If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
23 December 2015
Mr Ben Fairless
FOI/LEX: 16765
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Mr Fairless,
Your Freedom of Information request
1. I refer to your request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (the
FOI Act) for:
‘Can you please provide, under either Administrative access or Freedom of
Information, documents which contain:
a. Details on the number of calls made to the Department's "Technical Support"
hotline 132 307 in the previous 6 months
b. Details on the number of issues that were "escalated" by staff on the above
hotline, separated by the category of issues
c. Details of any official communication to Departmental staff (specifically
Technical Support staff) on issues with MyGov
d. Details of any official communication to Departmental staff (specifically
Technical Support staff) on issues with Centrelink online services
e. the difference between a Customer Access Number and a Customer
Reference Number
f. Troubleshooting steps used by Departmental staff on MyGov and Centrelink
Online services’
Your request involves too much work for the department
Because of the amount of work involved for the department, we are asking you to revise your
request to give us more specific details about the information you are after. If you decide not
to make any revisions I will have to refuse your FOI request as a 'practical refusal reason'
exists. For a more detailed explanation of what this means see Attachment A.
How to send us a 'revised request'
Before I make a final decision on your request, you can narrow the size of your original
request and submit a revised request.
Within the next 14-days you must do one of the following, in writing:
withdraw the request
make a revised request, or
tell us that you do not want to revise your request.
If you do not do contact us during the 14 day consultation period, we will assume you do not
want to continue with your request. See Attachment A for relevant sections of the FOI Act.
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If you decide to make a revised request you should be more specific about what documents
you actually want. This could help the department find the documents in less time and use
fewer resources to process them.
Note: You may want to access the department's online services at
www.humanservices.gov.au to immediately find some of the personal information and
documents included in your original request.
At Attachment B is a form which you can use to revise your request in writing. We have
30 days to give you a decision about your request, however the time taken to consult with
you now is not included in this 30 day time period.
Contact
During the 14 day consultation period you are welcome to ask for help in revising your
request and filling out the form. You can contact the FOI team by:
in writing to the address at the bottom of this page
via email t
o xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Note: When you contact us please quote the reference number
FOI LEX 16765.
Your response will be expected by
7 January 2016. If no response is received, your matter
will be taken as withdrawn.
Yours sincerely
FOI Authorised Decision Maker
Freedom of Information Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
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Department of Human Services
Attachment A
What I took into account
Because of the amount of work involved for the department, under sections 24AA(1)(a)(i), 24
and 24AA(2) of the FOI Act I intend to refuse your FOI request as a 'practical refusal reason'
exists. Under the Act, the practical refusal reason is that processing your request 'would
substantially and unreasonably divert the resources' of this agency.
To process your request the department would have to do extensive searches to find and
process the documents you asked for. We have more than 349 files (totalling 916 pages)
within scope of your request.
Based on my experience with the type and volume of records you want, I estimate it would
take more than 460 hours in processing time. This includes search and retrieval, looking at
all the documents to see if any of the pages might need redactions - that is, possibly blacking
out some content, for example, where there is private information about another person.
Amount of time to process your request
I have calculated the number of hours it would take to process your request in full.
Search for and retrieve documents
337 hours
Examine pages for decision making at an average of 5 minutes
76 hours
per page
Time of 5 minutes per page for about 90 pages needing
5 hours
redaction
Write statement of reasons for decision
43 hours
Total
461 hours
Relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Section 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal reason exists in relation
to a FOI request if the work involved in processing the request would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the department from its other operations.
Section 24AA(2) of the FOI Act sets out certain factors which the department must consider
when determining whether providing access in relation to a request would substantially and
unreasonably divert the department's resources. The department must specifically have
regard to the resources that would have to be used for:
identifying, locating or collating the documents within the department's filing system;
deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document to which the request
relates, or to grant access to an edited copy of such a document, including resources
that would have to be used for examining the document or consulting in relation to the
request;
making a copy, or an edited copy, of the document, and
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Department of Human Services
notifying any interim or final decision on the request.
Section 24AB(7) of the FOI Act provides that the request is taken to have been withdrawn
under at the end of the consultation period if:
the applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with the notice, or
the applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection (6) before the
end of the consultation period.
Section 24AB(6) says that the applicant must, before the end of the consultation period, do
one of the following, by written notice to the agency or Minister:
withdraw the request,
make a revised request, or
indicate that the applicant does not wish to revise the request.
Charges
As indicated in our acknowledgement letter, charges may apply to this request.
PAGE 4 OF 6
Department of Human Services
If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
Attachment B
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REVISED REQUEST FORM
(Section 24AB of the FOI Act)
Name
Ben Fairless
FOI LEX number 16765
‘Can you please provide, under either Administrative access or
Freedom of Information, documents which contain:
a.
Details on the number of calls made to the Department's
"Technical Support" hotline 132 307 in the previous 6 months
b.
Details on the number of issues that were "escalated" by
staff on the above hotline, separated by the category of issues
c.
Details of any official communication to Departmental staff
Initial request
(specifically Technical Support staff) on issues with MyGov
details
d.
Details of any official communication to Departmental staff
(specifically Technical Support staff) on issues with Centrelink
online services
e.
the difference between a Customer Access Number and a
Customer Reference Number
f.
Troubleshooting steps used by Departmental staff on
MyGov and Centrelink Online services’
I, Ben Fairless, would like to revise my current FOI request to:
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HOW TO SEND THIS FORM
By post to:
FOI Team
Department of Human Services
PO Box 7820
CANBERRA BC ACT 2610
Make sure you add the reference number FOI LEX 16765.
OR
Email to:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Make sure you add the reference number FOI LEX 16765. You do not have to
include your signature in your email.
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Department of Human Services
