Thursday, 27 September 2018
Mrs Julie Anderson
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx; foi+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mrs Anderson
Decision on your Freedom of Information request 0818
I refer to your request received by the Specialist Medical Review Council (the
SMRC) on 7
August 2018 for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI
Act). On 13 September 2018, following a formal consultation with the SMRC, you revised
your request to seek access to the following documents:
“copies of all minutes of the SMRC in relation to CWI and GWS decision.”
On 17 September 2018, you agreed to 14 days extension of time to process your request under
section 15AA of the FOI Act.
My decision
The SMRC holds 10 documents (totalling 31 pages) that relate to your request.
I have decided to:
grant you
full access to one document (document 6); and
grant you
part access to nine documents (documents 1-5 and 7-10) with some of the
content removed.
I have decided that parts of the documents that you have requested are exempt under the FOI
Act as they include personal information as they contain personal information of third parties,
the disclosure of which would be unreasonable and contrary to the public interest at this time
(section 47F(1) conditional exemption).
Please see the schedule at
Attachment A to this letter for the reasons for my decision,
including the relevant section of the FOI Act.
How we will send your documents to you
The documents are attached.
You can ask for a review of our decision
If you disagree with any part of the decision you can ask for a review. There are two ways
you can do this. You can ask for an internal review from within the SMRC, or an external
review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. You do not have to pay for
reviews of decisions. See
Attachment B for more information about how to arrange a review.
Further assistance
If you have any questions please email xxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely
Jan Bowman
Registrar
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
2
REASONS FOR DECISION
What you requested
On 13 September 2018, following a formal consultation with the SMRC, you revised your
request to seek access to the following documents:
“copies of all minutes of the SMRC in relation to CWI and GWS decision.”
What I took into account
In reaching my decision I took into account:
your original request dated 7 August 2018 and your revised request made on 13
September 2018 in response to our formal consultation letter dated 30 August 2018;
the documents that fall within the scope of your request;
whether the release of material is in the public interest;
consultations with other departmental officers about:
o the nature of the documents;
o the department's operating environment and functions;
guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of
the FOI Act (the
Guidelines);
the FOI Act.
Reasons for my decisions
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
I have decided that parts of certain documents that you requested are exempt under the FOI
Act. My findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemption applies to those
documents are discussed below.
Section 47F of the FOI Act - unreasonable disclosure of personal information
I have applied the conditional exemption in section 47F(1) to parts of documents 1-5 and
7-10.
Section 47F of the FOI Act relevantly provides:
“(1) A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would involve
the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a
deceased person).
(2) In determining whether the disclosure of the document would involve the
unreasonable disclosure of personal information, an agency or Minister must have
regard to the following matters:
(a) the extent to which the information is well known;
(b) whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to
have been) associated with the matters dealt with in the document;
3
(c) the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources;
(d) any other matters that the agency or Minister considers relevant.”
Personal Information
The term 'personal information' is defined as follows:
“...information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is
reasonably identifiable:
(a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
(b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.”
Paragraph 6.130 of the Guidelines provides:
“Personal information can include a person's name, address, telephone number, date of
birth, medical records, bank account details, taxation information and signature.”
I find that parts of documents 1-5 and 7-10 contain personal information of other people. This
includes personal email address and signature.
Whether disclosure is 'unreasonable'
In addition to the factors specified in section 47F(2) of the FOI Act, paragraph 6.138 of the
Guidelines provides:
“The personal privacy exemption is designed to prevent the unreasonable invasion of
third parties' privacy. The test of 'unreasonableness' implies a need to balance the
public interest in disclosure of government-held information and the private interest in
the privacy of individuals.”
I am satisfied that the disclosure of the third party personal information would be
unreasonable for the following reasons:
it relates to aspects of an individual's personal affairs;
you do not have the consent from this individuals for the release of their personal
information;
the information is private and not available in full or in part from
publicly-accessible sources; and
the identity of the individuals concerned is readily apparent or could be easily
ascertained;
On this basis, I have decided that the personal information included in documents 1-5 and 7-
10 as referred to in the Schedule is conditionally exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act.
Public interest considerations
Section 11A(5) of the FOI Act provides:
4
“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.”
When weighing up the public interest for and against disclosure under section 11A(5) of the
FOI Act, I have taken into account relevant factors in favour of disclosure. In particular, I
have considered the extent to which disclosure would:
promote the objects of the FOI Act; and
allow a person to access his or her personal information.
I have also considered the relevant factors weighing against disclosure, indicating that access
would be contrary to the public interest. In particular, I have considered the extent to which
disclosure could reasonably be expected to:
prejudice an individual's right to privacy; and
adversely affect or harm the interests of an individual.
