Reference: BI302488 
FOI 429/17/18 STATEMENT OF REASONS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF 
INFORMATION ACT 
1. 
I refer to the application by Ms Verity Pane under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 
(FOI Act), for access to: 
“.... a list of all preliminary charges assessments for FOI applications made in FY17/18 
YTD, detailing the following: 
Column 1 - Defence FOI Reference Number 
Column 2 - Preliminary Charges Assessment $ 
Column 3 - Did FOI Proceed Y/N” 
FOI decision maker 
2. 
I am the authorised officer pursuant to section 23 of the FOI Act to make a decision on 
this FOI request. 
Documents identified 
3. 
I identified one document as matching the description of the request.  
Decision 
4. 
I have decided to release one document in full. 
Material taken into account 
5. 
In making my decision, I had regard to: 
a.  the terms of the request; 
b.  the content of the identified documents in issue; 
c.  relevant provisions in the FOI Act; and 
d.  the Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information 
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (the Guidelines).  
Clarification/Context Statement  
6. 
Please note that while the FOI database has the ability to record the information 
requested by the applicant it is not always included for every request. Furthermore, the 
preliminary assessment of charges figure is the original figure provided to the applicant this is 
not always updated if the charges are reduced or waived.  

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7. 
While the applicant requested a ‘Yes/No’ column on whether the requests proceeded, 
the report produced from the FOI database shows the date a deposit is paid and/or final 
payment, which addresses the request indirectly.  
  melissa.davi Digitally signed by 
 
melissa.davidson 
  dson
Date: 2018.05.24 15:35:48 
 
+10'00'
Melissa Davidson 
Accredited Decision Maker 
Associate Secretary Group   

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