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Department of Human Services
Freedom of Information
Procedure Manual
May 2019
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Table of Contents
PART 1: OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................. 5
Purpose .................................................................................................................................................... 5
The Spirit of the FOI Act ............................................................................................................................ 5
The Philosophy ......................................................................................................................................... 5
The Objects of the FOI Act ......................................................................................................................... 5
Definitions in this Manual ......................................................................................................................... 6
List of Attachments ................................................................................................................................... 6
PART 2: FOI Day to Day Processing ......................................................................................... 7
Stage 1 - Initial Processing ......................................................................................................................... 7
Overview ............................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Administration.................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Documents falling within Section 12(1)(b) of the FOI Act ................................................................................................ 10
Determining the validity of the FOI Request .................................................................................................................... 10
Taking reasonable steps to assist an applicant ................................................................................................................ 11
Dealing with matters that are not valid ........................................................................................................................... 11
Date of Lodgement ........................................................................................................................................................... 13
Time Frames ..................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Time Extension with Agreement from the Applicant ....................................................................................................... 13
Suspending Processing Time ............................................................................................................................................ 13
Deemed decision .............................................................................................................................................................. 14
Timeframe Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 14
Acknowledging the Request ............................................................................................................................................. 14
Interpreting Scope ............................................................................................................................................................ 15
Revision of Scope ............................................................................................................................................................. 15
Section 16 Transfers ......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Access to employment/personnel records ...................................................................................................................... 17
Stage 2 – Search and Retrieval of Documents ........................................................................................... 19
Contact with the line area ................................................................................................................................................ 19
Significant requests – Initial Processing and Notifications ............................................................................................... 19
Significant Requests – Decision Making and Briefing ....................................................................................................... 19
Updating the Weekly Executive FOI Report ..................................................................................................................... 20
Serious Non Compliance (SNC) ........................................................................................................................................ 21
Child Support .................................................................................................................................................................... 21
FOI applicant with a Personalised Service (PS) Officer ..................................................................................................... 21
FOI requests not identified as significant ......................................................................................................................... 22
Assessment Services......................................................................................................................................................... 22
Assessment Services – JCA and ESAt reports ................................................................................................................... 22
Disability and Carers – Disability Medical Assessments (DMA) reports ........................................................................... 23
FOI SPOC Minutes ............................................................................................................................................................ 23
Time Estimate Minute ...................................................................................................................................................... 23
Document Search Minute ................................................................................................................................................ 24
Time frames for FOI time estimate and document search Minute .................................................................................. 24
Template Search Minute location .................................................................................................................................... 24
FOI minutes available via LEX ........................................................................................................................................... 24
FOI minutes as stationery items only ............................................................................................................................... 24
Email details ..................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Return of Search Minutes ................................................................................................................................................ 24
Obligation to produce information stored in an electronic form .................................................................................... 25
CRAM reports ................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Practical Refusal Reason – S 24AB process ...................................................................................................................... 25
Starting the S 24AB consultation process ........................................................................................................................ 27
During the consultation process ...................................................................................................................................... 27
End of the consultation process ....................................................................................................................................... 28
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Preliminary Assessment of Charges and Reconsideration of Charges ............................................................................. 28
Preparing a reconsideration of charges decision ............................................................................................................. 30
Making a final decision on charges .................................................................................................................................. 30
Stage 3 – Third Party Consultation ............................................................................................................ 31
Third Party Authority ........................................................................................................................................................ 31
Undertaking Third Party Consultations ............................................................................................................................ 31
When to consult ............................................................................................................................................................... 31
Protecting the privacy of the FOI applicant...................................................................................................................... 32
LEX coding for consultation .............................................................................................................................................. 32
Providing documents for the consultation ....................................................................................................................... 32
Consultation response received ....................................................................................................................................... 32
Third Party Objections to release ..................................................................................................................................... 32
Third party Review Rights ................................................................................................................................................ 33
Courtesy Consultations with Commonwealth government departments or agencies .................................................... 33
Cabinet Documents .......................................................................................................................................................... 33
Stage 4 – Making the Decision .................................................................................................................. 35
Decision ............................................................................................................................................................................ 35
Stakeholder escalation ..................................................................................................................................................... 35
Preparing the decision ..................................................................................................................................................... 35
Notifying a line area before release ................................................................................................................................. 36
Making redactions Using Adobe ...................................................................................................................................... 36
Redaction in No Fill Colour ............................................................................................................................................... 37
Staff details....................................................................................................................................................................... 37
Quality Assurance – FOI Team ......................................................................................................................................... 38
Stage 5 – Notifying the Decision ............................................................................................................... 39
Content of Statements of Reasons for Decisions ............................................................................................................. 39
Verification of Identity ..................................................................................................................................................... 39
Privacy checks .................................................................................................................................................................. 39
Mandatory Privacy Check ................................................................................................................................................. 39
Sending personal information by email ........................................................................................................................... 40
Sending emails externally................................................................................................................................................. 40
Disclosure Log .................................................................................................................................................................. 40
Notifying Line Areas of Finalisation .................................................................................................................................. 40
Internal Review Process ................................................................................................................................................... 41
Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................................................................. 41
Dealing with Requests outside the FOI Act ...................................................................................................................... 41
Data Management ........................................................................................................................................................... 41
Resources ......................................................................................................................................................................... 42
PART 3 – Amendment and Annotation requests ..................................................................... 43
Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 43
Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................................................................. 43
Transfer of Amendment or Annotation request .............................................................................................................. 43
Time Frames ..................................................................................................................................................................... 43
Implementing an Amendment Decision........................................................................................................................... 43
Implementing an Annotation Decision ............................................................................................................................ 44
PART 4: APP 12 – Procedures for FOI Staff ............................................................................. 46
Registration ...................................................................................................................................................................... 46
Processing the Request .................................................................................................................................................... 46
Written Notice of the Decision......................................................................................................................................... 46
Complaints ....................................................................................................................................................................... 47
PART 5: FOI Statistical Returns .............................................................................................. 48
What are the Quarterly and Annual Statistics?.......................................................................................... 48
Important Dates ...................................................................................................................................... 48
Quarterly Statistics ........................................................................................................................................................... 48
Annual Statistics ............................................................................................................................................................... 48
Roles and Responsibilities ........................................................................................................................ 48
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FOI Stats Officer ............................................................................................................................................................... 49
Attachments ......................................................................................................................... 50
Attachment A – FOI Checklists ......................................................................................................................................... 50
Attachment B – FOI Decision Tree ................................................................................................................................... 53
53
Attachment C – Naming Convention for FOI e-File .......................................................................................................... 54
Attachment D – Quality Assurance Guide ........................................................................................................................ 56
Attachment E – Request for Psychological reports .......................................................................................................... 59
Attachment F - Decision Tree FOI and CSA secrecy provisions ........................................................................................ 60
Attachment G - S 24AB Consulatation Process - Assisting an Applicant ......................................................................... 61
Attachment H - LEX database Key Phrases ....................................................................................................................... 63
Attachment I - FOI Registration Decision Tree ................................................................................................................. 66
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PART 1: OVERVIEW
Purpose
The purpose of this Procedure Manual (the Manual) is to provide staff in the FOI team with guidance on
the steps for handling FOI requests within the Department of Human Services. The Manual promotes a
consistent approach to the processing of FOI requests by the Employment Law and FOI Branch.
It may be appropriate in certain circumstances, to diverge from the procedures in this Manual. This
should only be done following discussions with your Team Leader. It is unacceptable to diverge from the
procedures in this Manual if this results in the statutory requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act) and the OAIC Guidelines not being met.
The Spirit of the FOI Act
When interpreting and/or applying the provisions of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) whilst
processing FOI applications, staff in the FOI team must seek to uphold the philosophy behind the FOI Act,
and promote its objectives as set out at s 3. In doing so, to the extent possible (that is, outside of
requirements set by the FOI Act), procedural requirements set out in this Manual should be appropriately
adjusted for those applicants who will have difficulty complying with those procedures on reasonable
grounds.
The Philosophy
The FOI Act commenced on 1 December 1982. The FOI Act gives every person the legally enforceable
right to obtain access to government held documents.
The philosophy underpinning the FOI Act, as gleaned from the FOI Act includes the following:
information held by the government is a national resource and should be managed in the public
interest;
when government is more open to public scrutiny, it becomes more accountable;
if people are adequately informed and have access to information, there is likely to be more
public participation in the policy-making process and in government itself;
groups and individuals who are affected by government decisions should know the criteria being
used to make those decisions;
every individual has a right to:
know what information is held in government records about her or him personally, subject to
certain exemptions to protect essential public interests;
–
inspect files held about or relating to her or him; and
–
have inaccurate material concerning an individual held on file or in computerised databases
corrected.
The Objects of the FOI Act
The objects of the FOI Act are set out in s 3 and FOI officers must have regard to these objects when
processing FOI applications and making decisions under the legislation.
The objects of the FOI Act, as set out at s 3, are focussed on promoting a pro-disclosure culture across
government and building a strong foundation for openness in government. This focus is aimed at
providing the Australian community with a comprehensive right of access to government documents
under the FOI Act, which is limited only where there is a stronger public interest in withholding access to
documents.
In particular, s 3(2) of the FOI Act provides that the Parliament intends, by the objects set out in that
section, to promote Australia’s representative democracy by contributing towards the following:
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increasing public participation in Government processes, with a view to promoting better-
informed decision-making;
increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government’s activities.
Further, s 3(4) of the FOI Act provides that the Parliament intends that functions and powers given by the
FOI Act are to be performed and exercised, as far as possible, to facilitate and promote public access to
information, promptly and at the lowest possible cost.
Definitions in this Manual
Note: All section numbers are references to sections of the FOI Act.
FOI Team Leader means a Deputy General Counsel or EL 2 in the FOI team.
