PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
20 December 2019
Our reference: LEX 50081
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:
‘Compensation Recovery Policies and Procedures in relation to the receipting,
monitoring and report on compensation recoveries from 1992 to present.’
I note you have requested a review of the Department of Human Services’ (
department)
handling of your previous request dated 15 November 2019 for the above document/s. The
department released a document to you in reponse to that request through the department’s
administrative access arrangements. As you are not satisfied with how the department
handled that request, the department will proceed to process your current request under the
FOI Act.
Timeframe for processing your request
Your request was received by the department on 16 December 2019 and the 30 day
statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
Due to the department's reduced activity period over December and January, we are seeking
your permission to extend the processing time by an extra 15 days to allow us to process
your request under section 15AA of the FOI Act. This means you can expect to receive a
decision by
30 January 2020.
We would be grateful if you could please advise by email to
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx by
close of business Monday 23 December
2019 whether you agree to proposed extension of time.
Charges
The department will 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.
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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 will 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 will 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 will 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 will
assume that these details are out of scope of your request and they will 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
