24 December 2019
Mr Timothy Nothdurft
Sent via email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our Ref: FOI1920/54.02
Dear Mr Nothdurft:
FOI Application – FOI Officers
I am writing in relation to your request
made under the
Freedom of Information Act, 1982 (
the FOI
Act). The Statement of Reasons (
Attached) outlines the specific terms of your FOI request, the
decision-maker’s findings and the access decision.
An FOI decision may be reviewed, subject to sections 53A and 54 of the FOI Act. Please refer to the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (
OAIC) website at the following
link, which
provides details about your rights of review and other avenues of redress under the FOI Act.
If you have any questions or need to discuss your FOI application, please contact me via email on
xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx. Yours faithfully,
David J Mesman
General Counsel
FOI, Privacy & Knowledge Management
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – 1920/54
ACCESS DECISION – STATEMENT OF REASONS
Application Chronology and Terms of Request
1. On 17 December 2019, Mr Timothy Nothdurft (
the Applicant) made a request under the
Freedom
of Information Act, 1982 (
the FOI Act), seeking the following:
“Considering FOI Act section 3.13 … "Agencies should ensure a sufficient number of officers are
authorised at appropriate senior levels to make both original and internal decisions"… How
many authorised decision makers can make independent decisions on behalf of NBNco as
specified in section 3.13?”
2. On 24 December 2019, I completed this FOI decision and subsequently forwarded it to the
Applicant. It is important to note that the Applicant’s reference to “FOI Act section 3.13” was
actually a reference to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (
OAIC) Guidelines at
paragraph 3.13.
Access Decision
3. Under the FOI Act, applicants have a right to seek documents, rather than information or datasets.
However, section 17 of the FOI Act also permits FOI agencies to draw information from computers
or other equipment and to collate that information into a document, which had previously not
existed.
4. Noting the above points,
nbn’s FOI Team was able to identify the relevant information and collate
the same into a new document (
the Requested Document –
found at
Attachment A).
5. After a review of relevant sections of the FOI Act, the OAIC Guidelines and other sources, I have
determined to grant access in full to the Requested Document under sections 11 and 11A of the
FOI Act.
6. In addition, I have determined to waive any relevant processing fees in relation to this matter.
7. If you are dissatisfied with this decision, you have certain rights of review. Details regarding your
rights of review and appeal are outlined in the covering letter, provided with this Statement of
Reasons.
***
Attachment A – FOI1920/54 – Document Released in Full
On 17 December 2019, an FOI applicant made a request under the
Freedom of Information Act, 1982 (
the FOI Act or
the Act), seeking the number of authorised
nbn FOI decision-makers.
Under the Act, FOI applicants have a right to seek documents, rather than information or datasets.
However, section 17 of the FOI Act also permits FOI agencies to draw information from computers or
other equipment and to collate that information into a document, which had previously not existed
(
the Requested Document).
nbn’s FOI Officer determined to release this document, the Requested Document, in full to the
applicant in this matter.
nbn has delegated FOI decision-making to five nbn staff members, with four being members of
the nbn Legal Group and the fifth being a member of the Internal Audit and Risk function at
nbn. Additional FOI decision-makers may be authorised to complete FOI decisions or perform
FOI functions, as determined by operational requirements.
Four nbn staff members have delegated authority to complete Internal Reviews, being three
members of the nbn Legal Group and one staff member from Internal Audit.
In general, nbn’s General Counsel FOI, Privacy and Knowledge Management completes the vast
majority of FOI decisions. A smaller number of FOI decisions and processing functions are
completed by other lawyers within nbn Legal’s FOI, Privacy and Knowledge Management
Team. Other authorised FOI decision-makers undertake FOI functions as needed, such as in
cases of leave or as otherwise needed for operational requirements.