17 April 2014
JXeeno
Sent via email:
foi+request-589-63239922@right oknow.org.au
Our Ref: FOI1314/47.09
Dear JXeeno
FOI Application – Premises Count Information
I am writing in relation to your request made under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act).
FOI Application Terms
On 12 April 2014, NBN Co received your request in the following terms:
I wish to obtain a document containing the number of FSAMs and an approximate premises count for the included
FSAMs for each state where:
a) a contract instruction to commence "detailed design and field inspection work" has been issued to NBN Co's
delivery partners **
b) a contract instruction to commence "build work. . consistent with the completed Detailed Design Document" has
been issued to NBN Co's delivery partners **
between 1st September 2013 up til 31st March 2014 for the purposes of the NBN Co Brownfields Fibre build.
** as defined in Monthly Ready for Service plans
Advance Deposit Request
In accordance with subsection 29(1) of the FOI Act, the authorised decision-maker has decided that you are liable to pay a charge in respect
of the processing of this FOI request. NBN Co staff completed a preliminary assessment of the work involved in processing your FOI request
and our company estimates the applicable charges as follows:
Search and Retrieval Time
4 hours @ $15.00 per hour
$60.00
Decision Making Time
8 hours @ $20.00 per hour
$160.00
Copies of documents
10 cents per page (Waived)
$ --
Sub-total
$220.00
Less first 5 hours decision making time(*)
($100.00)
TOTAL
$120.00
(*) In accordance with the
Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations, you have not been charged for the first 5 hours of decision making time.
It is important to note that the above estimate of processing time – and the relevant fees – may increase or decrease, depending on the
nature of the work required. However, you wil be advised if the fees increase beyond the estimate outlined above. As the charge exceeds
$100, a deposit of 25% (
$30.00) is required. Within 30 days of this notice, you are required to:
• agree to pay the charge and forward the deposit; or
• contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be reduced or not imposed (you should provide full reasons for
your contention); or
• narrow the scope of your request (which may reduce the charge payable); or
PHONE (02) 9926 1900
FAX
(02) 9926 1901
EMAIL
xxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
WEB www.nbnco.com.au
LEVEL 11, 100 ARTHUR STREET, NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060 NBN Co Limited ACN 136 533 741 © NBN Co 2013
• withdraw your request.
If you fail to notify NBN Co in a manner mentioned above within 30 days of this notice, your request wil be taken to have been withdrawn. In
addition, if you contend that the estimated charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be reduced or not imposed, you must notify NBN
Co of your contention, providing reasons, and evidence where relevant, to support your submission. In deciding whether to reduce or not to
impose a charge, the FOI decision-maker wil consider all relevant factors, including:
• whether payment of the charge, or a part of it, would cause you financial hardship; and
• whether the giving of access is in the general public interest.
If you choose to contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed or should be reduced or not imposed, this wil not constitute
a request for internal review. You wil be advised of your review rights under sections 53A and 54 of the FOI Act following consideration of
your contentions.
Once NBN Co has completed the processing of your request, the assessment of the charge payable wil be revised based on the
actual amount of work involved in processing your request. If you are refused access to any of the documents that are relevant to your
request, NBN Co may not impose an actual charge that is higher than the estimated charge. This means that, if you are refused
access to any document, the actual charge that wil be payable wil be lower than or equal to, but not more than, the final estimate of
charges. It is only if you are granted access to al the documents that are relevant to your request that the actual charge imposed may
be higher than the estimated charge. It is important to note that the payment of FOI processing fees does not guarantee access to
documents or information.
If you agree to pay the estimated charge set out above, or the deposit for that charge, you should make arrangements to pay NBN Co, using
the following electronic banking details:
Bank name:
CBA
Name:
NBN Co Limited FOI
BSB:
062-438
Account no:
10240782
Reference:
FOI-AYCA-1C88UK
When making a payment, please ensure you include the reference (FOI-AYCA-1C88UK) noted above.
