If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
13 December 2016
Our reference: LEX 23964
Jan Jones
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Sir or Madam
Decision on your Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request, dated 22 November 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 request any documents relating to misconduct by DHS staff breaching the APS
code of conduct by unauthorised access to DHS client records and the resulting
sanctions imposed in the period between May 2014 to June 2016'.
Your request involves too much work for the department
Your request covers a wide range of documents. Because of the amount of work involved for
the department in processing your request, we are asking you to revise your request to give
us more specific details about the documents you are seeking.
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 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.
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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.
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
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 t
o xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Note: When you contact us please quote the reference number
FOI LEX 23964.
Your response will be expected by
27 December 2016. If no response is received, your
matter will be taken as withdrawn.
Further assistance
If you have any questions please email
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Thomas
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
Freedom of Information Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
PAGE 2 OF 8
Department of Human Services
Attachment A
What I took into account
Because of the amount of work involved for the department, under sections 24AA and 24 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. There are a large number of files that may be relevant
to your request. The document search and retrieval process in this matter is particularly time-
consuming, as each relevant file must be assessed for relevance individually. Where
relevance is determined, each page on that file must also be assessed for relevance.
Based on my experience with the type and volume of records you want, I estimate it would
take more than 6200 hours in processing time. This includes looking at all the documents to
see if any of the pages might need redactions - that is, possibly blanking out some content,
for example, where there is private information about another person. It is my understanding
that a significant proportion of the documents within scope would contain the personal
information of other people.
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
715 hours
Examine pages for decision making at an average of two minutes
4100 hours
per page
Time of one minute per page for about 61490 pages needing
1050 hours
redaction
Consult third-parties
358 hours
Write statement of reasons for decision
52 hours
Total
6275 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;
PAGE 3 OF 8
Department of Human Services
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 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.
Jan Jones
Name
LEX 23964
FOI LEX number
I request any documents relating to misconduct by DHS staff
Initial request
breaching the APS code of conduct by unauthorised access to
details
DHS client records and the resulting sanctions imposed in the
period between May2014 to June 2016
I, Jan Jones 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 (
tick boxes and insert numbers that apply to
you):
□
A
Centrelink
CRN:
□
B
Medicare
Card no:
□
C
Child Support
CSID:
□
D
CRS Australia
Ref no:
PAGE 5 OF 8
3. Select which of the following documents you are requesting:
Debt related documents
□ My debt calculation documents for debt reference: ____________________
□ A summary of my debt repayments for debt reference: _________________
□ Debt explanation documents for debt reference: ______________________
□ Other debt related documents (
provide a description of these
documents):___________________________________________________
Medical related documents
□ Copies of medical documents about me, including medical assessment
reports (for example, Job Capacity Assessment reports)
□ Medical documents related to my claim for ___________________________
Medicare
□ My personal Medical Benefit Scheme (MBS) History
□ My personal Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) History
(
Note: Your PBS and MBS history are available through your online account.
They can also be requested without a formal FOI request. See Question 5
below.)
□ Other Medicare documents (
provide a description of these
documents):____________________________________________________
Child support related documents
□ My letters of assessment
□ My call recordings (
provide a description of the calls you want):____________
______________________________________________________________
□ Other (
provide a description of these documents):
______________________________________________________________
Other/general documents
□ Documents about my contact with the department
□ My Online Document Recording (
Note: These are electronic documents on a
customer's record where department staff record customer contact,
conversations and actions)
□ Other (
provide a comprehensive description of the documents you need)
PAGE 6 OF 8
Department of Human Services
4. 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.
We can provide some documents to you without an FOI request.
5. If your request can be completed without a formal FOI request, do you want us to
send the documents this way?
□ Yes
□ No
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Department of Human Services
HOW TO SEND THIS FORM
By post to:
Attention: LEX 23964
FOI Team
Department of Human Services
PO Box 7820
CANBERRA BC ACT 2610
Make sure you add the reference number FOI LEX 23964.
OR
Email to:
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Make sure you add the reference number FOI LEX 23964. You do not have to
include your signature in your email.
PAGE 8 OF 8
Department of Human Services
