ONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT
FOI
BARTON
FOI/2019/150
HW
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear HW
I refer to your email, dated 28 June 2019, in which you made a request to the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet (the
Department) under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) in the following terms:
I refer to this article: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-
news/2019/jun/26/whistleblower-hits-out-at-pms-department-over-pervasive-and-toxic-
disregard-for-law which concerns systemic corruption engaged in by the PM/PM’s
Department.
I note that the article states that the investigators into that systemic corruption “recruited
two solicitors from the Australian Government Solicitor (AGS)” to help with the
investigation.
It’s in the public interest to know how much taxpayer money the PM/his Department spent
on lawyers to paper over the PM’s/Department’s corruption.
Under the FOI Act, I seek copies of invoices given to the Department by AGS in respect of
services rendered by AGS related to the public interest disclosure the subject of the above
article.
On 27 July 2019, the Department wrote to you to advise that in accordance with s15(6) of the
FOI Act, the processing period for your request had been extended to allow for third party
consultation.
On 22 August 2019, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (the
OAIC) approved
an extension of the processing period by a further 30 days under section 15AB(2) of the FOI Act.
On 23 August 2019, you wrote to the Department to advise that:
… I’m happy for the Department to black out the names/personalinfo [sic] of anyone
contained in the invoices. There’s no public interest in that info, but there’s obviously a
Postal Address: PO Box 6500, CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: +61 2 6271 5849 Fax: +61 2 6271 5776 www.pmc.gov.au ABN: 18 108 001 191
massive public interest in knowing how much taxpayer money the PM/PM’s Dept spent on
investigating his own corrupt staff.
Accordingly, the Department has interpreted your request, as revised, to be for:
… copies of invoices given to the Department by AGS in respect of services rendered by
AGS related to the public interest disclosure the subject of the article in the Guardian
dated 26 June 2019 (available here: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-
news/2019/jun/26/whistleblower-hits-out-at-pms-department-over-pervasive-and-toxic-
disregard-for-law). The names and personal information of anyone contained in the
invoices are to be excluded. (‘the
revised request’)
Authorised decision-maker
The authorised decision-maker for your revised request is Mr Stephen Heskett, Assistant
Secretary, Shared Services Branch.
Processing charge
The Department has identified documents within the scope of your revised request.
The FOI Act provides that charges can be imposed for processing requests. Unless a decision is
made to waive the processing charge in whole or in part, the combined effect of
paragraph 11A(1)(b) of the FOI Act and subsection 11(1) of the
Freedom of Information
(Charges) Regulations 2019 (the Charges Regulations) is that an applicant is required to pay any
charge before access is given to a document.
The Charges Regulations specify different rates for the various activities involved in processing a
request with the first five hours of decision-making time free for all FOI applicants.
The decision-maker has decided that you are liable to pay a charge should you wish to proceed
with your revised request. The preliminary assessment of the charge for processing your revised
request is set out below:
TASK
Rate
UNIT
CHARGE
Search and retrieval
$15 per hour
1.37 hours
$ 20.55
Decision-making
$20 per hour
9.47 hours
$ 189.40
Less first 5 hours free
-$ 100.00
TOTAL
4.47 hours
$ 109.95
Please note that the task of ‘decision-making’ in the preliminary assessment generally includes
third-party consultation under section 27 (business documents) and/or section 27A (documents
affecting personal privacy) under the FOI Act. However, as your revised request excludes third
party personal information, it has not been included in the calculation of the charge, despite the
Department not receiving your revised request until after the third party consultation had already
occurred.
Section 29 of the FOI Act requires you to exercise one of the following options in writing within
30 days of receipt of this letter:
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(1)
You can agree to pay the charge. If you agree, processing of your request will resume as
soon as the Department receives a payment, either in full or a deposit.
- Payment in full is $109.95. Payment in full entitles you to receive a decision in relation
to your request, a schedule which lists the documents relevant to your request, and any
documents released.
- Alternatively, payment of a deposit in the amount of $27.49 entitles you to receive a
decision in relation to your request and a schedule which lists the documents relevant
to your request. Relevant documents would only be released on payment of the balance
of the charge. The deposit paid by an applicant is not refundable unless the Department
decides to waive the charge, or fails to make a decision on the FOI request within the
statutory time limit including any extension, or may be refundable in part if the final
charge is less than the deposit paid.
- You may pay by direct debit or by credit card.
Direct debit
You may pay by direct debit into the following account:
Account Name:
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Official
Departmental Account
BSB:
032-722
Account:
132263
Reference:
FOI/2019/150
Credit card
You may pay by credit card over the phone by contacting the Department’s Accounts
Receivable team on 02 6271 6000 select option 4 then option 3.
- Please advise the FOI and Privacy Section a
t xxx@xxx.xxx.xx once you have made
payment. Once the Department receives your payment, the Department will send you a
receipt.
(2)
You can contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or that it should be reduced or
not imposed, or both. You should provide reasons for contending any charge. In
determining whether or not to reduce or not impose the charge, the FOI Act requires the
Department to take into account whether payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause
financial hardship and whether the giving of access would be in the public interest. The
Department may also consider any other relevant matters.
(3)
You can withdraw your request.
Processing timeframe
In accordance with section 31 of the FOI Act, the time limit for processing your request is
suspended from the day that you receive this letter and will resume on either:
the day you pay the charge (in full or the required deposit); or
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if you contend under (2) above that charge should be reduced or not imposed and the
Department decides not to impose a charge, the day of that decision.
If you contend under (2) above that a charge should be reduced or not imposed and the
Department confirms that a charge is payable (either the original amount or a reduced amount),
the time limit for processing your request would resume on the day you pay that charge (in full or
the required deposit).
Subsection 29(2) of the FOI Act provides if you do not respond within 30 days of receiving this
letter, you will be taken to have withdrawn your request.
No guarantee of access Please be aware that even if you pay the charge (in full or the required deposit), there is still no
guarantee that documents will ultimately be released. That is a matter for the decision-maker to
decide in the usual manner after examining the relevant documents.
If you have any queries, please contact the FOI and Privacy Section on (02) 6271 5849 or
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely
signed
Emily Arnberg
Senior Adviser
25 September 2019
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