Our reference: FOIREQ25/00472
A Pseudonym
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear A Pseudonym
Notice under s 24AB of the FOI Act - Freedom of Information
Request – FOIREQ25/00472
I refer to your request for access to documents made under the
Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI Act). Your Freedom of Information (FOI request) was received by
the Office of the Australian Commissioner (OAIC) on 16 October 2025.
I am writing to consult with you on the basis that your request gives rise to a practical
refusal reason. You must respond to this notice by
14 November 2025.
Scope of your request
Your FOI request sought access to the following information:
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
I request access to documents created in connection with, or in response to,
enquiries from other Australian Government agencies, where:
1. The enquiry sought advice from the OAIC about possible ways to handle or
respond to an FOI request; and 2. The agency making the enquiry expressed a
view (either directly or implied) that it wished to redact, withhold or otherwise
prevent information from being released under FOI
This request includes, but is not limited to:
- Correspondence (including emails and attachments) between OAIC
officers and other agencies.
- Internal OAIC records discussing such inter-agency enquiries.
- File notes, meeting notes or minutes recording any discussion or
consideration of those enquiries.
I request that this excludes:
- Documents created solely as part of an individual IC review.
- Any personal information of members of the public.
- Direct contact details of public servants, such as private phone
numbers or email addresses not available through official contact
channels.
- Duplicates of documents, provided that the final document contains all
the parts of its duplicates.
I seek documents created during the period 1 January 2024 to the date this
request is processed, and ask that they be provided in electronic form.
Notice of intention to refuse your request
I am an officer authorised under s 23(1) of the FOI Act to make FOI decisions on behalf
of the OAIC.
I am writing to consult with you under section 24AB of the FOI Act, because I believe
that the work involved in processing your request will substantially and unreasonably
divert the resources of the OAIC from its other operations due to its size and scope.
For the purposes of the FOI Act, this is called a ‘practical refusal reason’ (s 24AA(1)(a)(i)
of the FOI Act).
On this basis, I intend to refuse your request for access to documents unless the terms
of your request are revised so as to remove the practical refusal reason.
However, before I proceed to a refusal decision, you have an opportunity to revise your
request again. This is called a ‘request consultation process’ as set out under s 24AB of
the FOI Act. You have 14 days to respond to this notice in one of the ways set out at the
end of this letter.
Why I intend to refuse your request
Calculation of the processing time – substantial diversion
Based on searches conducted by the relevant line areas, and a preliminary review of
the documents contained within the Resolve case management system, I estimate it
will take the OAIC at least 150 hours to process your FOI request in its current form.
I also consulted with the following line area in relation to your request:
• Intake and Eligibility Branch
The Case Management system does not have the function to classify enquiries by
whether they are from other agencies seeking advice from the OAIC on the processing
of FOI matters. Conducting a global search for ‘enquiry’ and ‘FOI’ during the specified
time yielded over 1000 registered written enquiry files alone. To process this request,
staff would be required to manually review each of these cases and all relevant
correspondence to determine whether they meet the scope of the request.
In addition, once identified, documents would need to be exported and reviewed by the
FOI decision maker, and consultation with multiple agencies is likely to be required.
An estimate of 150 hours is based on:
• An estimate of 5 minutes to conduct searches and assess each of more than
1,000 files found through searches
• Where 20 per cent of files match the scope of the request, an estimated 20
minutes per file to convert documents, assess documents for sensitivities, and
conduct consultations.
I note that this does not include the assessment of records for phone enquiries, which
would increase the estimated time.
Based on the above, I estimate that it would take in excess of 150 hours to process a
decision on your request.
I consider that the processing of your request would be a substantial diversion of the
OAIC’s resources, for the purposes of section 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the FOI Act.
Unreasonable diversion of resources
An estimate of processing time is only one of the considerations to be taken into
account when deciding whether a practical refusal reason exists. As well as requiring a
request to substantially divert an agency’s resources, section 24AA also requires the
request to comprise an unreasonable diversion of an agency’s resources from its other
functions before it can be refused.
The Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under s 93A of the
FOI Act (FOI Guidelines) identify matters that may be relevant when deciding whether
processing the request will unreasonably divert an agency’s resources from its other
functions. These include:
• the staffing resources available to the OAIC for FOI processing
• the impact that processing the request may have on other tasks and functions of
the OAIC
• whether an applicant has cooperated in revising the scope of the request
• whether there is a significant public interest in the requested documents
• other steps taken by an agency or minister to publish information of the kind
requested by an applicant.
The OAIC is a small agency, employing approximately 140 (head count) staff. I consider
that processing a request of this size would substantially impact on the OAIC’s
operations because of the limited number of people the OAIC has available to process
FOI requests of this size and nature.
On the basis that your request will require at least 150 hours to process, it is likely that
the processing of your request would divert OAIC staff away from their other work,
including the OAIC’s:
• regulatory functions in both FOI and privacy
• ability to process its ongoing FOI request case load
• activities set out in the OAIC’s 2023/2024 Corporate Plan such as:
o conciliating and investigating privacy complaints, responding to notifiable
data breaches, and overseeing the privacy aspects of the My Health
Record system
o implementation of the Consumer Data Right scheme
o monitoring compliance with new legislation and providing guidance and
education
o improvement of processes for managing FOI requests
o engage with the Open Government Partnership, with delivery of the third
National Action Plan.
For these reasons I have formed the view that processing your request would
substantially impact the OAIC’s operations.
I also consider that the processing of your request would be an unreasonable diversion
of the OAIC’s resources.
Your response
Before the end of the consultation period, you must do one of the following, in writing:
• withdraw your request
• make a revised request
• tell us that you do not wish to revise your request.
The consultation period runs for
14 days and starts on the day after you receive this
notice. Therefore, you must respond to this notice by
14 November 2025.
During this period, you can ask me for help to revise your request. If you revise your
request in a way that adequately addresses the practical refusal reasons 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 or
you do not consult the contact person during this period, your request will be taken to
have been withdrawn.
Contact officer
If you would like to revise your request, or have any questions, you can contact me at
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx. You may also provide your phone number and advise a convenient
time to call if you would like us to call you.
Yours sincerely
Emma
FOI Delegate
31 October 2025