Significant Request means an FOI request which is
submitted by a media institution;
submitted by a Member of Parliament;
submitted by a member of staff;
for documents where the content appears to be particularly sensitive to the department
or to the Commonwealth;
for documents that contain sensitive information (such as legal advice; cabinet
information);
for documents where disclosure could have political sensitivities or may lead to media
coverage;
for FOI Disclosure Log documents;
specifically requesting only staff names; or
otherwise deemed significant by the relevant General Counsel.
FOI Templates means the FOI LEX letter templates or the templates folder.
List of Attachments
Attachment A -
FOI Checklists
Attachment B -
FOI Decision Tree
Attachment C -
Naming Convention for FOI e-File
Attachment D -
Quality Assurance Guide
Attachment E -
Requests for psychological reports
Attachment F -
Department of Human Services – FOI and CSA secrecy provisions
Attachment G -
S 24AB Consultation Process – Assisting an Applicant
Attachment H -
LEX database Key Phrases
Attachment I -
FOI Registration Decision Tree
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PART 2: FOI Day to Day Processing
Stage 1 - Initial Processing
Overview
1.
Each new FOI request must be registered in the FOI database and allocated to a decision maker. In
certain circumstances a request may also require a separate action officer. Once registered, FOI
requests are considered by an FOI Assistant Director and allocated daily or within 24 hours of
registration. See details of the registration process at Attachment I - Registration Decision Tree.
2.
Decisions may only be made by staff authorised by the Secretary under s 23(1) of the FOI Act. For
details of the
Authorisation Instrument see
https://hsi.dhsstaff.dhs.gov.au/Pages/about/sec.aspx
3.
If an FOI request is deemed
Significant it must be escalated to a team leader for appropriate
allocation considerations and escalation processes commenced.
4.
All newly allocated matters must be considered by the FOI officer within 2 working days of receipt
to identify the strategy for processing the particular matter. This strategy would include:
Checking that the date valid and clock start date are consistent and accurate
checking acknowledgement letter has been sent to the applicant
scoping the request
identifying all stakeholders
checking for processing charges
considering any other initial processing requirements (see the FOI decision tree at
Attachment B)
Important: It is essential we have well maintained files. Ensure the TRIM electronic file and the
electronic shared folder are complete, up to date and well labelled. If someone else looks at your file
they should be able to easily understand what has happened and where the file is up to.
Administration
5.
All matters are registered into the FOI database and this is generally undertaken by the FOI
registration team.
Registration stage 6.
For every new request (including requests for Internal Review and Information Commissioner
Review):
(a) Create a new
LEX record. With the exception of significant matters, ensure you record the
appropriate program or line area to which the request relates. Whilst this is generally created by
the registration team, FOI officers should check the coding and update as appropriate. Significant
matters – the allocated FOI officer will add this field during the scoping stage.
(b) Keep clear, concise and up to date file notes in LEX on the progress of the request. This will
ensure other staff are able to identify exactly what action has been taken to date on a matter,
when a matter is referred for a quality assurance review, or when a matter is re-allocated.
(c) Before the acknowledgement letter is sent a Quality Assurance check is to be undertaken to
ensure the accuracy of the coding of the valid date, the clock start date and the
acknowledgement letter.
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(d) For all personal requests POI and MSP/PS checks are to be undertaken by the registration officer.
If POI cannot be confirmed at registration it is the responsibility of the FOI officer to undertake
the necessary checks.
(e)
Create a new Electronic HP Records Manager file. This is generally requested automatically
when a new record is initially created in LEX by selecting the ‘E-file’ from the main details screen.
This generates a request to Records Management. This method can only be utilised at the time
the new record is created in LEX. If you later require an FOI file to be created, you must use the
normal process to request an electronic HP Records Manager file through Records Management
Unit. Alternatively you can send the details through to the FOI positional mailbox for an e-file
request to be added to the next day’s RMU bulk file request report.
(f) If you request the e-file from Records Management the TRIM file must have the following details:
i.
File type:
Administrative – electronic file
ii.
Title:
“FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) REQUEST – [APPLICANT NAME] –
[insert descriptor]”
For example “FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) REQUEST – SMITH, John, Investigation
documents”.
iii.
Function:
Information Management
iv.
Activity:
Cases
v.
Label only:
No
vi.
Caveat:
Legal In Confidence
vii.
Access:
FOI & Litigation Branch
(g) Record the e-file number in the LEX record. There is a specific LEX file note that can be selected
for this purpose. In the free text portion of the file note, you can use a short cut key to
prepopulate some of this information. In the free text space of the file note type ‘9’ and hit the
‘tick’ key (located above the ‘Tab’ key on your keyboard). Edit as appropriate. See Attachment H
– LEX database key phrases.
(h) There is a restricted controlled access group for FOI within HP records management – FOI Team -
Restricted Access. This is for storage of FOI requests that are particularly sensitive and may
include staff related FOI requests where there is an identified conflict of interest in processing
within the team. Access to FOI records within this control group is restricted to FOI Deputy
General Counsel and FOI Director. Only FOI officer with the restricted access will be able to see
the records in this controlled location. It will be limited to matters that are not accessible by the
broader FOI team.
(i) Create a new
Electronic Folder for the matter on the relevant shared drive. This is generally
created at the registration stage by an FOI registration officer.
i.
The electronic folder should have appropriate sub folders to clearly identify documents.
(Attachment C). As appropriate these subfolders should include:
i. FOI request and applicant consultations
ii. Stakeholder consultations
iii. Documents within scope of the request
iv. Decision letters and final version of documents released
ii.
Documents in these folders should be appropriately labelled using FOI document
naming conventions to assist in identification (see Attachment C).
(j) A scanned copy of the FOI request is to initially be placed in the electronic folder on the shared
drive. This is generally undertaken at FOI registration point.
Allocation to an FOI officer
(a) All newly allocated matters must be considered by the FOI officer within 2 working days of
receipt to identify the strategy for processing the particular matter. This strategy would include:
i.
Checking the lodgement date
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ii.
Checking that the valid date and clock start date are consistent and accurate
iii.
checking acknowledgement letter has been sent to the applicant
iv.
scoping the request
v.
identifying all stakeholders
vi.
checking for processing charges
vii.
considering any other initial processing requirements (see the FOI decision tree at
Attachment B)
(b) Generally FOI officers should start a new
FOI Checklist (Attachment A). Alternatively, launch the
checklist from LEX and save electronically to the FOI LEX file. This checklist must be kept updated
throughout the stages of the FOI process, and retained in HP TRIM file at the end of the matter.
FOI officers new to processing, should always use a checklist for each matter.
(c) Keep clear, concise and up to date file notes in LEX on the progress of the request. The LEX Main
Details TAB – Large text box ‘Current status’ must give a brief update on where matter is up to.
(Example: S27A consultation sent on 1.1.17, response due on 15.1.17). Up to date LEX records
will ensure other staff are able to identify exactly what action has been taken to date on a
matter, when a matter is referred for a quality assurance review, or when a matter is re-
allocated.
(d) When appropriate add
LEX Reminders for key deadlines, including:
i.
Date acknowledgement due
ii.
Date s 24AB consultation response due
iii.
Date documents due from line area
iv.
Date primary decision due
v.
Date for response to QA of decision due
vi.
Preliminary estimate of charge due for payment
vii.
Decision on Charge due
viii.
Internal Review of Decision on Charge due
ix.
Consultations response due
x.
Disclosure Log Determination due
xi.
Confirm upload of Disclosure Log
xii.
Internal Review of Primary Decision due
xiii.
OAIC Review – Submissions due
xiv.
Finalised - Please set this as a reminder for when your matter is finalised to set the
status to ‘Finalised’.
(e) To ensure the clear and consistent archiving of documents in e-files, naming conventions should
be utilised (Attachment C)
(f) E-files must include any documents and/or correspondence that relate to a request, such as:
i.
Request
ii.
Revised scope (if any revision is received)
iii.
File notes of any discussions with line area, applicant or OAIC
iv.
Acknowledgement letter/email and any evidence of the date sent (e.g. covering email).
A PDF version of the letter
must be retained
v.
Email to relevant line area or SES contact and their response
vi.
Returned Document Search Minute including advice from relevant line area or SES
contact about sensitivities
vii.
Preliminary estimate of the charge
viii.
Notice to applicant extending time frame due to need to undertake third party
consultation
ix.
Correspondence with third parties (consultation letters and responses)
x.
QA response emails
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xi.
Decision (including a Schedule of Documents). A PDF version of the letter must be
retained and any other evidence of the date the letter was sent
xii.
A copy of documents in full; a copy with the red box redaction; and a copy of the
documents as released to the applicant (i.e. with any redactions)
xiii.
Any other important / significant correspondence.
(g) Prior to the finalisation of the request in LEX, all documents must be transferred from the
electronic folder on the shared drive to the appropriate HP Records Manager e-file in a timely
manner.
i.
Save a final version of the decision letter
ii.
Convert to PDF version (this is the evidence of the final version as it can’t be edited) –
also retaining a word document
iii.
If an email is sent, retain a copy of the email with attachments as confirmation the
email has been sent
iv.
If a letter is sent via express post, keep the express post tracking code into a LEX file
note
Documents falling within Section 12(1)(b) of the FOI Act
7.
Section 12(1)(b) states in part:
A person is not entitled to obtain access under this Part to:
.... (b) a document that is open to public access, as part of a public register or
otherwise, in accordance with another enactment, where that access is subject
to a fee or other charge;
8.
Some FOI requests relate to Proof of Identity (POI) documents, for example requests for birth
certificates and marriage certificates.
9.
While strictly speaking, birth certificates (and other POI documents such as marriage certificates)
do fall within section 12(1)(b); where they fall within the scope of a more general request, there is
no harm in releasing them back to an applicant. Such an action is both contemplated and
consistent with section 3A of the FOI Act.
10. Where an applicant requests only their birth certificate, marriage certificate or other document
falling within section 12(1)(b) of the FOI Act, section 12(1)(b) of the Act should be applied and the
applicant notified that they are not entitled to obtain access to these type of documents under the
FOI Act. These type of requests are therefore not considered as a valid access request due to the
application of section 12(1)(b). In those circumstances the more appropriate course would be for
the applicant to purchase a copy of the document from the relevant register and they should not
be entitled to use FOI to circumvent that process.
11. A template letter is available through LEX for these type of enquiries.
Determining the validity of the FOI Request
12. A valid request must be received through the correct departmental Freedom of Information
channels, i.e. email to FOI mailbox, letter sent to the department’s central PO Box 7800 or the FOI
PO Box 7820 or FOI request submitted at a Customer Service Centre.
13. Where a request is sent to another department postal address or email address other than the FOI
mailbox as stated on the DHS website, it should be forwarded to the FOI mailbox and will be valid
from the date it reaches the FOI mailbox.
14. Determine whether the FOI request is valid under s 15. A valid request must:
a. be in
writing;
b. state that the request is
an application for the purposes of the FOI Act (s 15(2)(aa);
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c. provide
sufficient information concerning the document(s) to enable the department to
identify the document(s); and
d. give details of how notices may be sent.
15. Staff in the FOI team must keep in mind that s 15(3) provides that where a person has made an FOI
request that does not comply with s 15, it is the duty of the department to take reasonable steps to
assist the person to make the request in a manner that complies with s 15. Evidence of this
assistance should be noted in the LEX file notes.
Tip if you do not understand the request or cannot ascertain the scope, call the applicant to clarify.
If the request is from a journalist contact the line area or media team to see if the request makes
sense to them. Speak to the FOI Team Leader if in doubt.
16. The department has a number of administrative access arrangements that allow for the disclosure
of information outside the formal FOI process. The requirements under s 15(2)(aa) distinguish an
FOI request from a general enquiry, or request that can be dealt with through administrative
access. Some examples of administrative access arrangements include:
Medicare and PBS information for an individual or a family;
High level (de-identified) statistical data; and
Information available to customers through on line Services.
17. Further details on releasing customer information through administrative access arrangements can
be found in the Operational Blueprint guide - Customer requests access to their personal
information 104-01010010 and other specific Operational Blueprint guides relating to document
types.
18. It should be clear from the request that the applicant’s intention was to make an application under
the FOI Act. The decision maker should consider all the particular circumstances and file note in the
FOI database with information to support the approach taken on the matter.
Taking reasonable steps to assist an applicant
19. FOI officers will generally assist an applicant to make a valid request under the FOI Act, where:
the enquiry has been directed to the FOI team;
the applicant has not specifically indicated that it is an application for the purposes of the
FOI Act (or words to that effect); and
the requested documents cannot be released outside FOI through normal administrative
access arrangements.
20. If the applicant wishes to make an FOI request and it is not valid (i.e. it does not comply with the
requirements under s 15), the department is required to take reasonable steps to assist the
applicant, including assisting to make a valid FOI request if this is what the applicant wants.
Evidence of this assistance should be noted in the LEX file notes.
21. Early contact should be made with the applicant to either assist them to access documents through
the administrative access arrangements or make a valid FOI request. Where possible, this initial
contact should be by telephone to save time for the applicant and to facilitate discussion on the
terms of the request, where relevant. Telephone contact is often helpful in explaining processes
and clarifying a request. A Lex file note summarising the outcome of the discussion should be
added. An email or letter should be sent to confirm the discussion.
Dealing with matters that are not valid
Cannot identify documents
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22. A valid request must provide such information as is reasonably necessary to allow a DHS staff
member to identify the document that is requested (s 15(2)(b)).
23. Section 15(2)(b) differs from other formal requirements under s 15, in that a failure to comply with
S 15(2)(b) is classified as a ‘practical refusal reason’ for which a request consultation process is
required.
24. Before refusing a request for failing to meet s 15(2)(b), you must undertake a ‘request consultation
process’ under section 24AB.
Coding in the FOI database – cannot identify documents
25. In order to comply with the ‘request consultation process’, the matter will need to be coded as a
valid access request, the lodgement date coded and the clock started. This allows consultation with
the applicant under s 24AB (15(2)(b)). The time count is then suspended for the S24AB consultation
process. This consultation should occur as quickly as possible after the matter is allocated to the
FOI officer.
Not valid for other reasons
26. When a matter is initially registered and is not considered valid, or validity needs further
investigation, it is coded into the FOI LEX database as an external enquiry (Request Type – external
enquiry). Note the exemption to this is when the matter is not valid under section 15(2)(b) ( see
Cannot identify documents)
27. For all enquiries, a 10 day clock is commenced to ensure that any work is undertaken within this
period to answer the enquiry, liaise with the line area for them to assist the applicant to access
documents via administrative access arrangements or assist the applicant to make a valid request.
The FOI delegate assigned the matter should include LEX file notes on the action taken during the
10 day time count. Time should be adjusted as appropriate for action being underation in the
matter, once an initial review has been undertaken.
