FOI
Statement of reasons made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Decision and reason for decision of Position Number 62210358
Applicant:
Verity Pane
Decision date:
2 October 2018
FOI reference number:
FOI 24298
Dear Verity Pane
Freedom of Information Request: FOI 24298
1.
I have made a decision to refuse access to the documents subject to your request, as the documents
do not exist.
Summary
2.
I, Position Number 62210358, am an officer authorised by the Secretary of the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs (the Department) to make decisions about access to documents in the possession of
the Department in accordance with section 23(1) of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
3.
On 31 August 2018 you made a request for access to documents in the possession of the Department.
Your request was in the following terms:
“Under FOI, I seek a copy for any document (including emails) received or sent by any SES level officer
in the period 1 January 2018 – 30 April 2018 that relates to the replacement of delegate names in
official correspondence with position number instead.
It is likely that such a document was sent to the Secretary for approval and also involved a Department
brief for the Minister, but I provide this merely as pointers to where such documents in scope may be
found.
TRIM and the G: drive of the Legal Services & Assurance branch should also be searched for such
documents, in addition to the Department’s email server (but again may be limited to SES level officers
only).”
Decision and Reasons for Decision
4.
I have made a decision to refuse access to the documents subject to your request, as the documents
do not exist. Section 24A of the FOI Act provides that an agency or Minister may refuse a request for
access to a document if:
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(a)
all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b)
the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i) is in the agency's or Minister's possession but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist.
5.
I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to find information relevant to your request,
having regard to:
the subject matter of the documents;
the current and past file management systems and the practice of orderly destruction or
removal of documents;
the Department’s record management systems and practices; and
the individuals and areas within the Department who may be able to assist with the
location of the information.
6.
Despite the reasonable searches undertaken, the Department has been unable to identify any
documents relevant to the timeframe specified in your request. A description of the searches
undertaken to locate the documents which you are seeking to access is at Schedule 1.
7.
On that basis, I am refusing your request for access to the information in accordance with section 24A
of the FOI Act.
Your rights of review
8.
If you disagree with your FOI decision, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed. There are two ways
you can ask for review of a decision: internal review by the Department, and external review by the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Internal Review
9.
You can ask the Department to review its decision in relation to access to documents. There is no
charge for internal review. You must apply within 30 days of being notified of the decision, unless the
Department extends the application time. You should contact the Department if you wish to seek an
extension. The Department must make a review decision within 30 days. If it does not do so, its original
decision is considered to be affirmed. The review will be carried out by a different departmental
officer, usually someone at a more senior level.
10.
You must apply in writing and you can lodge your application in one of the following ways:
Post: Legal Services & Assurance, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
Facsimile: (02) 6289 6337
Email: xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
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Information Commissioner Review
11.
You can ask the OAIC to review the Department’s decision in relation to access to documents. The
Information Commissioner is an independent office holder who can review the decisions of agencies
and ministers under the FOI Act. The Information Commissioner also investigates complaints about
agency actions under the FOI Act. However, if you are complaining that the Department’s decision is
wrong, it will be treated as an application for a review. You do not need to seek an internal review
from the Department before seeking review by the Information Commissioner. However, going
through the Department’s internal review process gives the Department the opportunity to reconsider
its initial decision, and your needs may be met more quickly without undergoing an external review
process. The Information Commissioner’s review is free. You must apply to the Information
Commissioner within 60 days of being given notice of the decision. You can ask the Information
Commissioner for an extension of time to apply, and this may be granted if the Information
Commissioner considers it is reasonable in the circumstances.
12.
You must apply in writing and you can lodge your application in one of the following ways:
Online: www.oaic.gov.au
Post: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Facsimile: (02) 9284 9666
Email: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
In person: Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW.
13.
More
information
about
Information
Commissioner
Reviews
is
available
from
http://www.oaic.gov.au/publications/FOI fact sheet12 your review rights.html.
Contact us
14.
If you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact me using the following details:
Post: Legal Services & Assurance, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
Facsimile: (02) 6289 6337
Email: xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely
Position number 62210358
Position number 62210358
Authorised officer
2 October 2018
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FOI
Schedule 1
Summary of document searches
The Department conducted the following searches to identify files and documents that fall within scope of
your request (“relevant documents”).
1. Search of group drives for electronic documents
A search of the Department’s electronic files did not identify any relevant documents.
2. Department notification of FOI request
An email notification of the FOI request was circulated to relevant areas in the Department
requesting that they conduct a search of their respective areas to identify whether documents
relevant to the request exist. No relevant documents were identified.
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FOI
Schedule 2
Schedule of relevant provisions in the FOI Act
3 Objects—general
(1) The objects of this Act are to give the Australian community access to information held by the
Government of the Commonwealth or the Government of Norfolk Island, by:
(a) requiring agencies to publish the information; and
(b) providing for a right of access to documents.
(2) The Parliament intends, by these objects, to promote Australia’s representative democracy by
contributing towards the following:
(a) increasing public participation in Government processes, with a view to promoting
better-informed decision-making;
(b) increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government’s activities.
(3) The Parliament also intends, by these objects, to increase recognition that information held by
the Government is to be managed for public purposes, and is a national resource.
(4) The Parliament also intends that functions and powers given by this Act are to be performed
and exercised, as far as possible, to facilitate and promote public access to information,
promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost.
11 Right of access
(1) Subject to this Act, every person has a legally enforceable right to obtain access in accordance
with this Act to:
(a) a document of an agency, other than an exempt document; or
(b) an official document of a Minister, other than an exempt document.
(2) Subject to this Act, a person’s right of access is not affected by:
(a) any reasons the person gives for seeking access; or
(b) the agency’s or Minister’s belief as to what are his or her reasons for seeking access.
11A Access to documents on request
Scope
(1) This section applies if:
(a) a request is made by a person, in accordance with subsection 15(2), to an agency or
Minister for access to:
(i) a document of the agency; or
(ii) an official document of the Minister; and
(b) any charge that, under the regulations, is required to be paid before access is given has
been paid.
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(2) This section applies subject to this Act.
Note:
Other provisions of this Act are relevant to decisions about access to documents, for example the
following:
(a) section 12 (documents otherwise available);
(b) section 13 (documents in national institutions);
(c) section 15A (personnel records);
(d) section 22 (access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted).
Mandatory access—general rule
(3) The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document in accordance with this
Act, subject to this section.
Exemptions and conditional exemptions
(4) The agency or Minister is not required by this Act to give the person access to the document at
a particular time if, at that time, the document is an exempt document.
Note:
Access may be given to an exempt document apart from under this Act, whether or not in response to a
request (see section 3A (objects—information or documents otherwise accessible)).
(5) The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document if it is conditionally
exempt at a particular time unless (in the circumstances) access to the document at that time
would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.
Note 1:
Division 3 of Part IV provides for when a document is conditionally exempt.
Note 2:
A conditionally exempt document is an exempt document if access to the document would, on balance,
be contrary to the public interest (see section 31B (exempt documents for the purposes of Part IV)).
Note 3:
Section 11B deals with when it is contrary to the public interest to give a person access to the
document.
(6) Despite subsection (5), the agency or Minister is not required to give access to the document
at a particular time if, at that time, the document is both:
(a) a conditionally exempt document; and
(b) an exempt document:
(i) under Division 2 of Part IV (exemptions); or
(ii) within the meaning of paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of
exempt document in
subsection 4(1).
23 Decisions to be made by authorised persons
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a decision in respect of a request made to an agency may be made,
on behalf of the agency, by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of the agency or,
subject to the regulations, by an officer of the agency acting within the scope of authority
exercisable by him or her in accordance with arrangements approved by the responsible
Minister or the principal officer of the agency.
(2) A decision in respect of a request made to a court, or made to a tribunal, authority or body
that is specified in Schedule 1, may be made on behalf of that court, tribunal, authority or body
by the principal officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body or, subject to the regulations,
by an officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body acting within the scope of authority
exercisable by him or her in accordance with arrangements approved by the principal officer of
that court, tribunal, authority or body.
(see section 11A).
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24A Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or have not been
received
Document lost or non-existent
(1) An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a) all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b) the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i) is in the agency's or Minister's possession but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist.
Document not received as required by contract
(2) An agency may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a) in order to comply with section 6C, the agency has taken contractual measures to
ensure that it receives the document; and
(b) the agency has not received the document; and
(c) the agency has taken all reasonable steps to receive the document in accordance
with those contractual measures.
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