 July 2025, the Department notified you that your request captured by document containing
information concerning the business, commercial or financial affairs or an organisation, or a person’s
business or profession affairs, and that under section 27 of the FOI Act, the Department
was required to
consult with the affected organisation before making a decision on access to the document. As such, the
period for processing your request was extended by 30 days under section 15(6) of the FOI Act.
2
Authority to make decision
I am authorised by the Secretary to make decisions in relation to Freedom of Information requests under
section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
GPO Box 594, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
(02) 6274 7111 infrastructure.gov.au
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Decision
Your request relates to matters handled by the Department 20 years ago. Since that time, a number of
Machinery of Government changes have occurred and many staff have moved on, meaning that there is little
to no remaining corporate knowledge about this matter within the Department.
However, the Department has conducted searches of information holdings available to it from that time. This
has included a search of its official record keeping system, using the key phrase ‘Information Security Skills
Accreditation’. During this search, 1 document was identified as being relevant to your request. Further
searches were undertaken to ascertain whether any additional documents were held, including the
correspondence you have specified in your request. No further relevant documents were identified.
The Department’s email holdings were unable to be searched, noting that records are only held on our email
services since 2016, in accordance with our record keeping obligations under the
Archives Act 1983. Our
Parliamentary Document Management System (PDMS) records are only held since 2012 and therefore do
not cover the timeframe of your request.
As such, I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to find documents which would be relevant
to your request and that 1 document has been located.
This document was in the possession of the Department when your request was received.
I have decided to grant partial access to that document.
4
Finding of facts and reasons for decision
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding that exemptions apply to parts of document relevant to your
request are set out below.
4.1 Section 47F – Documents affecting personal privacy
Section 47F of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure would involve
the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased person).
Personal Information
Personal information has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act. Specifically, section 6 of the Privacy Act
provides that
personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an
individual who is reasonably identifiable whether the information or opinion is true or not; and whether the
information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
Paragraph 6.126 of the FOI Guidelines states that for particular information to be personal information, an
individual must be identified or reasonably identifiable.
Paragraph 6.125 of the FOI Guidelines states that personal information can include a person’s name, address,
telephone number, date of birth, medical records, bank account details, taxation information and signature.
An individual is a natural person rather than a corporation, trust, body politic or incorporated association.
I am satisfied that parts of the document marked ‘s47F’ includes personal information about a number of
individuals.
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Unreasonable Disclosure of Personal Information
Section 47F(2) of the FOI Act provides that, in determining whether the disclosure would involve the
unreasonable disclosure of personal information, I must have regard to the following matters:
(a)
the extent to which the information is well known
(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)
any other matters that the agency or Minister considers relevant.
Paragraph 6.133 of the FOI Guidelines states that:
The personal privacy conditional exemption is designed to prevent the unreasonable invasion of third
parties’ privacy. The test of ‘unreasonableness’ implies a need to balance the public interest in
disclosure of government‐held information and the private interest in the privacy of individuals. The
test does not, however, amount to the public interest test of s 11A(5), which follows later in the
decision making process. It is possible that the decision maker may need to consider one or more
factors twice, once to determine if a projected effect is unreasonable and again when assessing the
public interest balance.
I note that the AAT, in
Re Chandra and Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs [1984] AATA 437 at
paragraph 259, stated that:
... whether a disclosure is ‘unreasonable’ requires … a consideration of all the circumstances, including
the nature of the information that would be disclosed, the circumstances in which the information was
obtained, the likelihood of the information being information that the person concerned would not
wish to have disclosed without consent, and whether the information has any current relevance … it
is also necessary in my view to take into consideration the public interest recognised by the Act in the
disclosure of information … and to weigh that interest in the balance against the public interest in
protecting the personal privacy of a third party ...
Paragraphs 6.137‐6.139 of the FOI Guidelines state:
6.137
Key factors for determining whether disclosure is unreasonable include:
the author of the document is identifiable
the documents contain third party personal information
release of the documents would cause stress on the third party
no public purpose would be achieved through release
6.138
As discussed in the IC review decision of
‘FG’ and National Archives of Australia [2015] AICmr 26, other factors considered to be relevant include:
the nature, age and current relevance of the information
any detriment that disclosure may cause to the person to whom the information relates
any opposition to disclosure expressed or likely to be held by that person
the circumstances of an agency’s collection and use of the information
the fact that the FOI Act does not control or restrict any subsequent use or dissemination
of information released under the FOI Act
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any submission an FOI applicant chooses to make in support of their application as to
their reasons for seeking access and their intended or likely use or dissemination of the
information, and
whether disclosure of the information might advance the public interest in government
transparency and integrity
6.139
The leading IC review decision on s 47F is ‘BA’ and Merit Protection Commissioner in which
the Information Commissioner explained that the object of the FOI Act to promote
transparency in government processes and activities needs to be balanced with the purpose
of s 47F to protect personal privacy.
