Docusign Envelope ID: C0EAFFCB-C3D9-4E84-B3C5-F57D455AA87D
Phillip Tweedie
University Secretary
Director, University
Governance Office
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
12 November 2025
Jennifer Gong
Via Email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
SUBJECT FOI 202500209– Practical Refusal/ Request Consultation
Dear Jennifer Gong,
On 20 August 2025, the Australian National University received your request seeking access to
documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act)
.
On 17 September and 19 September 2025, the University contacted you and sought an extension
of time under section 15AA of the Act. No response was received to either request.
I, Phillip Tweedie, am an officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in
relation to FOI requests.
I am satisfied, for the reasons outlined below, that your request in its current form creates an
unreasonable diversion of this agency’s resources. On this basis I intend to refuse access to the
documents you have requested. This is called a ‘practical refusal reason’ (section 24AA of the FOI
Act).
However, before I make a final decision to do this, you have an opportunity to revise your request.
This is called a ‘request consultation process’ as set out under section 24AB of the FOI Act. You
have 14 days to respond to this notice in one of the ways set out below under the heading ‘what
you need to do’.
Why I intend to refuse your request
Your request received on (application date) is as follows:
The Australian National University
Canberra 2600, ACT Australia
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University)
CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C
Docusign Envelope ID: C0EAFFCB-C3D9-4E84-B3C5-F57D455AA87D
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, I request a copy of the "comprehensive review" into
IT outages mentioned in the Wednesday 16 July edition of "On Campus"
(https://www.anu.edu.au/files/2025-07/O-
week%2C%20ANU%20Corporate%20Plan%20and%20more_1.html)
If not included in said review, I would also like any related materials or communications that
mention the lessons learnt, also mentioned in the same "On Campus"
On receipt of your request, the University undertook preliminary searches for documents within
scope of the request. As a result of those searches, approximately 2382 pages of information were
identified as potentially relevant to your request.
I have decided that a practical refusal reason exists. Under section 24AA(2) the agency or Minister
must have regard to the resources that would be used for identifying, locating or collating the
documents within the filing system of the agency. In relation to this, I advise the following:
• The ANU has identified approximately 2382 pages of information that appear to fall within the
parameters of your request;
Using a conservative estimate, it would take a minimum of 518 hours to assess and determine
if the information contained within those pages are relevant to your request (based on a
baseline estimate of 5 minutes per page);
• After all information within those pages has been identified to be within scope, internal
consultation is required to assess whether any exemptions may apply, adding further time to
the estimated figure stated above and potentially impacting the work of those areas.
Charges
The Freedom of Information Act allows for the application of processing charges for matters that
are not of a personal nature.
Further, a request of this nature, in its current form, would likely attract a processing charge of
several thousand dollars.
Please see the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) guidance on charges for
providing access: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/freedom-of-information-
guidance-for-government-agencies/foi-guidelines/part-4-charges-for-providing-access
Request consultation process
You now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to proceed. If you wish to revise
your request, you may consider the following options to remove the practical refusal reason:
The Australian National University
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CRICOS Provider #00120C
Docusign Envelope ID: C0EAFFCB-C3D9-4E84-B3C5-F57D455AA87D
Specify documents: By providing specific information about exactly what documents you are
seeking, our agency will be able to pinpoint the documents and/or business areas you are
interested in and avoid using excessive resources to locate and process documents that you are not
interested in.
Increase precision: The more precise you can be with your request, the easier it is to locate
documents and process them. If you are aware of a specific document or documents you want
access to, provide as much information about that document as possible to assist with searches.
Broad information leads to broad searches, which leads to increased processing times to work
through the larger number of documents obtained.
What you need to do
Before the end of the consultation period, you must do one of the following, in writing, in
accordance with section 24AB(6) of the Act:
• Make a revised request – according to the advice above or in another way; or
• Tell us that you do not wish to revise the request; or
• Withdraw the request.
The consultation period runs for 14 days and starts on the day after you receive this notice.
If you revise your request in a way that adequately addresses the practical refusal grounds outlined
above, we will recommence processing it. (Please note that the time taken to consult you regarding
the scope of your request is
not taken into account for the purposes of the 30-day time limit for
processing your request.)
If you do not do one of the three things listed above during the consultation period, your request
will be taken to have been withdrawn.
Contact officer
If you would like to discuss revising your request or have any questions, please contact our office
via email in the first instance vi
a xxx@xxx.xxx.xx quoting
FOI 202500209 as your reference number
in the subject line.
The Australian National University
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CRICOS Provider #00120C
Docusign Envelope ID: C0EAFFCB-C3D9-4E84-B3C5-F57D455AA87D
Your review rights are outlined on the following page.
Yours sincerely
Mr Phillip Tweedie
University Secretary
Director, University Governance Office
Australian National University
The Australian National University
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CRICOS Provider #00120C
Docusign Envelope ID: C0EAFFCB-C3D9-4E84-B3C5-F57D455AA87D
Your review rights
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or Information
Commissioner review of the decision. We encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it
may provide a more rapid resolution of your concerns
Application for Internal Review of Decision
Section 54A of the Act, gives you the right to apply for an internal review of my decision.
It must be made in writing within 30 days of receipt of this letter, no particular form is required but
it is desirable to set out in the application the grounds on which you consider the decision should
be reviewed.
The application should be addressed to Freedom of Information at
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Application for Information Commissioner Review of decision
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner to
review my decision. An application must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this
letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:
Form: either online form or downloadable form available at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-
rights/freedom-of-information-reviews/information-commissioner-review
email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Post: Director of FOI Dispute Resolution, GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001
More information is available on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-
of-information-reviews
The Australian National University
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CRICOS Provider #00120C
