Sun Shine
Via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Sun Shine
Decision to impose a charge and preliminary assessment of charges
I refer to your request under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) dated 31 January 2019 seeking
access to the following:
Information regarding ARPANSA's efforts to increase annual licence charges. My request includes
documents such as meeting minutes, position papers, strategies and emails from December 2016 to the
present. Requested emails may be limited to those involving the CEO that describe his desire to increase
annual licence charges, broaden cost recovery or expand involvement of agency staff in regulatory matters,
the effect of which would be to increase future licence charges. This request includes Executive Group and
Strategic Management Committee meeting minutes such as Item 2.5 of SMC paper dated 12 December
2016.
On 13 February 2019 after my email regarding the broad scope of your 31 January FOI Request, you agreed
to limit the scope to:
For the period from 1 December 2016 to 31 January 2019, I agree to limit my request to the fol owing
documents:
1. The written strategy for increasing revenue related to regulatory activities (the most recent ARPANSA
annual report refers to a strategy for enhancing the agency’s revenue-generating activities including
regulatory cost recovery models).
2. Papers or minutes of the Executive Group or Strategic Management Committee in relation to the
implementation of full cost recovery (excluding drafts and duplicates)
3. Emails involving the CEO that relate to his desire to increase revenue from annual licence charges. This
includes expanding involvement of agency staff in regulatory matters, the effect of which would be to
increase future licence charges.
On 25 February 2019, you clarified that you were specifically interested in:
Any email communications from the CEO that indicate a desire to redeploy non regulatory staff, the
consequence of which would be to inflate regulatory costs, or to attribute more administrative overhead to
regulatory costs.
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie VIC 3085
38–40 Urunga Parade, Miranda NSW 2228
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
+61 3 9433 2211
PO Box 655, Miranda NSW 1490
arpansa.gov.au
+61 2 9541 8333
For clarification and to obviate the need for charges, the search you conducted involving CEO sent emails
can be further limited. Please exclude any of those 158 emails that did not involve the Chief of Staff [cc or
addressee]. Exclude any of the 158 that did not refer to involving additional personnel in regulatory work or
administrative overhead.
Decision
I am writing to advise you of my decision that you are liable to pay a charge in respect of the processing of
your request as clarified on 25 February 2019.
I, Gemma Larkins, legal officer in the Office of the General Counsel, am an officer authorised under section
23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to FOI requests.
In accordance with section 29 of the FOI Act and the
Freedom of Information Charges Regulations 1982, my
preliminary assessment of the charge you are liable to pay is $130.
Basis for my preliminary assessment of the charge
I have prepared this charges notice on the basis that I would need to review approximately 166 pages of
documents.
Document estimate
Number of relevant documents
45
Number of relevant pages (or other size descriptor)
166
pages
PROCESSING CHARGES
Search and retrieval
Task
Time (hr)
Cost @ $15/hr
Search and retrieval of relevant electronic including CEO time, IT 2
assistance of searching archive emails and FOI Officer time in
$30
relation to reviewing searches
Search and retrieval of relevant pages in file
2
$30
Preparation of schedule of documents
2
$30
A. Search and retrieval subtotal
6
$90
Decision making
Task
Time
Cost @ $20/hr
Examination of documents
2
$40
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Consultation with third parties
.5
$10
Preparation of documents for release
1
$20
Preparation of notice of access decision
3
$60
Decision making subtotal (before deduction of 5 hours)
6.5
$130
B. Decision making subtotal (after deduction of first 5 hours
1.5
free)
$30
ESTIMATED TOTALS AND DEPOSIT
ESTIMATED TOTAL
$120
REQUIRED DEPOSIT
$30
Your right to contend the charge
Under the FOI Act, you have the right to contend that the charge:
• has been wrongly assessed, or
• should be reduced, or
• should not be imposed.
In deciding whether a charge should be reduced or not imposed, the decision maker in our agency must
take into account:
• whether payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause you financial hardship
• whether giving access to the documents is in the general public interest or in the interest of a
substantial section of the public
• any other relevant matter.
Payment of a deposit
As the charge exceeds $100, a 25 per cent deposit ($30) wil be sought if the charge is imposed.
The deposit is not refundable except in some limited circumstances (for example, if ARPANSA fails to make
a decision on your request within the statutory time limit), or may be refundable in part if the final charge
is less than the deposit paid.
Payment can be made by either bank cheque or direct deposit. Details below:
Bank Name
Reserve Bank of Australia
Bank Address
20-22 London Circuit,
Canberra City ACT 2600
BSB Number
092-009
Account Number
112738
Account Name
ARPANSA Official Departmental Account
Swift Code
R S B K AU 2 S
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ABN
61 321 195 155
Please quote ful name and FOI on remittance advice to ensure correct al ocation of payments.
The time you have to respond and what you need to do
You have 30 days to provide written notice to ARPANSA that you will do any of the fol owing things:
• agree to pay the charge (this wil mean that you wil not be entitled to access the requested
documents until the ful charge is paid);
• contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be reduced or not imposed and
explain your reasons; or
• withdraw your request.
Please send your response to
xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
If you do not provide us with a written response by 27 April 2019 your request wil be taken to have been
withdrawn.
More information on charges can be found in section 29 of the FOI Act and Chapter 4 of the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner FOI Guidelines
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-
guidelines/part-4-charges-for-providing-access
The period for processing your request is suspended from the day that you receive this notice and resumes
on either the day you pay the charge (in ful or the required deposit) or the day on which this agency makes
a decision not to impose a charge.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Larkins
Gemma Larkins (Position Number 13529)
Legal Officer
Office of the General Counsel
28 March 2019
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Document Outline
