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13 November 2025 
 
Mr V 
Via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx 
 
Dear Mr V  
Freedom of information request 164 – Notice of decision and reasons 
1.  The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about access to documents that you 
requested under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).  
2.  All provisions referred to in this decision  document are from the FOI Act unless 
specified otherwise. 
3.  I am an officer authorised under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in 
relation to FOI requests. 
Your request 
4.  On 13 October 2025, you requested:  
“Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, I request access to the following 
documents relating to Contract Notice CN4172033 – “ICT contract and finance 
management” (Supplier: G3 Advisory; Limited tender, CPR 10.3(e); Execution Date: 
24 April 2023): 
 
1.  The document(s) that record the justification or approval for using Limited 
Tender under Commonwealth Procurement Rule 10.3(e) for this contract. 
 
2.  The document(s) that record the decision to select G3 Advisory as the 
supplier for this contract (e.g. approval, procurement plan, or internal 
briefing). 
 
I am not wanting personal information of staff below SES level or duplicate copies. 
Please provide electronic copies.”  
 
Decision 
5.  I identified 4 documents which fall within the scope of your request. I have decided to: 
•  release 4 documents in part. 
 

 
6.  The  documents  and the exemptions are identified in the Schedule at 
 
Attachment A. 
Statement of Reasons  
Material taken into account 
7.  I have taken the following material into account in making my decision: 
•  the content of the documents that fall within the scope of your request; 
•  consultation with staff within the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 
whose responsibility is relevant to the documents you requested; 
•  the FOI Act; and 
•  the guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 
93A of the FOI Act. 
 
8.  The Schedule of Documents indicates the documents to which access is granted in 
part. 
Deletion of irrelevant and duplicative material 
9.  Section 22 of the FOI Act applies to documents containing exempt material 
(subparagraph (1)(a)(i)) and irrelevant information (subparagraph (1)(a)(ii)) and allows 
an agency to delete such information from a document.  
 
10.  I have deleted material in the documents which reasonably be regarded as irrelevant 
to your request, including third party personal information (as agreed by you), junior 
staff personal information (as agreed by you)  and  statements  about the AIHW’s 
budget  and accounting codes  and other statements in relation to irrelevant third 
parties. This information has been marked as ‘s 22’ in the document released to you.  
 
Deletion of personal information 
11.  Section 47F applies to documents containing personal information  (names, 
signatures, emails, telephone numbers), and allows an agency to delete such 
information from a document if it amounts to an unreasonable disclosure of personal 
information about a person.  
 
12.  I consider that the personal information that I have redacted in the documents are not 
well known and not publicly known to be associated with the matters dealt within the 
documents.  I further consider that if the information was not redacted, several 
persons would be easily identified.  Therefore, disclosure of the personal information 
would be unreasonable.  
 
Business Information  
13.  Section 47G applies to documents containing information concerning a person in 
respect of their business  or professional affairs or concerning the business, 

 
commercial or financial affairs of an organisation or undertaking. Section 47G allows 
an agency to delete such information from a document if it would, or could reasonably 
be expected to, unreasonably affect that person adversely in respect of his or her 
lawful business or professional affairs or that organisation or undertaking in respect 
of its lawful business, commercial or financial affairs. 
 
14.  I consider the business information that I have redacted in the documents could 
unreasonably affect the person in respect of their lawful business of which the 
information relates. This is because the release of renewal rates is a negotiated figure 
that reflects the supplier’s pricing strategy, cost structure and market positioning. If 
disclosed, competitors could use this information to undercut pricing to gain 
advantage in future tenders. This could erode the supplier’s competitive edge and 
lead to loss of business opportunities.  
 
Public interest test 
  15.  Having formed the view that certain information and documents conditionally 
exempt under sections 47F and 47G, I am now required to consider the public 
interest test for the purposes of determining whether access to the conditionally 
exempt documents would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.  
 
16.  Subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act provides:  
 
The agency of Minister must give the person access to the document if it is 
conditionally exempt at a particular time unless (in the circumstances) access to the 
document at that time would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.  
 
17.  Subsection 11A(6) of the FOI Act further provides that despite subsection 11A(5), 
the agency or Minister is not required to give access to the document at a particular 
time if, at that time, the document is both conditionally exempt and an exempt 
document under Division 2 of Part IV.  
 
