LS7619
Mr Ben Fairless
Right To Know
By email to
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Fairless
YOUR PURPORTED REQUEST NO. LS7619
I refer to your electronic request dated 9 May 2019 4.02am to the Australian Electoral
Commission (‘AEC’) in which you request (your ‘Purported Request’) access to documents
relating to comments on a “purported Vote of No Confidence”.
2
I, Owen Jones, Senior Lawyer of the AEC, am an officer authorised under section
23(1) of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the ‘FOI Act’) to make decisions in
relation to requests for access to documents under the FOI Act (‘FOI Requests’).
3
Specifically, your Purported Request seeks access to:
internal documents in relation to an increase in the number of people commenting on the
purported “Vote of No Confidence” or VONC for 2019.
4
I have three purposes in writing to you. First, I write to acknowledge receipt of your
Purported Request. Second, I write to alert you that your Purported Request does
not comply with the requirements of the FOI Act for the making of a valid FOI
Request and to assist you in making a valid FOI Request. Third, I write to alert you
to a practical refusal reason that applies to your Purported Request and to consult
with you about resolving that reason.
DEFECTS IN YOUR PURPORTED REQUEST
Failure to adequately scope your Purported Request
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The fundamental defect in your Purported Request is that, on its face, it gives
insufficient information to enable a retrieval of relevant documents.
6
Insofar as is material, subsection 15(2) of the FOI Act provides:
15 Requests of access
(2)
The request must:
50 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2600 P 02 6271 4411 F 02 6215 9999
www.aec.gov.au
link to page 2
…
(b)
provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably necessary to
enable a responsible officer of the agency, or the Minister, to identify it; and …
7
I therefore ask you to clarify the following aspects of your Purported Request:
(a) What is the class of persons referred to by “people”?
(b) Am I correct in confining the scope of your Purported Request to comments
made to the AEC?
(c) Are you able indicate the period during which the comments occurred?
(d) To what does your reference to the “Vote of No Confidence” relate?
8
As regards to my question in paragraph
7(d), I observe that none of the AEC’s
functions under the
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 relate to a vote of no
confidence. I am therefore puzzled by the Purported Request.
Processing time has not started
9
As you have not made a valid FOI Request, the 30-day period for processing your
Purported Request has not started. If you appropriately amend your request to make
a valid FOI Request, I will write to you acknowledging that occurrence and outlining
how that FOI Request will be processed.
PRACTICAL REFUSAL REASON
10
I believe that the work involved in your Purported Request (if re-submitted as a valid
FOI Request without a substantial narrowing in scope) would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the AEC from its other operations due to your
Purported Request being made at a time when the AEC’s resources are applied to
delivering the 2019 federal election. Retrieval of documents during this period would
distract staff from attending to delivering the 2019 federal election, which is a core
function of the AEC.
11
This circumstance, if it arises in relation to a valid FOI Request, is called a ‘practical
refusal reason’.
12
Insofar as is material, subsection 24AA(1) of the FOI Act provides:
24AA When does a practical refusal reason exist?
(1)
For the purposes of section 24, a
practical refusal reason exists in relation to a
request for a document if either (or both) of the following applies:
(a)
the work involved in the processing the request:
(i) in the case of agency—would substantially and unreasonably divert the
resources of the agency from its other operations;
…
(b)
the request does not satisfy the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b) (identification of
documents).
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