If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
4 May 2017
Our reference: LEX 29020
UD
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear UD
Your Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request dated 8 April 2017 and received by the Department of Human Services
(the
department) on the same day for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982
(the
FOI Act) to the following:
'all internal communications within the Department relating to the release of personal
information about Rhys Cauzzo to The Saturday Paper.'
Your request involves too much work for the department
Your request covers a wide range of documents. We are asking you to revise your request to
give us more specific details about the information you are after because of the amount of
work involved for the department.
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 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.
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 29020.
Your response is expected by
18 May 2017. If no response is received, your request will be
taken as withdrawn.
Further assistance
If you have any questions please email
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Jessica
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
Freedom of Information Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
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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.
To process your request the department would have to conduct extensive searches to find
and process the documents you asked for. Based on our preliminary estimates, there are
more than 70 documents totalling over 563 pages that are relevant to your request. With the
type and volume of documents you want, it is estimated that it would take more than
60 hours to process your request.
Due to the sensitive nature of many of the documents you require, it would take a significant
amount of time for the department to review the materials which may be in scope, examine
each page to see if any of the pages might need redactions, make a decision on the
documents and write a statement of reasons for the decision.
Furthermore, the documents contain information concerning the business, commercial or
financial affairs of organisations and personal information about third parties. Consequently,
the department is required to consult under sections 27 and 27A of the FOI Act before
making a decision on the release of those documents. This will require further time to
process your request.
You may consider revising the scope of request by indicating:
specific categories of documents that you are seeking e.g. email correspondence,
Ministerial Briefs;
a specific date range; and/or,
any other details which will help reduce the scope of your request.
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
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Department of Human Services
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
