Level 7, 120 Collins Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
Our Ref:
46141/16
GPO Box 9827, Melbourne VIC 3001
DX 423 Melbourne
9 January 2017
Telephone: +61 3 9280 3200
Facsimile: +61 3 9280 3444
Mr Phillip Sweeney
www.asic.gov.au
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Sweeney
Request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
I refer to your request under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act)
received by the Australian Securities and Investments commission (ASIC) by email
on 8 December 2016, in which you made the following request:
Following the Wells Fargo Scandal in the USA, ASIC has written to the
major Australian banks seeking information on their cross-selling practices.
The document I seek is a copy of the letter sent to these banks.
The details of any particular bank can be redacted.
I am the authorised decision-maker for the purposes of section 23 of the FOI Act.
Decision
I have identified the document which comes within the terms of your request.
I have decided to grant partial access to this document. This document is attached to this
letter, with some redactions to remove personal information about ASIC officers (see
below).
Public interest conditions exemption — personal privacy
The document includes personal information, including contact details. Section 47F of
the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this
Act would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about a person.
The FOI Act sets out factors that must be considered when determining if disclosure
would be unreasonable. These factors are:
2
the extent to which the information is well known;
whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have
been) associated with the matters dealt with in the document;
the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources; and
any other matters that the agency considers relevant.
I have considered the above factors. Following the consideration of the factors set out in
the FOI Act and matters which I consider relevant, I have determined that some of the
personal information would be unreasonable to disclose.
Public interest test
Under the FOI Act, access to a document covered by a conditional exemption must be
given unless it would be contrary to the public interest.
I have had regard to the guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner.
I have considered the factors in subsection 11B(3) as being factors favouring access to
the document in the public interest. I have considered the matters outlined in sections 3
and 3A which state that the FOI Act promotes disclosure of documents held by the
Government of the Commonwealth. I do not consider that releasing some of the
personal information would inform public debate on a matter of public importance,
promote effective oversight of public expenditure or allow a person to access their own
personal information.
On balance, I find that disclosure of some of the conditionally exempt document would
be contrary to the public interest. The public benefit that lies in disclosure is outweighed
by the adverse effects on releasing some of the personal information.
Section 22
Section 22 of the FOI Act provides that:
where an agency decides not to grant access to a document on the grounds
that it is an exempt document or that to grant access to a document would
disclose information that would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the
request; and
it is possible for the agency to make a copy of the document with such
deletions that the copy would not be an exempt document; and
it is reasonably practicable for the agency having regard to the nature and
extent of the work involved in deciding on and making those deletions and
resources available for the work, to make such a copy;
the agency must, unless it is apparent from the request or as a result of
consultation by the agency with the applicant, that the applicant would not
wish to have access to such a copy, make and grant access to such a copy.
I have considered whether, under section 22 of the FOI Act, it is possible to release
the exempt document with deletions such that the document would no longer be
exempt. The personal information has been removed and the document has been
edited for part release.
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Assessment of charges
The FOI Act provides that charges may be assessed for time spent processing a
request. I have decided that there are no charges applicable to the processing of your
request in this instance.
Review Rights
I provide you with the following information as required by section 26 of the FOI Act.
In the event that you are dissatisfied with the decision:
1.
You may, within 30 days after the day on which you have been notified of this
decision, apply in writing to ASIC for a review of my decision by another ASIC
officer under section 54B of the FOI Act. This request should be addressed to
me at
xxxxx.xxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or to the Senior Manager, Administrative Law
GPO Box 9827 SYDNEY NSW 2001 or by email to xxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
2.
You may, within 60 days apply in writing to the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (OAIC) for a review of my decision under section
54N of the FOI Act. You may send the application to the OAIC by post at GPO
Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 or by email at xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
3.
You may lodge a complaint to the OAIC about the conduct of ASIC in the
handling of this request. You may contact the OAIC as described above.
Yours sincerely
Tegan Lemm
(Authorised Decision-maker under section 23(1) of the FOI act)
for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission