If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
8 May 2019
Our reference: LEX 43983
Ms Evelyn Doyle
Only by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Ms Doyle
Your Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your request dated 29 April 2019 and received by the Department of Human
Services (
department) on the same date for access under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (
FOI Act) to the following documents:
'I note in a Sydney Morning Herald newspaper article dated 30 October 2018, there is
mention of a $51m trial to outsource Centrelink call centre services to Serco.
Since then, the department has proceeded with a large call centre outsourcing project
to various companies based on the report outlining the findings of the trial, and from
which the decision to outsource was made.
I would like to request under the FOI Act any documents (briefings, correspondence
etc) or emails which:
1. Outline the reasons for outsourcing Centrelink call centre functions.
2. Provide details of the costings and any savings for outsourcing Centrelink call
centre functions.
3. Provides details of any risk factors in outsourcing Centrelink call centre functions.
I do not include the Serco Trial report in this request as the release of that document
is under a separate internal review process with your department in relation to my
earlier FOI request'.
Currently your request is broad and does not sufficiently identify the documents you require.
This letter is giving you an opportunity to provide us with specific information about the
documents you need. Providing this additional information will assist the department in
processing your request.
If you decide not to provide further information or revise your request, I will have to refuse
your freedom of information (
FOI) request as a 'practical refusal reason' exists. For a more
detailed explanation of what this means, please see
Attachment A.
PAGE 1 OF 5
How to send us a 'revised request'
Before I make a final decision on your request, you can submit a revised request.
Within the next 14 days (consultation period) you must do one of the following, in writing:
withdraw the request;
make a revised request; or
tell us that you do not want to revise your request.
If you do not contact us during the consultation period, we will assume you do not want to
continue with your request. See
Attachment A for relevant sections of the FOI Act.
If you decide to make a revised request you should be specific about what documents you
actually want. This could help the department find the documents.
Note: You may want to access the department's online services at
www.humanservices.gov.au to immediately find some of the personal information and
documents included in your original request.
We have 30 days to give you a decision about your request, however the time taken to
consult with you now is not included in this 30 day time period.
Contact officer
I am the contact officer for your request. During the consultation period you are welcome to
ask for my help in revising your request. You can contact me:
in writing to the address at the top of this letter; or
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Note: When you contact us please quote the reference number
FOI LEX 43983.
Your response will be expected by
22 May 2019. If no response is received, your matter will
be taken as withdrawn.
Further assistance
There may be information already in the public domain (and freely available) that may be of
assistance to you and may cover what you are seeking. For example, you may wish to refer
to:
Senate Estimates, Official Committee Hansard, Community Affairs Legislation
Committee, Social Services Portfolio, 31 May 2018 pages 111 to 139, which can be
found here:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Senate_Estimates/ca/2018-
2019_Budget_estimates; and
Senate Estimates, Official Committee Hansard, Community Affairs Legislation
Committee, Social Services Portfolio, 21 February 2019 pages 129 to 132 and 138 to
139, which can be found here:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Senate_Estimates/ca/2018-
19_Additional_estimates
PAGE 2 OF 5
Department of Human Services
If you have any FOI questions please email
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely
Robert
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
Freedom of Information Team
Employment Law and Freedom of Information Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
PAGE 3 OF 5
Department of Human Services
If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
Attachment A
What I took into account
You requested access under FOI Act to the following documents:
'I note in a Sydney Morning Herald newspaper article dated 30 October 2018, there is
mention of a $51m trial to outsource Centrelink call centre services to Serco.
Since then, the department has proceeded with a large call centre outsourcing project
to various companies based on the report outlining the findings of the trial, and from
which the decision to outsource was made.
I would like to request under the FOI Act any documents (briefings, correspondence
etc) or emails which:
1. Outline the reasons for outsourcing Centrelink call centre functions.
2. Provide details of the costings and any savings for outsourcing Centrelink call
centre functions.
3. Provides details of any risk factors in outsourcing Centrelink call centre functions.
I do not include the Serco Trial report in this request as the release of that document
is under a separate internal review process with your department in relation to my
earlier FOI request'.
Your request is currently broad and does not sufficiently identify a scope that allows the
department to conduct searches. By the wording of your request ‘any documents’ containing
the words ‘Serco’ or ‘call centre’ would be captured by the scope of your current request. For
example, using just those search terms and asking the approximately 27,000 staff at the
department (excluding the staff that are no longer with the department) to conduct searches
on their emails would be unreasonable diversion of the department’s resources. Based on
that general estimate if it took on average 15 minutes for each staff member to conduct
searches, collate any found records and send their response to the FOI team this would be
approximately 6,750 hours such for searches for one component of your request and it does
not include processing of the request.
As provided above, your request is broad and does not provide sufficient information as to
where the department should conduct reasonable searches. It also covers a wide range of
types of documents, for example, ‘any documents’, ‘briefings, correspondence, etc’ and
‘emails’. Furthermore, it is not clear your request is for documents containing all three of your
listed criteria or whether one of the criteria contained within the document would be within
scope of the request.
In
‘AR’ and Australian Federal Police [2013] AICmr 80, Information Commissioner, Dr James
Popple at 25 provided:
The applicant’s request was broad. She declined to reduce its scope beyond
the ‘final report and all supporting documentation’. As the Acting Freedom of
Information Commissioner explained in
Philip Morris Ltd and Department of
Health and Ageing [2013] AICmr 49, ‘[a] broadly worded request is more likely
to constitute an unreasonable diversion of resources than a request that is
PAGE 4 OF 5
narrowly focused. And, as Branson J noted in
Radicic v Australian Postal
Commission [1999] FCA 574, ‘[t]he FOI Act is concerned with the provision of
access to documents and does not, by its provisions, require the handing over
of large portions of the records of a government agency to allow an individual
to search them for himself or herself’.
If you do not revise, I intend to refuse your FOI request as a 'practical refusal reason' exists
under sections 24AA(1)(b) and 24 of the FOI Act. Under the Act, the practical refusal reason
is that your request does not satisfy the requirements in section 15(2)(b) (identification of
documents).
Assistance to revise the scope of your request.
You may wish to consider if the publicly available information provided to you on page 2
under the heading ‘further assistance’ contains the information that you are seeking.
Alternatively, you may wish to use the information contained within to revise your request
and provide specific information as to the scope of your request and the documents you are
request. You may wish to consider narrowing the scope of your request to a type a
document, for example, briefings or emails, and to date range, for example 1 to 30 October
2018.
Relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Section 24AA(1)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to
a request for a document if the request does not satisfy the requirement in section 15(2)(b) of
the FOI Act.
Section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a request must provide such information as is
reasonably necessary to enable the agency to identify the documents that are being
requested.
Section 24AB(6) of the FOI Act provides that the applicant must, before the end of the
consultation period, do one of the following, by written notice to the agency or Minister:
withdraw the request,
make a revised request, or
indicate that the applicant does not wish to revise the request.
Section 24AB(7) of the FOI Act provides that the request is taken to have been withdrawn at
the end of the consultation period if:
the applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with the notice, or
the applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection (6) before the
end of the consultation period.
PAGE 5 OF 5
Department of Human Services
