FOI
Statement of reasons made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Decision and reasons for decision of Position Number 62210022, Information Law Section,
Legal Services and General Counsel Branch, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Applicant:
Julie
Decision date:
26 October 2018
FOI reference number:
FOI 25071
Sent by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Julie,
Freedom of Information Request: FOI 25071
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 62210022, Assistant Director, Information Law Section, am an officer authorised
by the Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (
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 (
FOI Act).
3.
On 13 October 2018, you made a request for access to documents in the possession of the
Department. Your request sought access to:
“…the minutes of the DVA People and Culture Committee for FY17/18…”
4.
As no extensions of time have been applied to process your request, a decision on your request is
due by 12 November 2018.
5.
I have decided not to impose a charge in relation to this request, in accordance with regulation 3(1)
of the
Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 1982.
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Decision and reasons for decision
6.
I have made a decision to refuse access to the documents subject to your request, as the documents
cannot be found or 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:
(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.
7.
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 searches undertaken by the relevant line area.
8.
Despite the reasonable searches undertaken, the Department has been unable to identify any
documents relevant to your request. A description of the searches undertaken to locate the
documents which you are seeking to access is at Schedule 1.
9.
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
10.
If you disagree with this 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
11.
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Department for an internal review of
my decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days of the date of this letter.
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Where possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the decision is necessary. The
internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30 days.
12.
You can make your application for internal review in one of the following ways:
Post: Legal Services & General Counsel Branch, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
Facsimile: (02) 6289 6337
Email: xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
OAIC review
13.
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the OAIC to review my decision. An application
for review by the OAIC must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this letter, and be
lodged 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
14.
More information about your review rights under the FOI Act is available in Fact Sheet 12 published
by the OAIC: http://oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-resources/freedom-of-information-fact-
sheets/foi-factsheet-12-your-review-rights.
Contact us
15.
If you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact me using the following details:
Post: Legal Services & General Counsel Branch, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
Facsimile: (02) 6289 6337
Email: xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely
Position Number 62210022
Assistant Director
Information Law Section | Legal Services & General Counsel Branch
Legal Assurance and Governance Division
26 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. File search
A search of the Department’s hard copy file index identified no files with potentially relevant
documents.
2. Search of group drives for electronic documents
A search of the Department’s electronic files did not identify any relevant documents.
3. Department notification of FOI request
An email notification of the FOI request was circulated to the relevant line area in the Department
requesting that it conduct a search of their respective areas to identify whether documents
relevant to the request exist. No relevant documents were identified.
The relevant line area in the Department advised that there are no minutes for the 17/18 Financial
Year.
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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.
(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).
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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).
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
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(c) the agency has taken all reasonable steps to receive the document in accordance
with those contractual measures.
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Reasons and other particulars of decisions to be given
(1)
Where, in relation to a request, a decision is made relating to a refusal to grant access to a
document in accordance with the request or deferring provision of access to a document,
the decision-maker shall cause the applicant to be given notice in writing of the decision,
and the notice shall:
(a)
state the findings on any material questions of fact, referring to the material on
which those findings were based, and state the reasons for the decision; and
(aa)
in the case of a decision to refuse to give access to a conditionally exempt
document—include in those reasons the public interest factors taken into account
in making the decision; and
Note: Access must generally be given to a conditionally exempt document unless it would be
contrary to the public interest (see section 11A).
(b)
where the decision relates to a document of an agency, state the name and
designation of the person giving the decision; and
(c)
give to the applicant appropriate information concerning:
(i)
his or her rights with respect to review of the decision;
(ii)
his or her rights to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
relation to the decision; and
(iii)
the procedure for the exercise of the rights referred to in subparagraphs (i)
and (ii); including (where applicable) particulars of the manner in which an
application for internal review (Part VI) and IC review (Part VII) may be
made.
(1A)
Section 13 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 does not apply to a
decision referred to in subsection (1).
(2)
A notice under this section is not required to contain any matter that is of such a nature
that its inclusion in a document of an agency would cause that document to be an exempt
document.
(see section 11A).
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