This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Details of child protection and child first cases of emotional abuse and/or neglect from 2005 onwards'.



If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610 
 
 
10 June 2016 
 
 
 
 
 
Our reference:  LEX 19380 
 
Adi Berry 
 
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx 
 
 
 
Dear Adi 
 
Your Freedom of Information Request 
 
I refer to your request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 
(the FOI Act). I have taken your request to be for:  
'…access to details of cases of child protection and child first that involved emotional 
abuse and/or neglect from 2005 onwards. In particular, details such as the number of 
reports made per year, the nature of these reports and outlines of these reports (the 
most that can be reasonably disclosed within the extent of the law), the demographics 
of these children and families, suburbs with the highest number of reports/cases, and 
the outcomes of these reports of emotional abuse and/or neglect cases. Details of the 
processes involved in these cases will also be of great assistance. All details 
requested are pertaining only to cases of emotional abuse and/or neglect. A 
comparison of this data of cases against data of physical and sexual abuse cases will 
also be greatly appreciated’. 
Your request was received by the Australian Government Department of Human Services 
(the department) on 1 June 2016 and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request 
commenced from the day after that date. You should therefore expect a decision from us by 
1 July 2016. The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third parties or for 
other reasons. We will advise you if this happens. 
 
The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request and the 
amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is payable for providing a 
person with their own personal information. 
 
Your Address 
 
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send notices to. You 
have advised your electronic address is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.xx 
will send all notices and correspondence to this address. Please advise us as soon as 
possible if you wish correspondence to be sent to another address or if your address 
changes. If you do not advise us of changes to your address, correspondence and notices 
will continue to be sent to the address specified above. 
 
 
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Consultation about the scope of your request 
 
I cannot identify the documents you want and I am asking you to give me specific details 
about the information you are after. If you decide not to give this information, 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 submit a revised request.  
 
Within the next 14 days (consultation period) 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 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 specific about what documents you 
actually want. This could help the department find the documents. 
 
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 officer 
 
During the consultation period you are welcome to ask for assistance in revising your request 
and filling out the form. You can contact an FOI Practitioner: 
 
  in writing to the address at the top of this letter 
 
  via email to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx  
 
Note: When you contact us please quote the reference number FOI LEX 19380.  
 
Your response will be expected by 23 June 2016. If no response is received, your matter will 
be taken as withdrawn. 
Disclosure Log 
 
Please note that information released under FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log on 
the department's website. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication, however it is 
subject to certain exceptions, including where publication of personal, business, professional 
or commercial information would be unreasonable. 
 
Exclusion of junior department employee details 
 
The department is working towards ensuring that all employees have a choice about whether 
they provide their full name, personal logon identifiers and direct contact details in response 
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Department of Human Services 

to public enquiries. Where such details are included in the scope of a request, this may add 
to processing time and applicable charges as it may be necessary to consider whether the 
details are exempt under the FOI Act. On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will 
assume that these details are out of scope of your request and they will be redacted under 
section 22 of the FOI Act. 
 
Further assistance 
If you have any questions please email xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.   
 
Yours sincerely 
 
FOI Registration Officer 
Freedom of Information Team 
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division  
Department of Human Services 
 
 
 
PAGE 3 OF 8 
 
Department of Human Services 

Attachment A 
What I took into account 
You requested access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the 
following documents:  
 
'…access to details of cases of child protection and child first that involved emotional 
abuse and/or neglect from 2005 onwards. In particular, details such as the number of 
reports made per year, the nature of these reports and outlines of these reports (the 
most that can be reasonably disclosed within the extent of the law), the demographics 
of these children and families, suburbs with the highest number of reports/cases, and 
the outcomes of these reports of emotional abuse and/or neglect cases. Details of the 
processes involved in these cases will also be of great assistance. All details 
requested are pertaining only to cases of emotional abuse and/or neglect. A 
comparison of this data of cases against data of physical and sexual abuse cases will 
also be greatly appreciated’. 
I am not able to reasonably identify what documents you want because it appears your 
request has been directed to the wrong department.  
 
