If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
20 May 2016
Our reference: LEX 18826
Mr James Smith
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Smith
Your Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request, dated 2 May 2016 and received by the Department of Human
Services (the
department) on the same date for access under the
Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) to the following documents:
'I refer to the article "Centrelink 'auto-rejects' tens of thousands of claims" on the
Canberra Times website dated 2 May 2016 at the following URL:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/centrelink-autorejects-tens-
of-thousands-of-claims-20160429-goiarp.html
I request the following document(s):
1. Any documents put to senior management on this issue
2. Any responses by senior management issuing directives to address this issue
3. Any documents which support the view that this issue was a result of unforeseen
high-demand for Centrelink services.
4. Any documents which detail Centrelink's efforts to forecast future demand in the
time leading up to this issue occurring.
5. Any documents detailing issues with the 'Customer First' software which are likely
to have caused, or otherwise affected, this issue.
6. Any documents detailing the quality-control processes in approving the claims in
question.’
Intention to refuse your request
The department is unable to identify the document you are seeking access to. The FOI Act
requires that you provide such information concerning the documents you wish to access as
it reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the department to identify it.
Despite consultations with a number of areas of the department, we are currently unable to
identify the documents you wish to access.
In addition, because of the amount of work involved for the department, in attempting to
identify the documents you are seeking access to, we are asking you to revise your request
to give us more specific details about the information you are after.
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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 clarify and 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.
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.
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 officer
I am the contact officer for your request. During the consultation period you are welcome to
ask for my help in revising your request and filling out the form. You can contact me:
in writing to the address at the top of this letter
via email to xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Note: When you contact us please quote the reference number
FOI LEX 18826.
Your response will be expected by
3 June 2016. If no response is received, your matter will
be taken as withdrawn.
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Department of Human Services
Further assistance
If you have any questions please email xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Authorised FOI 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
Unable to identify documents
Section 24 of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to a
request for a document if the request does not satisfy the requirement in section 15(2)(b) of
the FOI Act.
Section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act provides that requests must provide such information
concerning the documents as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the
department or the Minister to identify it.
The FOI team has consulted with the Chief Information Officer, the Chief Technology Officer,
Smart Centres Division, the Service, Performance and Coordination Division and the
Participation Division of the department in relation to your request. Subject matter experts in
these areas of the department have advised that your request is not clear enough to identify
documents. In particular, it is unclear what you mean by ‘senior management’.
The classification of jobs and employees in the Australian Public Service are outlined in the
Public Service Act 1999. This Act establishes the work standards and classifications for APS
1 to 6 level, Executive level and Senior Executive level. Employees from the APS 5
classification to the SES band 3 classifications may be described as senior management,
depending on the area that they work in. Given this, it is not clear which level of senior
management you are referring to.
What I took into account
Because of the amount of work involved for the department in identifying the document that
you are seeking access to, 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. To date, the department has identified documents
which were provided to SES band 1, 2 and 3 levels in relation to the subject matter you have
cited. We have more than 428 documents totalling over 2340 pages.
Based on my experience with the type and volume of records you want, I estimate it would
take more than 179 hours in processing time. This includes 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
26 hours
Examine pages for decision making at an average of two minutes
78 hours
per page
Time of two minutes per page for about 2200 pages needing
63 hours
redaction
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Department of Human Services
Write statement of reasons for decision
12 hours
Total
179 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
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 requests.
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Department of Human Services
If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
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