24 July 2019
Mr Frank Kew
BY EMAIL: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request:
FA 19/03/00642
File Number:
OBJ2019/18591
Dear Mr Kew,
Freedom of Information (FOI) request - Access Decision
On 12 March 2019, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) received a request for
access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
1
Scope of request
You have requested access to the following documents:
Documents showing any advice and any directive(s) that has been communicated
to Posts regarding the general processing (i.e. non-case specific) of 309 and 820
visas in the period 01/01/2018 to present
2
Authority to make decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in respect of
requests to access documents or to amend or annotate records.
3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the documents relevant to the request
• the FOI Act
• Guidelines published by the Office of the Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines)
• advice from Departmental officers with responsibility for matters relating to the
documents to which you sought access
6 Chan Street Belconnen ACT 2617
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 • Telephone: 02 6264 1111 • Fax: 02 6225 6970 • www.homeaffairs.gov.au
4
Documents in scope of request
The Department has identified seven documents as falling within the scope of your request.
These documents were in the possession of the Department on 12 March 2019 when your
request was received.
Attachment A is a schedule which describes the relevant documents and sets out my
decision in relation to each of them.
5
Decision
The decision in relation to the documents in the possession of the Department which fall
within the scope of your request is as follows:
• Release all documents in part with deletions
6
Reasons for Decision
Detailed reasons for my decision are set out below.
Where the schedule of documents indicates an exemption claim has been applied to a
document or part of document, my findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the
exemption provision applies to that information are set out below.
6.1 Section 22 of the FOI Act – deletion of exempt material
I have decided to prepare an edited copy of the documents. The grounds upon which the
edited copies of these documents have been prepared are set out in the Schedule of
Documents.
The document contains information which can reasonably be regarded as not relevant to
the scope of your request as well as personal and contact details of Departmental of icers.
In acknowledging your application we advised you of Departmental policy, which is that the
personal details of officers who are not in the Senior Executive Service (SES), as well as
the mobile and work contact details of SES staff which are contained in documents that fall
within scope wil be deleted.
I have therefore decided that parts of the documents, which are marked ‘s.22(1)(a)(i )’,
would disclose information that could reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to your request,
and have prepared an edited copy of the documents, with the irrelevant material deleted
pursuant to section 22(1)(a)(i ) of the FOI Act.
6.2 Section 47E of the FOI Act – Operations of Agencies
Section 47E(d) of the FOI Act provides that documents are conditional y exempt if
disclosure would, or could reasonably be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on
the proper and efficient conduct of the operations of an agency.
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I consider that the disclosure of parts of the document marked ‘s47E(d)’ would, or could
reasonably be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient
conduct of the operations of the Department in respect to management of one or more visa
programs within the Department.
I consider that parts of the documents, which are intended as guidance for operational visa
processing areas given by the senior leadership of the visa programs, is potentially open
to being used in unintended ways were it to be released into the public domain. Any misuse
of the information within the documents is likely to have a substantial adverse effect on the
proper and efficient conduct of the operations of an agency by potentially undermining the
intended outcomes, or increasing the risk that the intended outcomes are not achieved in
the visa programs.
Further, some information marked 's47E(d)' consists of operational email addresses and
telephone contact details used internally by this Department. These contact details are not
otherwise publicly available and disclosure of this information could reasonably be
expected to result in potentially unsolicited and/or vexatious communications or public
inquiries which these operational areas are not resourced to manage. The Department has
established channels of communication that are provided for the purpose of members of
the public to contact the Department. I consider there is no public interest in disclosing
these operational contact details. Such a diversion of the resources of that business area
could reasonably be expected to have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and
efficient conduct of the operations of this Department.
Any disclosure resulting in the prejudice of the effectiveness of the Department’s
operational methods and procedures would result in the need for this Department, and
potentially its law enforcement partners, to change those methods and/or procedures to
avoid jeopardising their future effectiveness.
Accordingly, I have decided that the documents are conditionally exempt under section
47E(d) of the FOI Act. Access to a conditionally exempt document must generally be given
unless it would be contrary to the public interest to do so. I have turned my mind to whether
disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest, and have included my
reasoning in that regard below.
