20 May 2016
Mr Josh Stewart
Sent via email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our Ref: 1516/50.11
Dear Mr Stewart,
FOI Application – Installation Data
I am writing in relation to your request, made under the
Freedom of Information Act, 1982 (
the FOI
Act), requesting information concerning
nbn installation data. I have made my final FOI
determination in relation to this matter on today’s date.
Final Payment Request
As outlined in our correspondence of 23 March 2016, (Reference 1516/50.05A),
nbn made a
preliminary FOI fee assessment of $462.50 and requested that you pay an advance deposit fee in
the sum of $115.63. On 26 April 2016,
nbn received your advance deposit payment.
In accordance with subsection 29(1) of the FOI Act, I have determined that you are liable to pay a
final charge in respect of the processing of this FOI request. For reference, the search and retrieval
time remained the same as outlined in our advance deposit request. However, the decision-making
time was in excess of the estimated 19.5 hours. Those fees have not been passed on to you, as they
are in excess of the original estimate.
Search and Retrieval Time(*)
11.5 hours @ $15.00 per hour
$172.50
Decision Making Time
19.5 hours @ $20.00 per hour
$390
Copies of documents
10 cents per page (Waived)
$--
$
Sub-total
$562.50
Less first 5 hours decision making time(**)
-$100.00
Less monies paid to date
-$115.63
TOTAL
$346.87
(*) The data extraction took specialised IT expertise so as to produce the requested information.
(**) Per the
Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations, you have not been charged for the first 5 hours of decision making time.
Please be advised that the outstanding amount, being
$346.87, is due and payable within 30 days
of today’s date.
It is important to note that an FOI processing fee payment does not
guarantee access to documents or information. For your reference, processing fees are paid to
cover the FOI processing time incurred by an agency and as per the rates set under
Freedom of
Information (Charges) Regulations 1982. I would refer you to the section below, providing details
regarding
nbn’s commercial activities and other exemptions under the FOI Act.
In addition,
nbn could have charged market rates for the time expended to create the data set
requested by you, noting that the data are not normally generated by
nbn. However, Regulation 3
of the
Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 1982 provides decision-makers with a general
discretion to impose or not impose a charge, or impose a reduced charge for the processing of an
FOI request. In the interests of transparency and the objects of the FOI Act,
nbn chose not to
charge market rates in relation to this FOI request.
If you would like to contend that the estimated charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be
reduced or not imposed, you must notify
nbn of your contentions, providing reasons, and evidence
where relevant, to support your submission. In deciding whether to reduce or not to impose a
charge, the FOI decision-maker will consider all relevant factors, including whether payment of the
charge, or a part of it, would cause you financial hardship – and whether the giving of access is in
the general public interest. More information about charges under the FOI Act is available in
Fact
Sheet 7 on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (
OAIC) website and in part 4 of
the OAIC
FOI Guidelines. You will be advised of your review rights under the FOI Act following
consideration of any contentions that you may make.
If you agree to pay the charges set out above, you should make arrangements to pay
nbn through
the following electronic banking account:
Bank name:
CBA
Name:
nbn co limited FOI
BSB:
062-438
Account no:
10240782
Reference:
FOI-AYCA-33NWWL
When making a payment, please ensure you include reference FOI-AYCA-33NWWL.
Please
also note that this is a final decision in relation to access. As a result, the balance of the actual
charge is a debt due to the Commonwealth, which
nbn is obliged to pursue, unless other
arrangements are made – or
nbn agrees to waive the fees.
nbn’s Commercial Activities Carve-out & Other Exemptions For your reference, documents that relate to
nbn’s “commercial activities” are not subject to the
operation of the FOI Act. The following link summarises and provide
s general background
information concerning
nbn’s commercial activities exemption (
CAE). That background document
references two Office of the Australian Information Commissioner reviews that considered
nbn’s CAE in January 2012 (the
Internode Decision) and again in July 2013 (the
Battersby Decision).
While I am not making a formal decision, 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.
Disclosure Log Notification
In accordance with the FOI Act,
nbn is required to publish documents provided to FOI applicants
within 10 working days after release. The information you seek may be published in full (as released
to you) or with some additional exceptions as per section 11C of the FOI Act. For further
information, visit our
Disclosure Log on
nbn’s website.
If you have any questions or need to discuss your FOI application, please feel free to contact the
writer on Tel. 8918 8596 or via email on
xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx. Sincerely,
David Mesman
General Counsel
FOI, Privacy & Knowledge Management