Letter to Benjamin Forster responding to FOI request SIGNED.pdf

18 May 2016

Attention: Benjamin Forster
Via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Mr Forster,
As General Counsel for the Australia Council for the Arts I am authorised to make and
convey a decision on behalf of the agency under Section 23 of the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (’FOI Act’).
On 23 April 2016 you wrote to the Australia Council with the following request:
“I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 pertaining
to unfunded excellence over the last 10 years.
I am specifically interested in the number of applications received by the council for each
grant round, those that were not funded, and those that were considered to be unfunded
excellence. What was the total requested funds for each round, what was the amount
funded, and how much funding would have been needed to fund the unfunded excellence.
In relation to the recent rounds since the major restructure, I am specifically interested in
any documents concerning unfunded excellence across all funding categories.”

Determination
Under Section 24AA(1) of the FOI Act, I have determined to refuse your request as a
“practical refusal reason” exists.  Specifical y I rely upon Section 24AA(1)(a)(i) which
states:

(1)
For the purposes of section 24, a practical refusal reason exists in


relation to a request for a document if …….:



(a) the work involved in processing the request:



(i) in the case of an agency—would substantially and unreasonably



divert the resources of the agency from its other operations.

In coming to this decision I have reviewed the following:
Australia Council for the Arts
372 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia
PO Box 788, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Australia
T +61 2 9215 9000 Toll free 1800 226 912 NRS 1800 555 677
www.australiacouncil.gov.au

 The Freedom of Information Act 1982;
 FOI guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information
  Commissioner (OAIC).

I have also sought the advice of the Australia Council’s Executive Director Grants and
Engagement to clarify the resources required to fulfil the request.

Statement of Reasons
The Australia Council for the Arts is the Commonwealth government’s primary arts funding
and advisory body. Our purpose is to champion and invest in Australian arts across all art
forms. We do this by leveraging a range of resources but largely by way of financial
support received via our parliamentary appropriation provided by the government. As a
government agency, responsible for the expenditure of public funds, operational
accountability and transparency as well as identifying and implementing cost-saving
opportunities and efficiencies are critical to what we do.
The Australia Council is a relatively small agency with only two full-time staff members in
its legal and governance team. This team is responsible for ensuring the organisation
manages and discharges all of its legal and regulatory compliance functions and maintains
good corporate governance at all times. Included in these responsibilities is responding to
all applications made under the FOI Act, noting there are no other employees within the
agency who are trained and/or have the capacity to undertake the above.
It is estimated the information you have sought relates to in excess of 50,000 applications.
Some of these documents have also been archived.
In relation to the first part of your request, it has been determined that the time it would
take to collate, review and examine these documents, consult with any relevant third
parties where necessary, determine which documents could be released either in part or
in full, and finally make copies or edited copies of the requested documents, would create
a substantial and unreasonable diversion of resources from our usual operations.
In relation to the second part of your request, regarding the financial implications of the
funding decisions over the past 10 years, it has been determined that the time it would
take to collate, review and examine this information, consult with any relevant third parties
where necessary, determine which documents could be released either in part or in full,
and finally make copies or edited copies of the requested documents, would create a
substantial and unreasonable diversion of resources from our usual operations.
Australia Council for the Arts
372 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia
PO Box 788, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Australia
T +61 2 9215 9000 Toll free 1800 226 912 NRS 1800 555 677
www.australiacouncil.gov.au

Consultation Period
You are entitled to make a “revised request” under Section 24AB of the FOI Act. If you
elect to do this, you must do so within 14 days of receiving this notice. I would be happy to
assist you in making a revised request. My contact details are below.
If you do not make a revised request or consult with me during the next 14 days your
request will be taken to have been withdrawn under subsections 24AB(6) and (7) of the
FOI Act.

Review rights
You are entitled to seek an internal review of this decision.  An application for internal
review must be in writing and must be made within 30 calendar days of being notified of
our decision.
An application for internal review can be made to Tim Blackwell, Executive Director,
Corporate Resources.
You may send correspondence to the below address:

Australia Council for the Arts

PO Box 788

Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
Or by email:  x.xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Alternatively you may request that the Australian Information Commissioner (Information
Commissioner) review the decision. You can also apply for an Information Commissioner
review (IC review) after seeking an internal review.
You can apply for an IC review in writing, within 60 days of being notified of our decision.
You can find further information on this process at: http://www.oaic.gov.au/

Yours sincerely,

Rebecca Kenny
General Counsel
T +61 2 9215 9123 M 0498 003 270
E x.xxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Australia Council for the Arts
372 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia
PO Box 788, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Australia
T +61 2 9215 9000 Toll free 1800 226 912 NRS 1800 555 677
www.australiacouncil.gov.au