Our Ref: FOI-2025/0912165544
24 September 2025
By email: JayShah2000 <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx>
Dear JayShah2000
Request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
1. I refer to your email to the Australian Human Rights Commission
(Commission) dated 11 September 2025 making a request under the
Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). You requested:
the number of race discrimination claims by Asian people
2. On 12 September 2025 I emailed you to request a timeframe for your
request. On 17 September 2025 I sent a follow up email as I had not received
a response.
3. On 18 September 2025 you indicated that you wanted the number for:
Each year since 1972
4. I confirm that I am an officer authorised under s 23(1) of the FOI Act to make
decisions in relation to Freedom of Information requests.
Searches and outcomes
5. Please note that the Commission was established in 1986 and our
Investigation Conciliation Service (ICS) electronic complaints database
contains records starting in 14 December 1988.
6. The information you have requested is not contained in pre-existing
Commission documents, but rather requires us to search our electronic
Australian Human Rights
GPO Box 5218
General enquiries
1300 369 711
Commission
Sydney NSW 2001
National Info Service
1300 656 419
ABN 47 996 232 602
www.humanrights.gov.au
TTY
1800 620 241
Australian Human Rights Commission
complaints database and generate a document therefore I am treating your
request as a request under s 17 of the FOI Act which provides:
Requests involving use of computers etc.
(1) Where:
(a) [a valid FOI request is made];
(b) it appears from the request that the desire of the applicant is for
information that is not available in discrete form in written
documents of the agency; and
(ba) it does not appear from the request that the applicant wishes to be
provided with a computer tape or computer disk on which the
information is recorded; and
(c) the agency could produce a written document containing the
information in discrete form by:
(i) the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily
available to the agency for retrieving or collating stored
information; or
(ii) the making of a transcript from a sound recording held in the
agency;
the agency shal deal with the request as if it were a request for access to a
written document so produced and containing that information and, for that
purpose, this Act applies as if the agency had such a document in its possession.
7. I asked the ICS team to conduct a search responsive to your request, by
searching for race discrimination complaints with ‘Asian’ in the summary
field.
8. Please note that the number of complaints generated by this search may not
be an accurate representation of all race discrimination complaints received
in the relevant timeframe by the Commission from persons of Asian
ethnicity, cultural heritage or identity, because:
• Complainants may choose another term to describe their ethnicity,
cultural heritage or identity
• There is no requirement for complainants to specify their ethnicity,
cultural heritage or identity
Decision
9. I am granting access, in ful , to the spreadsheet generated as result of the
search described in paragraph 7 above.
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Australian Human Rights Commission
Avenues of review of my decision
10. If you are dissatisfied with my decision or the searches conducted to locate
information and documents related to your request, you may apply for:
• internal review, or
• Information Commissioner (IC) review,
of my decision. We encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it
may provide a more rapid resolution of your concerns.
A.
Internal review
a. Under s 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply for an internal review of
my decision by writing to the Commission within 30 days of the date
of this letter stating the reasons why you believe a review of the
decision is necessary.
b. The internal review will be carried out by another FOI officer within
30 days.
B.
Information Commissioner Review
a. Under s 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Information
Commissioner to review my decision.
b. An application for review by the Information Commissioner must be
made in writing within 60 days of the date of this letter.
c. You may lodge an application for review by the Information
Commission in one of the following ways:
Online:
Information Commissioner Review Application Form
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Post:
GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001
d. You may visit the Office of the Australian Commissioner website for
more information about a review by the Information Commissioner.
Yours sincerely,
Lara Renton
Acting General Counsel
T +61 2 9284 9865
E xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
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