PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
3 December 2019
Our reference: LEX 49360
Right to Know
Only by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Right to Know
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:
‘Legal advice after July 2019 about robodebt.’
Timeframe for processing your request
Your request was received by the Department of Human Services (
department) on
24 November2019 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
24 December 2019. The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third
parties or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.
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.
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
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@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
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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
