Australian Government
Department of Immigration and Border Protection
21 May 2014
FOI Request
FA14/04/00565
File Number
ADF2014/12752
Mr Ben Fairless
Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Fairless
Freedom of Information – notice that applicant is liable to pay a charge (s.29(1))
This letter refers to your request received on 6 April 2014 seeking access under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the following documents:
“I make a request for:
1 - Any current policy documents which relate to the use of Social Media (both Official and
Unofficial) by the DIBP or employees and contractors of DIBP.
2 - Any directions made in the last 12 months by any Senior Employees or Managers within
DIBP that issue direction, instruction or advice to DIBP employees or contractors on Official
or Unofficial use of Social Media”.
Following consultations under s.24AB of the Act, on 24 April 2014, the scope of your request was
revised to:
“1 - Any official policy which relate to the use of Social Media (both Official and Unofficial)
by the DIBP or employees and contractors of DIBP.
2 - All correspondence originating from or sent to the National Communications Branch since
the 1st of September 2013 that could be reasonably interpreted to be issuing direction,
instruction or advice to DIBP employees or contractors on Official or Unofficial use of Social
Media.”
I am writing to advise you of my decision that you are liable to pay a charge for processing this
request. I am an officer authorised under s.23(1) of the Act to make decisions in relation to FOI
requests, including the decision to impose a charge.
As provided under s.29 of the Act and the
Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 1982 (the
Regulations), I have undertaken a preliminary assessment of the amount of charges you are liable to
pay and have assessed that to be $443.27.
Basis for my preliminary assessment of the charge
I have assessed the work the department would need to do to process your request and have calculated
the following breakdown of charges.
Document estimate
The documents within the scope of your request include internal department documents relating to social
media.
Number of relevant documents: 5 documents
Number of relevant pages: 117 pages
6 Chan Street Belconnen ACT 2617
PO Box 25 BELCONNEN ACT 2616 • Telephone 02 6264 1111 • Facsimile 02 6225 6970 • Website: www.immi.gov.au
2
Processing charges
Search and retrieval
Task
Time (hours)
Cost @ $15/hr
Search and retrieval of relevant electronic and registry files
0.83
$12.50
Search and retrieval of relevant pages in file
3.75
$56.25
Preparation of schedule of documents
0.25
$3.75
Search and retrieval subtotal
4.873
$72.50
Decision making
Task
Time (hours)
Cost @ $20/hr
Examination of documents
9.75
$195.00
Preparation of documents for release
7.75
$155.00
Consultation with third parties
1.17
$23.33
Preparation of notice of access decision
4.87
$97.44
Decision making subtotal (before deduction of 5 free hours)
25.34
$470.77
Decision making subtotal (after deduction of 5 free hours)
18.54
$370.77
Estimated totals and deposit
Estimated total
$443.27
Deposit required
$110.82
The time you have to respond and what you need to do
The Act provides you with 30 days to respond, in writing, to this notice, which is Friday 20 June 2014.
Therefore, by Friday 20 June 2014 you must do one of the following things:
• agree to pay the charge;
• contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be reduced or not imposed and
explain your reasons; or
• withdraw your request.
In deciding whether a charge should be reduced or not imposed, s.29(5) of the Act requires me to take
into account:
• whether payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause you financial hardship
• whether giving access to the documents is in the general public interest or in the interest of a
substantial section of the public
• any other relevant matter.
Please note that if you do not provide a written response by Friday 20 June 2014 your request will be
taken to have been withdrawn (by you) under s.29(2) of the Act.
Payment
As the charge exceeds $100, you will be required to pay a deposit equal to 25% of the full charge
imposed ($110.82).
The deposit will be refunded if the department fails to make a decision on your request within the
statutory time limit. The deposit can be paid by cheque, money order, credit card or Electronic Funds
Transfer (EFT).
Cheques and money orders should be made payable to "Collector of Public Monies DIBP" and sent to:
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration & Border Protection
3
PO Box 25
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
If you wish to pay by credit card, please fill out the attached credit card authorisation form and forward to
FOI & Privacy Policy Section at the above address, or email to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
If you wish to pay by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) the department’s bank account details are as
follows:
Bank:
CBA
BSB:
062987
Account Number:
10016044
Account Name:
DIBP Official Administered Direct Credit Receipts Account
When making the transfer you will need to quote the number of your request -
FA 14/04/00565 - so
that your payment can be identified by our Finance area. Failure to do so may result in payments not
being identified as FOI related and could result in processing delays.
Please advise FOI when you have made the payment made by direct credit so that we can contact the
Finance area and they can issue a receipt. You should also be aware that payments by direct credit are
not processed in real time. There is at least a one day delay between somebody paying money into the
department's account and notification of the payment via our bank account statement.
Processing period suspended
The period for processing your request is suspended from the day that you are deemed to have been
‘notified’ of the charge and resumes on:
• the day you indicate that you ‘agree’ to pay the charge or
• the day on which this agency makes a decision not to impose a charge.
You may indicate your agreement to pay the charge by either paying the deposit or paying the charge
in full.
Contacting the FOI Section
If you wish to discuss this matter, I can be contacted using the details provided below.
Yours sincerely
Mel Heggart
Authorised decision maker
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch
Department of Immigration and Border Protection
Phone (02) 6264 3131
Email xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx