Australian Securities
and Investments Commission
Level 7, 120 Col ins Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
GPO Box 9827,
Melbourne VIC 3001
Tel: +61 1300 935 075
Fax: +61 1300 729 000
www.asic.gov.au
Our reference:
27356/18
7 December 2018
Mr Phil ip Sweeney
By email –
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Mr Sweeney
Freedom of information request – notice of charge decision
We refer to your email dated 26 November 2018 in which you requested a waiver of
a charge pursuant to section 29(5)(a) of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI
Act), on the grounds payment of the charge would cause you financial hardship.
On 30 November 2018, we wrote to you and requested evidence of financial
hardship to support your claim for waiver. We asked you to respond by 5 December
2018, noting we intended to make our decision by 7 December 2018, in anticipation
of ASIC’s shutdown period between Christmas and New Year. We have not received
your response.
I am an officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in
relation to FOI requests. I have decided under section 29(4) not to vary the original
assessment of the charge. The amount you are liable to pay is $15.
The reasons for my decision under section 29(4) are set out below.
Reasons for my decision
In the absence of evidence of financial hardship to support your claim for waiver, I
consider that the payment of a charge of $15, or part of it, would not cause financial
hardship to you as the applicant. I acknowledge you claim to be victim of fraud and
the conduct has impacted you financial y.
I do not consider giving access to the document in question is in the general public
interest or in the interest of a substantial section of the public. The document in
question relates to your longstanding private dispute and attempts to expose
fraudulent conduct you al ege by the trustees of a regulated superannuation fund.
Furthermore, I do not consider that disclosure of the document would advance the
objects of the FOI Act. I do not consider that disclosure of the document would
promote better informed decision making or increase scrutiny or discussion of the
Government’s activities.
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Your review rights
If you are dissatisfied with my decision in relation to the charge, you may apply for
internal review or Information Commissioner review of the decision. We encourage
you to seek internal review as a first step as it may provide a more rapid resolution of
your concerns.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing for an internal review of my
decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days of the date of
this letter and can be addressed to the Senior Manager – Administrative Law by post
at GPO Box 9827 SYDNEY or email at
xxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx. Where possible, please attach reasons why you believe review of the decision is
necessary. The internal review wil be carried out by another officer within 30 days.
Information Commissioner review
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply directly to the Information
Commissioner to review my decision. An application for review by the Information
Commissioner must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this letter, and be
lodged in one of the fol owing ways:
online:
https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/oaic/foi-review-/
post:
GPO Box 2999, Canberra ACT 2601
fax:
02 9284 9666
in person:
Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW
Next steps in processing your request
In accordance with section 31 of the FOI Act, the 30-day time limit is suspended from
the date you were notified of the charge until the earliest occurring of the fol owing
days:
• The day you pay the amount of the charge
• If the amount of the charge is changed fol owing review under the FOI Act –
the day you pay the revised charge
• If, fol owing review under the FOI Act, a decision is made not to impose a
charge – the day you are notified of that decision.
Right to complain
You may lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner in relation to the
conduct of ASIC in the handling of your request. You may contact the Information
Commissioner as described above.
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Questions about this decision
If you have any questions of wish to discuss this decision with us, please contact Ms
Faranaz Alam on 03 9280 3319 or by email at
xxxxxxx.xxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely
David Asadi
Authorised decision-maker under subsection 23(1) FOI Act
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