Please note that if you provide a deposit and the processing of your request progresses to a point where a decision on access is made, a
determination about the imposition of the actual charge wil be made at that time. As a result, the balance of the actual charge wil become a
debt due to the Commonwealth, which NBN Co would be obliged to pursue, unless other arrangements are made – or if NBN Co agrees to
waive the fees.
As per section 31 of the FOI Act, the time limit for processing your request is suspended from the day you receive this notice, being today’s
date. Please be advised that the charge notice day is not counted in calculating the processing time limit. For your reference,
4 days have
passed
and the processing time limit wil resume:
• On the day upon which NBN Co receives your deposit.
• Alternatively, if you decide to contest the charge, the processing time limit wil resume on the day upon which NBN Co notifies you
of its decision not to impose a charge – if NBN Co so makes a decision.
• In the event that NBN Co decides to reduce the charge and deposit is required, the processing time limit wil recommence on the
day upon which you pay the reduced deposit.
More information about charges under the FOI Act is available in Fact Sheet 7 on the Of ice of the Australian Information Commissioner’s
website:
www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-resources/freedom-of-information-fact-sheets and in part 4 of the Australian
Information Commissioner’s FOI guidelines:
www.oaic.gov.au/publications/guidelines.html#foi_guidelines.
PHONE (02) 9926 1900
FAX
(02) 9926 1901
PAGE
2
EMAIL
xxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
WEB www.nbnco.com.au
LEVEL 11, 100 ARTHUR STREET, NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060 NBN Co Limited ACN 136 533 741 © NBN Co 2013
Third Party Consultation
As per section 15(6) of the FOI Act, please be advised that I may be required to extend the processing period, so as to comply with the
consultation requirements of sections 27 and 27A of the FOI Act. To paraphrase those sections, decision-makers are required to consult with
individuals, businesses or similar organisations that may be affected by the potential release of documents under the FOI Act. In addition,
decision-makers are required to provide those individuals, businesses and other organisations with a reasonable opportunity to make
submissions in support of a contention that documents may be exempt under section 47, 47F or 47G of the FOI Act.
NBN Co’s Commercial Activities Exemption
In addition, I refer you to NBN Co’s commercial activities exemption (
the CAE), as pe
r section 7(3A) an
d Part II of Schedule 2 of the
FOI Act. As you may be aware, documents that are in relation to NBN Co’s “commercial activities” are not subject to the operation of
the FOI Act. For your reference, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (
the OAIC) completed a review decision in
January 2012 (
the Internode Decision), which provides background and guidance as to the application of the CAE to NBN Co. The
Internode Decision may be found by clicking on the fol owin
g link. The OAIC completed an additional review at the end of July 2013 –
the Battersby Decision, which further clarified the scope of NBN Co’s CAE or commercial activities exemption. While I am not making
a formal decision, nor have I commenced a formal search for any relevant documents, there is a possibility that documents falling
within the terms of this FOI request may be subject to the CAE, among other exemptions from release.
Disclosure Log Notification
In accordance with the FOI Act, NBN Co is required to publish documents provided to FOI applicants within 10 working days after release.
The information you seek may be published in full (as released to you) or with some additional exceptions as per section 11C of the FOI Act.
For further information, visit our
Disclosure Log on NBN Co’s website at
www.nbnco.com.au/about-us/media/freedom-of-
information/disclosure-log.html. If you have any questions or need to discuss your FOI application, please feel free to contact the writer on Tel. (02) 8918 8596 or via email
on xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx.
Sincerely,
David J Mesman
GM Legal - FOI and Knowledge Management
PHONE (02) 9926 1900
FAX
(02) 9926 1901
PAGE
3
EMAIL
xxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
WEB www.nbnco.com.au
LEVEL 11, 100 ARTHUR STREET, NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060 NBN Co Limited ACN 136 533 741 © NBN Co 2013
Document Outline
