Estimates briefing
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
I refer to the appearance and testimony of OAIC witnesses before the Australian Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on 22 October 2018. I note that those witnesses appear to be referring to notes during their testimony.
Under the FOI Act, I seek access to any briefing notes, questions and answers and talking points prepared for OAIC witnesses for the purposes of that Committee hearing.
Yours faithfully,
O Wendell
Dear O Wendell
I refer to your application made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(Cth) (the FOI Act) received by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) on 21 December 2018.
Freedom of Information request - Scope of your request
In your FOI application you seek access to any briefing notes, questions
and answers and talking points prepared for OAIC witnesses for the
purposes of the Australian Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Legislation Committee hearing on 22 October 2018.
Timeframes for dealing with your FOI request
Section 15 of the FOI Act requires this office to process your request no
later than 30 days after the day we receive it. However, section 15(6) of
the FOI Act allows us a further 30 days in situations where we need to
consult with third parties about certain information, such as business
documents or documents affecting their personal privacy.
As we received your request on 21 December 2018, we must process your
request by 21 January 2019. However, the OAIC has been shut down over the
Christmas period and many staff members won’t be returning from leave
until mid to late January. On this basis, do you agree to a 30 day
extension under s 15AA of the FOI Act of 30 days. If you agree, a decision
on your FOI request would be due on 19 February 2019.
Disclosure Log
Documents released under the FOI Act may be published online on our
disclosure log, unless they contain personal or business information that
would be unreasonable to publish.
If you would like to discuss this matter please contact me on my contact
details set out below.
Regards
[1]O A I C logo Amanda Nowland | Senior
Lawyer
Legal Services
Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |
oaic.gov.au
+61 2 9284 9646 |
[2][email address]
[6]Subscribe [7]Subscribe to
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References
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Hi
I'm agreeable to a 30 day extension although I'd like to avoid a situation where I agree to that extension and then the OAIC uses the consultation provisions of the FOI Act to extend the decision time by another 30 days turning a simple FOI request for straight forward briefings drafted for public consumption into a quarter of a year + saga.
I agree to a thirty day extension as requested but only on the condition that the OAIC agrees not to seek or pursue (under ss. 26A, 27, 27A etc) any further extensions of time.,
Yours sincerely,
O Wendell
Dear O Wendell,
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request.
Regards,
[1]O A I C logo Amanda Nowland | Senior
Lawyer
Legal Services
Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |
oaic.gov.au
+61 2 9284 9646 |
[2][email address]
[6]Subscribe [7]Subscribe to
[3]Facebook | [4]LinkedIn | [5]Twitter | icon OAICnet
newsletter
References
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2. mailto:[email address]
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7. https://www.oaic.gov.au/media-and-speech...
Thank you for your correspondence.
In response, I write to further refine the scope of my request such that it is limited to information contained within the relevant documents that refers to or otherwise relates to the:
i) www.righttoknow.org.au website/FOI platform;
ii) Australian Public Service Commission (APSC); and/or
iii) former Public Service Commissioner, John Lloyd.
Yours sincerely,
O Wendell
Thank you for your email.
I will respond when I return to the office on Wednesday 6th February 2019
If your matter is urgent please call our enquiries line on 1300 363 992.
Kind regards
Amanda Nowland
Dear O Wendell,
Thank you for your email regarding your FOI request. I confirm the new scope of your request as follows:
Information contained in the documents prepared for OAIC witnesses for the purposes of the Australian Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee hearing on 22 October 2018, limited to information about:
i) the Right to Know website
ii) the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC); and/or
ii) the former Public Service Commissioner, John Lloyd.
A decision on your request is due on 19 February 2019, as agreed.
Kind Regards,
Amanda Nowland
Amanda Nowland | Senior Lawyer
Legal Services
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 | oaic.gov.au
+61 2 9284 9646 | [email address]
Dear O Wendell
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request.
Kind Regards,
[1]O A I C logo Amanda Nowland | Senior
Lawyer
Legal Services
Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |
oaic.gov.au
+61 2 9284 9646 |
[2][email address]
[6]Subscribe [7]Subscribe to
[3]Facebook | [4]LinkedIn | [5]Twitter | icon OAICnet
newsletter
References
Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.facebook.com/OAICgov
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/office-...
5. https://twitter.com/OAICgov
7. https://www.oaic.gov.au/media-and-speech...
Thank you for this but you've only sent through one page (your decision indicates there are more). Are there more pages to be released?
Yours sincerely,
O Wendell
O Wendell,
That is the only page that has information to be released on it.
As in my decision letter there are two documents:
The first document is a document titled “Commissioner Brief: FOI – General Issues”. One page of that document contains relevant information about the Right to Know website (page 5). This page is the page that has been released to you with irrelevant information redacted.
The second document is titled “Commissioner Brief: FOI – significant cases update”. Five pages of that document contain information about Right to know (page 18, 46 and 50 – 52) and two pages contain information about the APSC (page 28 and 30). These seven pages have information redacted under section 22 and 47F so there is no further information to be released. This document contains information that is relevant to your request because it is information about FOI requests made through the Right to Know website or matters that involve the APSC. However, the information contains details of specific OAIC matters and is exempt under section 47F.
If you have any further questions please let me know.
Regards,
Amanda
Amanda Nowland | Senior Lawyer
Legal Services
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 | oaic.gov.au
+61 2 9284 9646 | [email address]