6.3 The public interest – section 11A of the FOI Act
As I have decided that parts of the documents are conditionally exempt, I am now required
to consider whether access to the conditionally exempt information would be contrary to
the public interest (section 11A of the FOI Act).
A part of a document which is conditionally exempt must also meet the public interest test
in section 11A(5) before an exemption may be claimed in respect of that part.
In summary, the test is whether access to the conditionally exempt part of the document
would be, on balance, contrary to the public interest.
In applying this test, I have noted the objects of the FOI Act and the importance of the other
factors listed in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act, being whether access to the document would
do any of the following:
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(a)
promote the objects of this Act (including all the matters set out in sections 3 and
3A);
(b)
inform debate on a matter of public importance;
(c)
promote effective oversight of public expenditure;
(d)
allow a person to access his or her own personal information.
Having regard to the above:
• I am satisfied that access to the documents would promote the objects of the
FOI Act.
• I consider that the subject matter of the documents does not seem to have the
character of public importance. The matter has a very limited scope and, in my
view, would be of interest to a very narrow section of the public.
• I consider that no insights into public expenditure wil be provided through
examination of the documents.
• I am satisfied that you do not require access to the documents in order to
access your own personal information.
I have also considered the following factors that weigh against the release of the
conditionally exempt information in the documents:
• I consider that the disclosure of internal departmental contact details in the
document is information that is conditionally exempt under section 47E(d) as
it would have a substantial adverse effect on the operations of the Department.
The Department has established channels of communication for members of
the public into the Department, and I consider there is no public interest in
disclosing these operational contact details.
• I consider there to be a strong public interest in the Department being able to
manage its programs effectively towards the attainment of strategic outcomes
and that these outcomes stand to be potentially undermined by the release of
certain information contained within the documents.
I have also had regard to section 11B(4) which sets out the factors which are irrelevant to
my decision, which are:
a) access to the document could result in embarrassment to the Commonwealth
Government, or cause a loss of confidence in the Commonwealth Government;
b) access to the document could result in any person misinterpreting or
misunderstanding the document;
c) the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to which the
request for access to the document was made;
d) access to the document could result in confusion or unnecessary debate.
I have not taken into account any of those factors in this decision.
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Upon balancing all of the above relevant public interest considerations, I have concluded
that the disclosure of the conditionally exempt information in the documents would be
contrary to the public interest and it is therefore exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act.
7
Legislation
A copy of the FOI Act is available at https:/ www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562.
If you are unable to access the legislation through this website, please contact our office
for a copy.
8
Your Review Rights
Internal Review
If you disagree with this decision, you have the right to apply for an internal review by the
Department of this decision. Any request for internal review must be provided to the
Department within 30 days of you being notified of the decision. Where possible please
attach reasons why you believe a review of the decision is necessary. The internal review
wil be carried out by an officer other than the original decision maker and the Department
must make a review decision within 30 days.
Applications for review should be sent to:
By email to: xxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
OR
By mail to:
Freedom of Information Section
Department of Home Affairs
PO Box 25
BELCONNEN ACT 2617
Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
You may apply directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for
a review of this decision. You must apply in writing within 60 days of this notice. For further
information about review rights and how to submit a request for a review to the OAIC,
please see Fact Sheet 12 "Freedom of information – Your review rights", available online
at https:/ www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-review-process.
9
Making a Complaint
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action taken by the
Department in relation to your request.
Your enquiries to the Australian Information Commissioner can be directed to:
Phone 1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Email xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
There is no particular form required to make a complaint to the Australian Information
Commissioner. The request should be in writing and should set out the grounds on which
it is considered that the action taken in relation to the request should be investigated and
identify the Department of Home Affairs as the relevant agency.
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10 Contacting the FOI Section
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Section
at xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Signed electronically
Position number 60081621
Authorised Decision Maker | Freedom of Information Section
FOI and Records Management Branch
Productivity and Compliance Division | Corporate and Enabling Group
Department of Home Affairs
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