Not valid – Check Administrative Access Arrangements
28. When assigned an enquiry matter, FOI officers should firstly check reference material, or discuss
with the appropriate business area, to see if documents requested are non-continuous and
routinely available through normal administrative access arrangements (Arrangements). The
applicant should be informed when an enquiry is being moved to an appropriate area for routine
processing.
29. If access to the documents, or information, is not available through the Arrangements, then FOI
officers should assist an applicant to make a request valid.
FOI LEX coding when enquiry becomes valid
30. If the matter becomes valid, a new access request should be registered into LEX. This can be cloned
from the enquiry record and then updated to reflect the new access request. The enquiry record
can finalised by coding a finalised date and also linked as a related request. This will ensure
reporting can completed on the newly valid access request.
31. On occasions, requests for information from some applicants, for example: Public Trustees or
advocacy services are referred to the FOI team. The correspondence may state that if the
information being requested
cannot be processed through administrative access arrangements,
then the letter should be considered as a request under the FOI Act. These may initially be
considered as an enquiry and the FOI officer would work with the line area to check if
administrative release is available and the matter referred to that team. If administrative release is
not available, then the matter can then be considered as a valid FOI request, by coding a new
access request and linking to the related enquiry and processed accordingly.
32. Where the request is vague, such that there is not sufficient information concerning the documents
sought to enable the department to identify the document,
and the applicant could not be
contacted; it should still be registered as valid and consultation for a practical refusal reason should
be commenced.
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Date of Lodgement
33. FOI requests posted to the department’s central address, PO Box 7800 Canberra or posted to the
dedicated FOI PO Box 7820, will have a lodgement date as the date of receipt at these addresses.
For an FOI request posted to any other address, the lodgement date will be the date the request is
received by the FOI team or the FOI legal team.
34. Section 15(2A) of the FOI Act at provides as follows:
The request must be sent to the agency or Minister. The request may be sent in any of the following
ways:
(a) delivery to an officer of the agency, or a member of the staff of the Minister, at the address of
any central or regional office of the agency or Minister specified in a current telephone directory;
(b) postage by pre-paid post to an address mentioned in paragraph (a);
(c) sending by electronic communication to an electronic address specified by the agency or
Minister.
35. The department’s website provides information on where to post an FOI request.
36. The current white pages online provides the central postal address for the department of PO Box
7800 and Canberra BC ACT 2610 for all service centres. There is no other postal address listed.
Accordingly when an FOI request is posted to an address other than Canberra BC Address – PO Box
7800 or the FOI postal address at PO Box 7820 Canberra, then the request is valid only from the
date it is sent to the FOI Team. This is on the basis that the FOI request was not sent to the
specified address (as required by s 15(2A)(b)).
Time Frames
37. If the request is valid, the department has
30 calendar days in which to process and to notify an
access decision to the applicant. The day a request is received is counted as day 0 (i.e. the
following day is counted as day one).
38. The FOI Act requires the department to comply with statutory timeframes for processing FOI
requests. In some limited circumstances, the timeframe may be extended, for example, with the
written agreement of the applicant or with the approval of the Information Commissioner.
FOI
officers should have regard to the matters set out at s 15(5) to s 15(8) and s 15AA, s15AB and s
15AC of the FOI Act, as well as the guidance set out in the FOI Guidelines and agency resources
issued by OAIC when considering the timeframes for dealing with a request.
Time Extension with Agreement from the Applicant
39. Where agreement is reached with the applicant for an extension of time (s 15AA), the applicant
must confirm this agreement in writing and notification of this agreement must be provided to the
OAIC. A file note should be included in LEX to reflect the written agreement and notification to the
OAIC has occurred.
40. The department sends a bulk notification of s 15AA extensions to the OAIC. FOI officers must add
the information into the current spreadsheet for bulk notification located at
G:\FOI\OAIC\EOT\15AA EOT
Suspending Processing Time
41. The 30-day processing period does not include
the time that an agency may take in a request consultation process to decide if a
practical refusal reason exists (s 24AB(8))
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the time elapsing between an applicant being notified that a charge is payable and either
the applicant paying the charge (or a deposit on account of the charge) or the agency
varying the decision that a charge is payable (s 31).
42. In summary, the time spent on those matters is to be disregarded in calculating the processing
period.
Deemed decision
43. Where the time frame has not been met and extension of time is not available, the matters should
nevertheless be processed. Internal review is not available and the appeal rights attachments
should be updated. Page one of the decision letter should include some reference to the deemed
decision. The following is an example:
A decision in relation to your request was due on [INSERT DATE]. Your request has been
deemed to be refused by the department under s 15AC of the FOI Act. However, the
department has continued to process your request. The department apologises for this delay.
The department has now made a decision in relation to your request
Timeframe Summary
Day
Event
0
Day valid request received
14
Day acknowledgement is due
30
Day decision is due to be received if no consultation
60
Day decision is due to be received if applicant is notified that third party
consultation will be undertaken
Suspension
Clock stops during period charges under consideration; also stops during
24AB consultation period (14 days)
E.g.; Stops on day Charge Letter emailed/faxed (or next day if express
posted).