I am satisfied that the disclosure of personal information contained within the document would, in the
circumstances, constitute an unreasonable disclosure of personal information for the following reasons:
• the conditionally exempt personal information is not well known
• the person to whom the personal information relates is not known to be (or to have been)
associated with the matters dealt with in the document
• the conditionally exempt personal information is not available from publicly accessible sources
• the individuals whose personal information is contained in the document are identifiable
• no further public purpose would be achieved through the release of the personal information,
noting that the personal information is included in the document as a result of their employment
circumstance
• the individuals would not expect the information to be placed in the public domain, and detriment
may be caused to the individuals to whom the information relates, and
• the FOI Act does not control or restrict any subsequent use or dissemination of information
released under the FOI Act.
For the reasons outlined above, I decided that parts of the document marked ‘s47F’ are conditionally exempt
from disclosure under section 47F of the FOI Act.
Where information is found to be conditionally exempt, I must give access to that information unless access
at this time would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest. I have addressed the public interest
considerations below.
4.2 Public interest considerations
Pursuant to section 11A(5) of the FOI Act, I must give access to conditionally exempt information unless
access to that information at that time would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest. I have therefore
considered whether disclosure of the conditionally exempt information would be contrary to the public
interest.
I note that paragraph 6.224 of the FOI Guidelines states that the public interest test is considered to be:
• something that is of serious concern or benefit to the public, not merely of individual interest
• not something of interest to the public, but in the interest of the public
• not a static concept, where it lies in a particular matter will often depend on a balancing of interests
• necessarily broad and non‐specific and
• relates to matters of common concern or relevance to all members of the public, or a substantial
section of the public.
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Factors favouring disclosure
Having regard to section 11B of the FOI Act, which provides the factors favouring access to conditionally
exempt information in the public interest, I consider that disclosure of the conditionally exempt information
at this time:
1)
would provide access to documents held by an agency of the Commonwealth, which would
promote the objects of the FOI Act by providing the Australian community with access to
information held by the Australian Government
o I note that paragraph 6.230 of the FOI Guidelines suggests it would be a rare case in which
disclosure would not promote the objects of the FOI Act, including by increasing scrutiny,
discussion, comment and review of the government’s activities.
2)
would not inform debate on a matter of public importance
3)
would not promote effective oversight of public expenditure
4)
would not allow you access to your own personal information.
o I note you are not seeking access to your own personal information and this factor is mute in
my considerations.
Factors weighing against disclosure
I consider that the following factors weigh against disclosure of the conditionally exempt information at this
time, on the basis that disclosure:
1)
could reasonably be expected to prejudice the protection of a number of individuals’ right to
personal privacy
o The Department is committed to complying with its obligations under the
Privacy Act 1988,
which sets out standards and obligations that regulate how we must handle and manage
personal information. I consider it is firmly in the public interest that we uphold the rights of
individuals to their own privacy and meet our statutory obligations under the Privacy Act.
o I note that the substance of the information that is relevant to your request has been
released to you and disclosure of the conditionally exempt personal information would not
provide you with any further insight into the workings of government beyond that
substantive information.
In making my decision, I have not taken into account any of the irrelevant factors set out in section 11B(4) of
the FOI Act.
Conclusion – disclosure is not in the public interest
For the reasons set out above, after weighing all public interest factors for and against disclosure, I decided
that, on balance, disclosure of the conditionally exempt information would be contrary to the public interest.
I am satisfied that the benefit to the public resulting from disclosure of the conditionally exempt information
is outweighed by the benefit to the public of withholding that information.
4.3 Section 22 – deletion of material from documents released to you
Section 22 of the FOI Act applies to documents containing exempt material and allows an agency to delete
such material from a document.
As I decided that some information you have requested is exempt from disclosure, I have prepared an edited
copy of the document released to you by deleting the exempt information under section 22(1)(a)(i) of the
FOI Act.
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Material taken into consideration
In making my decision, I had regard to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the content of the document captured by your request
• the provisions of the FOI Act
• the guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act
(the FOI Guidelines)
• advice from departmental officers who conducted searches for documents relevant to your request
• comments from third parties consulted about documents which contain information concerning
them
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Legislative provisions
The FOI Act, including the provisions referred to in my decision, are available on the Federal Register of
Legislation website: www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562.
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Your review rights
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for a review of it.
7.1 Internal review
You can request an internal review within 30 days of receiving this decision. An internal review will be
conducted by a different departmental officer from the original decision‐maker.
No particular form is required to apply for review although it will assist the Department if you are able to set
out the grounds on which you believe that the original decision should be changed.
Applications for internal review can be sent to xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
If you choose to seek an internal review, you will also have a right to apply for Information Commissioner
review (IC review) of the internal review decision once it has been provided to you if you remain dissatisfied
with the decision.
7.2 Information Commissioner review or complaint
An application for IC review must be made in writing to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) within 60 days of the decision.
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.
More information about the Information Commissioner reviews and complaints is available on the OAIC
website here: www.oaic.gov.au/freedom‐of‐information/foi‐review‐process.
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Publication of material released under the FOI Act
Where I have decided to release documents to you, we may also publish the released material on our
Disclosure Log. We will not publish personal or business affairs information where it would be unreasonable
to do so.
For your reference our Disclosure Log can be found here: www.infrastructure.gov.au/about‐us/freedom‐
information/freedom‐information‐disclosure‐log.
Further information
If you require further information regarding this decision, please contact the Department’s FOI Section
at xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Kate McMullan
Assistant Secretary
Consumer Safeguards Branch
Communications Services & Consumer Division
Date: 18 August 2025
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