18.  The FOI Guidelines at paragraph 6.224 provide:  
 
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  
•  related to matters of common concern of relevance to all members of the 
public, or a substantial section of the public.  
 
Factors favouring disclosure  

 
19.  Section 11B of the FOI Act provides that factors favouring access to documents in 
the public interest include whether access to the documents would do any of the 
following:  
(a) promote the objects of the FOI Act (including all matters set out in section 3 and 
3A)  
(b) inform a debate on a matter of public importance  
(c) promote effective oversight of public expenditure.  
20.  I consider that giving access to the conditionally exempt material and documents 
would promote the objectives of the FOI Act by providing access to documents held 
by an agency. However, I contribute minimal weight to this factor as this objective 
applies to all documents, regardless of the effect of releasing the documents.  
 
21.  I further consider that the documents could potentially inform a matter of public 
importance, however this will need to be weighed with the factors against 
disclosure.  
Factors against disclosure 
22.  The FOI Guidelines at paragraph 6.233 provides a non-exhaustive list of factors 
against disclosure. Relevantly, I consider the following public interest factors 
against disclosure:  
 
(a) could reasonably be expected to prejudice the protection of an individual’s right 
to privacy, including where the information is not widely known.  
 
(b) prejudice the AIHW’s ability to manage the wellbeing and safety of its staff. 
 
(c) could reasonably be expected to prejudice the AIHW’s ability to obtain 
confidential information. 
 
(d) could reasonably be expected to prejudice the competitive commercial activities 
of the AIHW. 
 
23.  The personal information that I have redacted in the documents are not well known 
and not publicly known to be associated with the matters dealt within the documents. 
Public disclosure of renewal rates would weaken the supplier’s bargaining position in 
other negotiations in the future. It would also prejudice the AIHW’s ability to obtain 
accurate data and competitive rates for future procurements and contract 
management.  

 
24.  Accordingly, I have decided that the factors against disclosure outweigh the factors 
in favour of disclosure, and I have redacted certain information as noted in the 
schedule. 
Your review rights 
25. 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.   
26. Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the AIHW for an internal 
review of my decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days of 
the date of this letter. The internal review application may be sent to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx. 
27. Where possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the decision is 
necessary. The internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30 days. 
Information Commissioner review 
28. Under section 54L of the FOI Act,  you may apply to the Australian Information 
Commissioner to review my decision. An application for review by the Information 
Commissioner must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this letter, and be 
lodged in one of the following ways: 
•  online: 
https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=IC
R_10 
•  email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx  
•  post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 
29. More information about Information Commissioner review is available on the Office of 
the Australian Information Commissioner website. Go to 
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/information-
commissioner-review/.  
FOI Complaints 
30. If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your FOI request, please let us know 
what we could have done better. We may be able to rectify the problem. If you are not 
satisfied with our response, you can make a complaint to the Australian Information 
Commissioner. A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be made in writing. 
Complaints can be lodged in one of the following ways: 

 
•  online: 
https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=IC
CA_1 
•  email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx 
•  post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney 2001 
31. More information about complaints is available on the Office of the Australian 
Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/reviews-and-complaints/make-an-foi-complaint/. 
32. If you are not sure whether to lodge an Information Commissioner review or an 
Information Commissioner complaint, the Office of the Australian Information 
Commissioner has more information at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/reviews-and-complaints/. 
Yours sincerely, 
C. Sorensen 
Clare Sorensen 
General Counsel  
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 
 

 
Attachment A – Schedule of Documents 
Document  Date of 
No. of 
Description of Document 
Decision on access 
No. 
Document  Pages 
1 
1 June 
2 
AIHW Briefing Paper 
Released in part 
2023 
 
Section 22 
Section 47F 
Section 47G 
2 
4, 5 and 7 
5 
AIHW Briefing Paper and 
Released in part 
June 2024 
email chain 
 
Section 22 
Section 47F 
3 
26 June 
2 
AIHW Briefing Paper 
Released in part 
2025 
 
Section 22 
Section 47F 
Section 47G 
4 
1 July 2025  1 
Email chain 
Released in part 
 
Section 22 
Section 47F 
 

Document Outline