Based on these factors, I have decided that in this instance, the public interest in disclosing the
personal information in the above-mentioned documents is outweighed by the public interest
against disclosure.
I have not taken into account any of the irrelevant factors set out in section 11B(4) of the FOI
Act in making this decision.
Conclusion
In summary, I am satisfied that certain parts of documents 1-5 and 7-10, as set out in the
Schedule, are conditionally exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act. Furthermore I have
decided that on balance it would be contrary to the public interest to release this information.
Accordingly I have decided not to release the documents in full to you.
As identified in the Schedule, I have deleted the exempt information in the documents and
released the remaining material in accordance with section 22(1) of the FOI Act.
5
Attachment A
LIST OF DOCUMENTS FOR RELEASE
MRS JULIE ANDERSON
Doc
Pages
Date
Description
Decision
Exemption
Comments
No.
1.
1
-2
16.12.15
Meeting minutes
Release in part
S 47F
Page 2: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
2.
3
-4
03.2.16
Meeting minutes
Release in part
S 47F
Page 4: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
3.
5
-6
20.04.16
Meeting minutes
Release in part
S 47F
Page 6: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
4.
7
-8
17.07.16
Meeting minutes
Release in part
S 47F
Page 8: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
5.
9
-10
27.07.16
Meeting minutes
Release in part
S 47F
Page 10: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
6.
11-12
06.12.16
Meeting minutes
Release in full
7.
13-17
29.06.17
Meeting minutes
Release in part
S 47F
Page 17: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
Doc
Pages
Date
Description
Decision
Exemption
Comments
No.
8.
18-19
01.09.17
Meeting minutes
Release in part
S 47F
Page 19: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
9.
20-29
31.01.18
Meeting minutes with
Release in part
S 47F
Page 21: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
attachment
10.
30-31
18.04.18
Meeting minutes (email
Release in part
S 47F
Page 31: Third party personal information deleted under s 47F(1)
format)
7
Attachment B
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
Asking for a full explanation of a Freedom of Information decision
Before you ask for a formal review of a FOI decision, you can contact us to discuss your
request. We will explain the decision to you. This gives you a chance to correct
misunderstandings.
Asking for a formal review of an Freedom of Information decision
If you still believe a decision is incorrect, the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act)
gives you the right to apply for a review of the decision. Under sections 54 and 54L of the
FOI Act, you can apply for a review of an FOI decision by:
1. an Internal Review Officer in the SMRC; and/or
2. the Australian Information Commissioner.
Note 1: There are no fees for these reviews.
Applying for an internal review by an Internal Review Officer
If you apply for internal review, a different decision maker to the delegate who made the
original decision will carry out the review. The Internal Review Officer will consider all
aspects of the original decision and decide whether it should change. An application for
internal review must be:
made in writing
made within 30 days of receiving this letter
sent to the address at the top of the first page of this letter.
Note 2: You do not need to fill in a form. However, it is a good idea to set out any relevant
submissions you would like the Internal Review Officer to further consider, and your reasons
for disagreeing with the decision.
Convener: Professor Charles Guest
Address all Communications to:
The Registrar, SMRC, PO Box 965, Brisbane QLD, 4001
Tel: (07) 3223 8420
Em
ail: xxxx.xxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx Website
: www.smrc.gov.au
Applying for external review by the Australian Information Commissioner
If you do not agree with the original decision or the internal review decision, you can ask the
Australian Information Commissioner to review the decision.
If you do not receive a decision from an Internal Review Officer in the SMRC within 30 days
of applying, you can ask the Australian Information Commissioner for a review of the
original FOI decision.
You will have 60 days to apply in writing for a review by the Australian Information
Commissioner.
You can
lodge your application:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Note 3: The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner generally prefers FOI
applicants to seek internal review before applying for external review by the Australian
Information Commissioner.
Important:
If you are applying online, the application form the 'Merits Review Form' is available at
www.oaic.gov.au.
If you have one, you should include with your application a copy of the decision on your
FOI request
Include your contact details
Set out your reasons for objecting to the decision.
Complaints to the Information Commissioner and Commonwealth Ombudsman
Information Commissioner
You may complain to the Information Commissioner concerning action taken by an agency in
the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act, There is no fee for
making a complaint. A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be made in writing.
The Information Commissioner's contact details are:
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Website:
www.oaic.gov.au Commonwealth Ombudsman
You may also complain to the Ombudsman concerning action taken by an agency in the
exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act. There is no fee for
making a complaint. A complaint to the Ombudsman may be made in person, by telephone or
in writing. The Ombudsman's contact details are:
9
Phone: 1300 362 072
Website:
www.ombudsman.gov.au
The Commonwealth Ombudsman generally prefers applicants to seek review before
complaining about a decision.
10
