Cost benefit analysis for BOM weather app

Simon made this Freedom of Information request to Bureau of Meteorology

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Bureau of Meteorology,

Please provide the Cost Benefit Analysis and related or similar documents regarding the recently released BOM smart-phone weather app.

Yours faithfully,

Simon

FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

1 Attachment

Thanks for your email, Simon, a letter of acknowledgement is attached. We will be in touch.

Kind regards,
Erin

Erin MacLatchy | FOI & Privacy Officer
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428

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Erin MacLatchy, Bureau of Meteorology

Dear Simon

In regard to your request for documents under the FOI Act (ref
FOI30/5958), the Bureau will undertake consultation with a third party, in
accordance with s27 of the Act. Therefore the timeframe for dealing with
your request has been extended by 30 days, in accordance with s15(6) of
the Act.

A decision on your request is now due by 7 December 2016.

Please contact me if you have any questions about this matter.

Kind regards

Erin

Erin MacLatchy

FOI Officer

Bureau of Meteorology

E: [BOM request email] ​

FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

4 Attachments

Good afternoon Simon

 

A notice of charges in relation to your request is attached.

 

Please contact us if you have any queries in regard to this matter.

 

Kind regards,

FOI & Privacy Officer

 

[1]Description: Description: Description: BoM
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289 Melbourne VIC 3001
Level 7 (South East), 700 Collins Street, Docklands VIC 3008
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428 | [2][email address]
[3]www.bom.gov.au

 

Disclaimer

This email is sent by the Bureau of Meteorology (ABN 92 637 533 532). The
information in this email message may contain confidential or legally
privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient and have
received this email message in error, please delete all copies and
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References

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3. http://www.bom.gov.au/

Luke Bacon left an annotation ()

If you don't mind the delay, I think you should definitely ask for the fees to be waived as this is in the public interest. One of the ways you’re demonstrating that this is in the public interest is by making this request in public through Right To Know :)

Otherwise, there's quite a few examples of successful crowd funding for requests made through Right To Knok, like this one https://www.gofundme.com/woomeraFOI

Henare Degan left an annotation ()

The authority wants to charge $170. They estimate it will take 8 hours to find the document and 7.5 hours to review it (decision-making time).

This sounds like way too much to me. I'm wondering if it's because you're asking for, "...and related or similar documents...". They could be interpreting that as you wanting all documents (maybe you are?).

You might be able to dramatically reduce the scope by asking for the latest Cost Benefit Analysis document.

Dear Mr Kemp,

Thank you for your letter of 14 November 2016 in relation to FOI request 30/5958.

I am writing to request the charges outlined in your letter be waved as I believe access to the requested documents are clearly and strongly in the public interest.

There are a large number of existing mobile weather apps available, many of which already use weather data from the Bureau.

Given this wide selection of existing offerings and the reported $200,000 cost to develop the app, it is in the public interest that Australian tax payers are able to see the analysis used by the Bureau to justify this investment.

This request was made by me in my capacity as a member of the Australian public as I have an interest in knowing my taxes are being used wisely. It was made via the righttoknow.org.au platform so the information would be available to all members of the public for their benefit and archived in the public domain for future reference.

The full archive of correspondence related to this request including comments from other interested members of the public can be viewed at https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/c...

Although I believe the requested documents are strongly enough in the public interest to justify waving the charges, I was also surprised at the estimate of time it would take to find and review documents related to this request.

My interest is primarily in the most recent cost benefit analysis, business case or equivalent document the Bureau used to justify investing in the mobile app. I appreciate that the wording "and related or similar documents" may create a scope larger than my intention. If revising the scope of my request will allow it to be fulfilled without the need to impose a charge, I'd be happy to discuss how that could be done.

Kind regards,
Simon

FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

Dear Simon

Thank you for your email and phone message - I confirm we have received the below request for a waiver of charges. Pursuant to s 29 of the FOI Act, a decision on your request for waiver will be made within 30 days, being 30 Dec 2016.

If you have any questions about this matter in the meantime, please contact us on the details provided.

Kind regards,

FOI & Privacy Officer
Bureau of Meteorology
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428

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FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

1 Attachment

Dear Simon

A decision in regard to your request for a waiver of charges in this matter is attached.

Kind regards,

FOI & Privacy Officer
Bureau of Meteorology

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Dear Mr Kemp,

I accept the charge of $60 for processing this request. Please proceed and advise how this amount should be remitted to the BOM.

