22 June 2017
Mr Mark Epps
Sent via em
ail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our Ref: 1617/71.02
Dear Mr Epps
I am writing in relation to your request, made under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
the FOI Act), received by
nbn’s
FOI Team on 21 June 2017.
Acknowledgment
As required by section 15(5) of the FOI Act, I acknowledge receipt of your request. In particular, you were seeking access to
latest version of the Integrated Product Roadmap (
the IPR), i.e. the next version following the
April 2017 IPR, which is
published on
nbn’s website. Following discussions with relevant
nbn staff, I was informed that the April 2017 version of the
IPR is the latest version of that document. For reference,
nbn generally publishes a revised version of the IPR on a quarterly
basis and
nbn’s staff members are in the process of finalising the next version of the IPR. This should be up on line shortly.
No documents held
By the terms of your request, I made the assumption that you are seeking the final version of the IPR. As per section 24A(1)
of the FOI Act, all reasonable steps have been taken to find relevant documents within the scope of this request and I am
satisfied that such documents do not exist. I also refer you to the points, below, regarding
nbn’s carve-out from the
application of the FOI Act.
nbn’s Commercial Activities Exemption
I refer you to
nbn’s commercial activities exemption (
the CAE), as pe
r section 7(3A) and Part II of Schedule 2 of the FOI Act.
Please be aware that documents that relate to
nbn’s “commercial activities” are not subject to the operation of the FOI Act
and would likely be exempt from release. The following link summarises and provides
general background information
concerning
nbn’s commercial activities carve-out. That background document references two Australian Information
Commissioner reviews that considered
nbn’s CAE: the
Internode Decision (in January 2012) and th
e Battersby Decision (in
July 2013). While I am not making a formal decision, nor have I reviewed any documents, there is a possibility that
documents falling within the terms of this request may be subject to the CAE, among other exemptions from release.
FOI Processing Period and Charges
The statutory period for processing an FOI request is 30 days, subject to any suspension of the processing period or extension
of the time for deciding the application. Please also note that processing charges may be imposed in relation to FOI requests.
You will be advised of any charges in relation to your request. For reference,
nbn’s approach to processing charges is outlined
at the following hyperlink: Submission to the Office of the Australian Information Commissione
r Charges Review. In
particular,
nbn supports – and will generally apply – Recommendation 24 in the
Hawke Review into FOI Legislation, (the
Hawke Review) as a benchmark in reviewing FOI applications. For your reference, Recommendation 24 suggests a 40-hour
ceiling for all FOI processing charges.
Yours faithfully,
David Mesman
General Counsel
FOI Privacy & Knowledge Management