5 January 2016
Jxeeno
Sent via email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our Ref: 1516/32.06
Dear Jxeeno,
FOI Application – nbn blog post statistics
I am writing in relation to your request
made under the
Freedom of Information Act, 1982 (
the FOI Act),
made in the following terms:
“I wish to obtain a document indicating the total number of pageviews (sic) on each blog post published
on NBN's blog site http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog.html
If available, the page views should be broken down by month.”
Acknowledgment
Your request was received on 21 December 2015 and the period for processing your request commenced from
the day after that date. For your reference, the statutory period for processing an FOI request is 30 days,
subject to any suspension of the processing period or an extension of the time for deciding the application.
Subject to any such additional processing time,
nbn must make a determination in relation to this application
by 20 January 2016. You will be advised of any charges as well as any need to consult third parties in relation
to your request.
Processing Period & Charges
Please note that processing charges may be imposed for any FOI request. For reference,
nbn’s approach to
processing charges is outlined at the following hyperlink
: Submission to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner Charges Review. In particular, I refer you to
nbn’s support of a roughly 40-hour cap for all FOI
processing charges. I would also refer you to nbn
’s FOI web-page, which outlines charges associated with FOI
applications. Applicants generally will be charged for processing time, including search and retrieval,
consultations and decision-making time, regardless of the outcome of the access request. In other words,
applicants may be refused access to documents or information and still be required to pay FOI processing fees.
nbn’s Commercial Activities Exemption I also refer you to
nbn’s commercial activities exemption (
the CAE), as pe
r section 7(3A) and
Part II of
Schedule 2 of the FOI Act. As you may be aware, documents that are in relation to
nbn’s “commercial
activities” are not subject to the operation of the FOI Act. For your reference, the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (
the OAIC) completed a review decision in January 2012 (
the Internode
Decision), which provides background and guidance as to the application of the CAE to
nbn. The Internode
Decision may be found by clicking on the following
link. The OAIC completed an additional review at the end of
July 2013 –
the Battersby Decision, which further clarified the scope of
nbn’s commercial activities exemption.
While I am not making an FOI decision, nor have I formally reviewed any relevant documents, there is a
possibility that documents falling within the terms of this FOI request may be subject to the CAE, among other
exemptions from release.
If you have any questions or need to discuss your FOI application, please feel free to contact the writer on Tel.
02 8918 5655 or via email on
xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx. Yours faithfully,
An Vo
Associate Legal Counsel – FOI, Privacy & Knowledge Management