Thank you for your patience waiting on my reply. I hope you were able to have a break and that you enjoyed the holiday period.

Kind regards,
Simon

FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

Dear Simon

Thank you for your email agreeing to pay the reduced charge of $60. You can make payment by cheque or money order to the Bureau using the following details:

Make cheque or money order payable to: Bureau of Meteorology

Post to:
Freedom of Information Officer
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289
Melbourne VIC 3001

If you would prefer to pay by credit card you can do so via these options:
• phoning the Bureau's Collector of Public Monies between 10am-12pm Melbourne time on 03 9669 4373 and providing credit card details over the phone; or
• providing credit card details to FOI staff in writing.

For payment via EFT online, please let me know and I will arrange for the relevant codes to be set up and send the details through to you.

Kind regards,
Erin

Erin MacLatchy | FOI & Privacy Officer
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428

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Simon left an annotation ()

If you're interested in seeing this document, I'd be ever so grateful for a tiny bit of help paying for the fees imposed by the BOM for access.
https://www.chuffed.org/project/bureau-o...

Dear Erin,

I'd like to pay by EFT if possible—could you please provide the relevant details? If for some reason these details can't be made public, please email them to [email address].

Kind regards,
Simon

Dear Erin,

Thank you for your email acknowledging receipt of my payment. You note that a receipt is attached, but the attachment appears to be missing. Could you please re-send?

Many thanks,
Simon

FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

1 Attachment

Apologies Simon - document attached.

Kind regards,
FOI & Privacy Officer

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FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

3 Attachments

Good afternoon Simon

 

The decision in regard to your request for access to documents under FOI
has been made. A copy of the decision is attached, along with the document
Schedule.  Your access to the document has been deferred – details and the
reasons for the decision are set out in the decision.

 

If you have any questions about this matter, please contact us on the
details provided.

 

Kind regards,

FOI & Privacy Officer

 

[1]Description: Description: Description: BoM
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289 Melbourne VIC 3001
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428 | [2][email address]
[3]www.bom.gov.au

 

Disclaimer

This email is sent by the Bureau of Meteorology (ABN 92 637 533 532). The
information in this email message may contain confidential or legally
privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient and have
received this email message in error, please delete all copies and
attachments and notify the Bureau immediately.

 

 

 

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.bom.gov.au/

Dear Alistair,

Thank you for the notification of your decision in this case.

Could you please provide some indication of the timeframe involved in waiting for the rights of review or appeal to run out? I would also appreciate if you could point me at the specific sections of the Act which define and regulate these rights and their timeframes.

Kind regards,
Simon

FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

Dear Simon

Thank you for your email.

As set out in the decision provided to you, s 27(7) of the FOI Act states that the decision-maker must not give you access to documents 'unless after all the opportunities of the person or organisation concerned for review of appeal in relation to the decision to give access to the document have run out, the decision to give access still stands, or is confirmed.'

Under section 54A of the FOI Act, a party aggrieved by the decision may apply in writing to the Bureau for an internal review of the decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days of the date they are notified of the decision. The internal review will be carried out by another officer of the Bureau within 30 days.

Under section 54M of the FOI Act, the aggrieved party may apply to the Information Commissioner to review the decision, within 30 days of the date they are notified of the decision. The timeframe for a review decision by the Information Commissioner is not specified but more information is available at www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/f....

In some instances an aggrieved party may seek further review with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Given the timeframes set out for the internal review, the Bureau must wait at least 30 days before confirming whether any review of the decision has been sought.

If you have any further questions please contact us on [BOM request email]

Kind regards,
FOI & Privacy Officer
Bureau of Meteorology

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FOI, Bureau of Meteorology

4 Attachments

Dear Simon

 

The attached letter sets out information in regard to the above FOI
request.

 

As previously notified to you, access to the document in scope of your
request was deferred. A copy of the document is now attached. The document
has been redacted to remove exempt material.

 

Please contact our office if you have any questions in regard to the
matter.

 

Kind regards,

FOI & Privacy Officer 

[1]Description: Description: Description: BoM
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289 Melbourne VIC 3001
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428 | [2][email address]
[3]www.bom.gov.au

 

Disclaimer

This email is sent by the Bureau of Meteorology (ABN 92 637 533 532). The
information in this email message may contain confidential or legally
privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient and have
received this email message in error, please delete all copies and
attachments and notify the Bureau immediately.

 

 

 

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.bom.gov.au/