PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
21 November 2019
Our reference: LEX 49179
Ms Julie Middleton
Only by email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ms Middleton
Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information (FOI) request
I refer to your request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982
(
FOI Act). You requested access to:
‘I am seeking copies of the Department's policies and procedures in relation to the
receipting, monitoring and report on compensation recoveries from 1992 to present.
Under the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth), if an individual has an accident, for which
he/she may be able to get compensation and they apply for Centrelink payments,
there is an obligation to pursue a compensation claim. Centrelink's MOD C form
includes on page 4:
24 I declare that:
•the information I have provided in this form is complete and correct.
I understand that:
•under Section 1166 of the Social Security Act 1991, if the Australian Government
Department of Human Services believe I have an entitlement to compensation I wil
be required to take reasonable action to obtain that compensation.’
Timeframe for processing your request
Your request was received by the Department of Human Services (
department) on
15 November 2019 and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date. You should therefore expect a decision from us by
16 December 2019. The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third
parties or for other reasons. We wil advise you if this happens.
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Charges
The department wil advise you if a charge is payable to process your request and the
amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is payable for providing a
person with their own personal information.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send notices to. You
have advised that your electronic address is
foi+request-5907-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. We wil send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish for correspondence to be sent to another
address or if your address changes. If you do not advise us of changes to your address,
correspondence and notices wil continue to be sent to the address specified above.
Administrative release of documents
The department has administrative access arrangements (
arrangements) for the release of
certain documents without the need for a formal FOI request. Unless you advise us
otherwise, in processing your request we may provide you with documents under these
arrangements where appropriate. The arrangements do not extend to information or
materials of third parties. You wil be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements.
Disclosure log
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log
on the department's website. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication, however it
is subject to certain exceptions, including where publication of personal, business,
professional or commercial information would be unreasonable.
Exclusion of junior staff details
The department is working towards ensuring that all staff have a choice about whether they
provide their full name, personal logon identifiers and direct contact details in response to
public enquiries. Where such details are included in the scope of a request, this may add to
processing time and applicable charges as it may be necessary to consider whether the
details are exempt under the FOI Act. On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we wil
assume that these details are out of scope of your request and they wil be redacted under
section 22 of the FOI Act.
Further assistance
If you have any questions please email
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely
FOI Registration Officer
Freedom of Information Team
Employment Law and Freedom of Information Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
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Department of Human Services