Restarts on day charge cheque clears (3 days after receipt).
In addition :
the matter should be escalated to the Team Leader;
consider contacting the applicant;
consider approaching the OAIC for an EOT;
update Lex with a file note explaining the circumstances around the request being deemed
Acknowledging the Request
44. When an FOI request for access to documents is received, an acknowledgement letter must be sent
to the applicant within 14 calendar days of receipt of the request (s15 (5)(a)). That
acknowledgment should confirm the scope of the applicant’s request.
45. In most instances, acknowledgment letters are sent at the registration stage of the FOI process by
the FOI registration officers and a file note added into the LEX record to reflect the action taken at
registration.
46. FOI officers allocated the matter
must always check if the acknowledgement has been sent at the
registration point. If the acknowledgement has not been sent during registration, the FOI delegate
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assigned the matter must complete and send the acknowledgement with the legislated time
frames (14 days).
47.
An acknowledgement will not generally be sent at registration stage for the following
circumstances:
Significant requests
Applicant is a customer on a Managed Service Plan (MSP), or with a Personalised Service
(PS) officer. The acknowledgement letter must reflect the department’s arrangements
for contact with this customer
Where there is not sufficient information to allow the acknowledgement to be sent
Transfers from another department
Matters that involve an access request and amendment request in the one request.
Amendment/annotation requests
Requests where validity is unclear
Internal review requests
Information Publication Scheme (IPS) requests
Interpreting Scope
48.
When an FOI officer is initially allocated a matter, it is important that the request is fully
understood - what documents is the applicant is seeking access to? The FOI Act requires that the
documents being requested are reasonably identifiable and scoping a request allows a review what
specific documents are in scope.
49.
The exercise of scoping the request must be undertaken within 24 hours of a matter being initially
assigned. A request may be described quite broadly and must be read fairly, being mindful not to
take a too narrow or pedantic approach.
50.
If there is any doubt about the scope of a FOI request, including ambiguity within the request, early
informal consultation must be attempted. This informal consultation can be initially via a telephone
call to the applicant followed by an informal email. Any clarified scope should be acknowledged
with the applicant and LEX records updated accordingly.
51.
As a general guide FOI officers need to undertake a scoping exercise for applicants with very broad
requests, e.g. ‘
my whole file’, ‘
everything you have on me’, ‘
all my records’, ‘
every document about
me’ etc.
52.
When scoping a request consider talking to the appropriate SPOC before contacting the applicant
to informally consult.
53.
When undertaking an informal consultation it is preferable to reiterate to the applicant that staff
details are considered to be out of scope.
54.
When consulting with the applicant, consider if any information/documents being sought can be
provided through the department’s administrative access arrangements. Coordinating access to
these documents may assist the applicant to clarify or revise the formal request.
55.
If an officer is unable to identify documents through this informal consultation process a formal
consultation with the applicant is required. See Attachment G - – S 24AB Consultation Process –
Assisting an Applicant.
Revision of Scope
56.
If the applicant wishes to revise the scope at any time, consider the resulting work requirements
and specifically how much time is available to meet the statutory time frame. Consider how much
the scope has changed, when the scope was changed in relation to the due date and how many
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changes have already been accepted. The applicant may agree to an extension of time to allow the
processing of the revised request.
57.
Where a FOI Officer initiates a discussion with the applicant about the scope of the request and the
applicant has agreed to revise the scope of their request an email should be sent confirming the
revision. A template email is available in Outlook.
58.
If the revised request would jeopardise meeting statutory timeframes, even with an agreed
extension, advise the applicant they will need to submit a new FOI request. You should discuss
with the applicant if they wish to withdraw the original request to deal with the revised request
and if so this should be confirmed in writing. You should consider sending an email to the applicant
to document any discussion and have the applicant respond to this email as confirmation.
Revision of scope when charges issues
59.
If a preliminary estimate of the charge has been issued and an applicant wishes to revise the scope,
this does not automatically constitute a new request. If the revised scope constitutes a new
request, FOI officers should seek the applicant’s agreement to withdraw their request and have
their revised scope treated as a new request.
60.
Where an applicant does not agree to officially withdraw the previous request, it will be deemed
withdrawn when the time to pay the preliminary estimate of the charge expires.
Revision during s24AB consultation
61.
If a s24AB consultation process has been initiated and the applicant contacts the department to
revise the scope of the request, the department must take reasonable steps to assist the applicant
to revise the request so the practical refusal reason no longer exists (see Attachment G – S 24AB
Consultation Process - Assisting an Applicant). Taking reasonable steps includes suggesting ways
the applicant can revise the request to reduce the volume of documents (e.g. by limiting the time
period to which the documents relate; or by nominating specific types of documents they are
seeking).
62.
Where the contact from the applicant is via telephone the Act still requires a response to the s24AB
notice in writing. The clock is restarted upon receipt of the written response.
Section 16 Transfers
Section 16 transfer out
63.
Before processing a request you must consider whether part or all of the request needs to be
transferred to another Commonwealth agency or department or to the Minister’s Office. Consider
the following:
Does the request relate to a document that you know is not in the possession of the
department but would be in the possession of another Commonwealth department?
