If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
20 January 2017
Our reference: LEX 24847
Mr Ben Fairless
Right to Know
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Mr Fairless
Your Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request, dated 29 December 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:
'This is a request for the average time taken for a call into a Departmental call centre
to be answered or abandoned for the 2016 year for all of the Department's contact
centre queues (including "Shared Services" such as ICT, Finance, and Escalation
teams within the Department).
I would like the data averaged per month for the 2016 year, separated by each group
- If you use a Contact Centre Solution such as Cisco Call Centre, this data should be
easily accessible from within that application and shouldn't take much time to obtain.’
Your request involves too much work for the department
Your request requires the extraction and analysis of a very substantial amount of data, held
in various sources. Because of the amount of work involved for the department, we are
asking you to narrow the scope of your request.
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.
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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.
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 24847.
Your response will be expected by
3 February 2017. 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
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
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Department of Human Services
Attachment A
What I took into account
Because of the amount of work involved for the department, 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.
Processing your request would require extraction and analysis of a very substantial amount
of data, held in various sources. Multiple datasets consisting of millions of records would be
extracted and analysed. This process would take the relevant business area of the
department over 39 hours.
Based on my experience with the type and volume of records you want, I estimate it would
take more than 44.5 hours in processing time. This includes considering the data to see if
redactions should be applied - that is, possibly blanking out some content.
Amount of time to process your request
I have calculated the number of hours it would take to process your request in full.
Data search and retrieval
39 hours
Examine data for decision-making purposes, including
2 hours
considering redaction of material.
Write statement of reasons for decision
3.5 hours
Total
44.5 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:
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Department of Human Services
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
