ARPANSA FOI Decision.pdf

6 August 2019
Sun Shine

Sent via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Sun Shine

Decision under the Freedom of Information Act 1982

I refer to your request dated 14 June 2019 under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) seeking
access to the fol owing documents:

'an electronic copy of information associated with the application and approval for a licence or licence change which enabled the
storage of approximately 180 drums of radioactive waste in Yallambie beginning in 2018. The requested information includes:

- the application for a new licence, or an amended licence (S0002), under which this radioactive waste is now being stored in
Yallambie

- the approval for a new licence, or an amended licence (S0002), under which this radioactive waste is now being stored in Yallambie

- the current licence, including licence conditions, under which the radioactive waste store is now being stored in Yallambie

- any regulatory assessment report in support of the decision to grant the licence or licence change

- request and/or approval to construct an item important for safety, if applicable

- request and/or approval to make a relevant change that wil  have significant implications for safety, if applicable

I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the For FOI Act to make decisions with respect to applications
for access to documents under the FOI Act and this letter sets out my decision on your request.

Decision

I have identified 2 documents relevant to your request and have decided to release:

•  1 document in part
•  1 document in ful

My reasons for making this decision are set out in Attachment A to this letter.

Attachment B is a schedule setting out each identified document and detailing my decision in relation to each
document.

619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie 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

I have enclosed extracts of the provisions of the FOI Act relevant to your request and my decision at
Attachment C to this letter.

You wil note that deletions have been made in accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act.

Review Rights

You are entitled to seek review of this decision. Your rights in this regard are set out at Attachment D to this
letter.

You may also complain to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about the way your request has been handled
and Attachment D also sets out your rights of complaint and how to exercise them.

Contacts

If you require clarification of any of the matters set out in this letter please contact Gemma Larkins on 02
9541 8311 or xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Larkins

Gemma Larkins
Legal Officer
Office of the General Counsel
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ATTACHMENT ‘A’ - REASONS FOR DECISION

Material taken into account

In making my decision, I had regard to the fol owing:

•  The terms of your request;
•  The content of the documents to which you sought access;
•  Consultation from ARPANSA officers with responsibility for matters relating to the documents to which
you sought access;
•  The relevant provisions of the FOI Act;
•  ARPANSA’s guidance material on the FOI Act; and
•  Guidelines on FOI, available on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.

Background

I am instructed that no licence amendment was made to accommodate the transfer of waste from
Melbourne University to ARPANSA as ARPANSA’s Radiation Health Services Branch was already licensed to
store radioactive waste. The transfer merely increased the activity of ARPANSA’s radioactive waste
inventory by approximately 0.1%.

Under the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Regulations 2018  licence holders are required
to inform ARPANSA when source ownership changes.  This occurs via the quarterly report process. The
relevant section of the quarterly reports have been provided.

Findings of fact and reasons for decision

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
document or part of document are set out below.

Section 22 deletion of irrelevant material

Where a decision is made to refuse access to a document on the grounds that it contains irrelevant material,
section 22 al ows an agency to make an edited copy of the document with the irrelevant material deleted.
You have been provided with such edited copies of documents.

The material deleted under section 22 is not relevant to the terms of your request. I have not deleted any
material which may be considered relevant to your request.

The schedule  of documents  at attachment ‘B’  identifies  where section 22 has been applied to delete
irrelevant material

619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie 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

ATTACHMENT ‘B’ – SCHEDULE OF RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

  Doc No.  Document Description
Pages
Released  Section
1
Licence Holder Quarterly Report for Sources and Prescribed  6
Released  s.22 –
Radiation Facilities
in part
irrelevant
2
Source Licence
3

619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie 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

ATTACHMENT ‘C’ – RELEVANT FOI ACT PROVISIONS

11A Access to documents on request
Scope

(1)  This section applies if:

(a)  a request is made by a person, in accordance with subsection 15(2), to an agency or
Minister for access to:

(i)  a document of the agency; or

(ii)  an official document of the Minister; and

(b)  any charge that, under the regulations, is required to be paid before access is given has
been paid.

(2)  This section applies subject to this Act.
Note:
Other provisions of this Act are relevant to decisions about access to documents, for example the
following:
(a)  section 12 (documents otherwise available);
(b)  section 13 (documents in national institutions);
(c)  section 15A (personnel records);
(d)  section 22 (access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted).
Mandatory access—general rule

(3)  The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document in accordance with this
Act, subject to this section.
Exemptions and conditional exemptions

(4)  The agency or Minister is not required by this Act to give the person access to the document at a
particular time if, at that time, the document is an exempt document.
Note:
Access may be given to an exempt document apart from under this Act, whether or not in response to a
request (see section 3A
(objects—information or documents otherwise accessible)).

(5)  The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document if it is conditionally
exempt at a particular time unless (in the circumstances) access to the document at that time
would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.
Note 1:
Division 3 of Part IV provides for when a document is conditionally exempt.
Note 2:
A conditionally exempt document is an exempt document if access to the document would, on balance, be
contrary to the public interest (see section 31B (exempt documents for the purposes of Part IV)).
Note 3:
Section 11B deals with when it is contrary to the public interest to give a person access to the document.

(6)  Despite subsection (5), the agency or Minister is not required to give access to the document at
a particular time if, at that time, the document is both:

(a)  a conditionally exempt document; and

(b)  an exempt document:

(i)  under Division 2 of Part IV (exemptions); or

(ii)  within the meaning of paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of exempt document in
subsection 4(1).
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie 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

22 Access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted
Scope
(1)  This section applies if:
a.  an agency or Minister decides:
(i)
to refuse to give access to an exempt document; or
(ii)
that to give access to a document would disclose information that would
reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request for access; and
b.   it is possible for the agency or Minister to prepare a copy (an edited copy) of the document,
modified by deletions, ensuring that:
(i)
access to the edited copy would be required to be given under section  11A
(access to documents on request); and
(ii)
the edited copy would not disclose any information that would reasonably be
regarded as irrelevant to the request; and
c.  it is reasonably practicable for the agency or Minister to prepare the edited copy, having
regard to:
(i)
the nature and extent of the modification; and
(ii)
the resources available to modify the document; and
d.  it is not apparent (from the request or from consultation with the applicant) that the applicant
would decline access to the edited copy.
Access to edited copy
(2)  The agency or Minister must:
a.  prepare the edited copy as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b); and
b.  give the applicant access to the edited copy.
Notice to applicant
(3)  The agency or Minister must give the applicant notice in writing:
a.  that the edited copy has been prepared; and
b.  of the grounds for the deletions; and
c.  if any matter deleted is exempt matter-that the matter deleted is exempt matter because of a
specified provision of this Act.
(4)  Section 26 (reasons for decision) does not apply to the decision to refuse access to the whole
document unless the applicant requests the agency or Minister to give the applicant a notice in
writing in accordance with that section.

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ATTACHMENT ‘D’ REVIEW & COMPLAINTS

Internal review by ARPANSA

You have the right to apply for an internal review of this decision in accordance with Part VI of the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). If you make an application for review, the CEO of ARPANSA will appoint
an officer of ARPANSA to conduct a review and make a completely fresh decision on the merits of the case.

If you wish to exercise this review right, you must apply in writing for a review of the decision within 30
days of receipt of this letter. You do not have to pay any fees or proceeding charges for internal the review.
No particular form is required to apply for review although it is desirable to set out in the application the
grounds on which you consider that the decision should be changed.

The application for review of the decision should be sent to xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx or:
FOI & Privacy Officer
ARPANSA
619 Lower Plenty Road
YALLAMBIE VIC 3085

If you make an application for internal review and a decision is not made by us within 30 days of receiving
the application, the original decision will be deemed to be affirmed in accordance with section 54D of the
FOI Act and you will be entitled to make an application to the Information Commissioner in accordance
with sections 54L and 54M of the FOI Act. Similarly, if you are dissatisfied with ARPANSA’s decision on
internal review, you may also apply for review of this decision to the Information Commissioner.

Review of Decision by the Australian Information Commissioner (AIC)

You do not have to seek an internal review of the decision directly from ARPANSA. You may wish to seek a
review of the decision from the AIC. If so, you must apply in writing and you can lodge your application in a
number of ways.  More information is available on the AIC’s website at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-
of-information/foi-review-process.

Complaints to the AIC or the Commonwealth Ombudsman

You may complain to the Commonwealth Ombudsman or the AIC concerning action taken by an agency in
the exercise of the powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act. There is no fee for making a
complaint. The Ombudsman or the AIC wil  conduct a completely independent investigation of your
complaint.

You may complain to the Ombudsman either oral y, in person, on-line or in writing and to the AIC in writing
or by completing the on-line form.  Relevant addresses are:
Commonwealth Ombudsman
The Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 442
GPO Box 2999       OR      GPO Box 5218
CANBERRA ACT 2601.
Canberra ACT 2601          Sydney NSW 2001

Web: www.ombudsman.gov.au
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie 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

Web:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/foi-complaints

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