The Commonwealth Department of Human Services is responsible for the development of 
service delivery policy and provides access to social, health and other payments and 
services. The Commonwealth Department of Human Services offers a range of health, social 
and welfare payments and services through Medicare, Centrelink and Child Support.  
 
The Victorian Government Department of Human Services plans, funds and delivers 
community and housing services. They are also are responsible for child-centred, family-
focused services to protect children and young people in Victoria from significant harm 
caused by abuse or neglect within the family. The Victorian Government  Department of 
Human Services has 24 Child and Family Information, Referral and Support Teams 
(Child FIRSTs) across the state. Each Child FIRST provides a central referral point to a 
range of community-based family services and other supports within each of the Child FIRST 
catchment areas. 
 
Your requests references ‘…details of cases of child protection and child first…’, which is 
more aligned with the functions and structure of the Victorian Government  Department of 
Human Services. We therefore believe you should direct your request to the Victorian 
Government Department of Human Services. Information about how to make an FOI request 
to the Victorian Government Department of Human Service is available at 
http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/for-individuals/applying-for-documents-and-records/freedom-of-
information.  
 
Under sections 24AA(1)(b) and 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, I intend to refuse 
your FOI request as a 'practical refusal reason' exists. Under the Act, the practical refusal 
reason is that your request does not satisfy the requirements in paragraph 15(2)(b) 
(identification of documents).   
Relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 
Section 24AA(1)(b) 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.   
 
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Department of Human Services 

Section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a request must provide such information as is 
reasonably necessary to enable the agency to identify the documents that are being 
requested.   
 
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(7) (subsection 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. 
 
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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) 
 
NOTE: You do not have to fill out every part of this form. However, providing as 
much detail as possible could help to reduce the amount of work involved for the 
department to process your request. 
 

Name Adi 
Berry 
FOI LEX number   19380 
 
Contact phone 
 
number 
 
'…access to details of cases of child protection and child first that 
involved emotional abuse and/or neglect from 2005 onwards. In 
particular, details such as the number of reports made per year, 
the nature of these reports and outlines of these reports (the most 
that can be reasonably disclosed within the extent of the law), the 
demographics of these children and families, suburbs with the 
Initial request 
highest number of reports/cases, and the outcomes of these 
details 
reports of emotional abuse and/or neglect cases. Details of the 
processes involved in these cases will also be of great assistance. 
All details requested are pertaining only to cases of emotional 
abuse and/or neglect. A comparison of this data of cases against 
data of physical and sexual abuse cases will also be greatly 
appreciated’. 
 
I,  Adi Berry, would like to revise my current FOI request.    
1.   I would like to limit the time period of documents to: 
□  A specific date:    
______ / ______ / ________ ; 
[day]  [month]   [year] 
 
□  A specific year:   
________ ; or 
[year] 
 
□  The date range from:   ____ / _____ / _____  to  ____ / _____ / _____ 
[day]  [month]  [year]        [day]  [month]  [year] 
  
2.  My request relates to documents  for: 
□  
Centrelink 
□  
Medicare  
PAGE 6 OF 8 

□  
Child Support 
 
□  
CRS Australia 
 
 
3.  Please provide any extra information to assist us to identify the documents. 
 
 
 
Name of the document (if known): ______________________________________ 
 
 
Reference/file number (if known): ______________________________________ 
 
Extra information : 
 
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________ 
 
If you need more space, attach a separate page with details. 
 
 
PAGE 7 OF 8 
 
Department of Human Services 

We can provide some documents to you without an FOI request.   
4.  If your request can be completed without a formal FOI request, do you want us to 
send the documents this way?     
□ Yes 
□ No 
 
HOW TO SEND THIS FORM 
 
 
 
By post to: 
 
 
FOI Team 
Department of Human Services 
 
PO Box 7820 
 
CANBERRA BC ACT 2610 
 
 
 
Reference number FOI LEX 19380. 
 
 
 
OR  
 
 
Email to: 

 
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx 
 
 
Reference number FOI LEX 19380. You do not have to include your signature 
 
in your email.  
 
 
 
 
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Department of Human Services