Is the subject matter of the document more closely connected with the functions of
another Commonwealth department?
Have you conducted some initial searches or consultations to establish the department
does not have the document requested or the request would be better dealt with by
another department due to the subject matter?
Will the other department accept a transfer in part or in whole of the request?
64.
All transfers must be managed under the supervision of the FOI Team Leader.
Section 16 transfer requests to DHS
65.
A section 16 request from another Commonwealth for DHS to accept a section 16 transfer should
be considered at an APS 6 level or above and cleared by an executive level staff member. Before
accepting a transfer, consideration must be given to:
The lodgement date and time remaining to process the request
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Whether the documents are in the department’s possession
Whether a courtesy consult response is appropriate rather than accepting a transfer.
Generally this would only be considered for non-contentious documents.
Access to employment/personnel records
66. Section 15A of the FOI Act provides that an employee (current or former) may not request access
to his or her
personnel records under FOI unless the employee has first sought access to the records
under the agency’s internal procedures.
67.
"Personnel records" in relation to an employee or former employee, means those documents
containing personal information about him or her that are, or have been, kept by the agency for
personnel management purposes.
68. FOI Officers must consult immediately with the relevant branch in the People Services Division to
determine if the documents sought can be considered for release under internal procedures. If they
can, then s 15A must be considered.
69. In this situation, the applicant (employee or former employee) must be advised that under s 15A of
the FOI Act, the applicant may not make an FOI request for access to their personnel records,
including job selection documentation, unless they have first sought access under the department’s
internal procedures.
70. If the applicant still wishes to make an FOI request, they must be informed their request will first be
dealt with under the department’s internal procedures. The applicant must be notified of the
agency’s decision about giving access to their personnel records within 30 days of the agency
receiving the request.
71. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal procedures, or has not received a
response within 30 days, they can then make an FOI request.
72. When the FOI Team receives an FOI request from an employee (current or former), the FOI Officer
must:
Consult immediately with the relevant branch in the People Services Division to ensure
the documents sought can be considered under internal procedures and identify
whether a request for access to personnel records has already been made to the
relevant People team. If the documents can be considered under internal procedures
and the applicant has not made a request through People Services previously, then s 15A
applies.
Ensure the matter is registered on the FOI database and marked as
not valid due to
s15A. This provides an audit trail for the request.
Contact People Services first with the details of the request and arrange to transfer the
request to them to be dealt with under the agency’s internal procedures. (It is important
at this point that People Services advise if they have internal processes to consider
release).
Contact the employee and explain the matter is being referred to People Services and
cannot be dealt with as an FOI request at this stage.
Send a letter to the employee setting out the arrangements under s15A of the FOI Act
and informing the applicant who the People Services contact person is.
Send an email to People Services and a copy of the letter that was sent to the applicant.
FOI requests sent from department email addresses
73. It is the department’s policy that staff members do not use their department email account for
their own FOI matters. A staff member sending a FOI request via their department email account
are to be asked to provide an alternative email address when making requests under the Freedom
of Information Act. This is consistent with the APS Code Conduct regarding the proper use of
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Commonwealth resources, as making an FOI request is not related to their employment. It is to be
made clear to a staff member making a formal FOI request that that internal email and Lync should
not be used for corresponding with the FOI Team regarding their FOI request.
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Stage 2 – Search and Retrieval of Documents
Contact with the line area
Significant requests – Initial Processing and Notifications
74. Start a new
FOI Checklist (Attachment A). Alternatively, launch the checklist from LEX and save
electronically to the FOI LEX file. This checklist must be kept updated throughout the stages of the
FOI process, and retained in HP TRIM file at the end of the matter.
75. For significant requests, use the most recent executive phone list to identify the line area and
relevant SES Band 1 that should be notified of the new significant FOI request. Call the office of the
appropriate stakeholder to inform them of the request and confirm that their branch will be listed
as the relevant contact on the FOI Executive Report.
76. All emails regarding significant matters
must be sent from the FOI.Legal.Team drafts folder by an
EL1/EL2.
77. Prepare the line area notification(s), attaching the request and the document retrieval minute/time
estimate minute, addressed to the relevant National Manager(s).
Ensure you have attached the most up to date significant matter document search
minute/estimate minute – the template is available in the share drive (G:\GC FOI\2017 -
FOI Legal Templates).
Ensure you have CC’d the General Counsel and include her/his signature block at the end
of the email. Include any other positional inboxes or stakeholders as advised by the
SPOC.
If more than one line area needs to be consulted, consider whether it is appropriate to
prepare one email to multiple areas or multiple emails. This will depend on the
circumstances.
78. Refer to the roster for Chief Counsel Notifications to identify which team member is preparing
notifications for that week. Provide this team member with a table including the Applicant’s name,
the scope of their request and the line area contact to be included in the weekly Chief Counsel
notifications.
Refer to the share drive at G:\GC FOI\2017\Notification Table Schedule for the roster
and information about the process.
79. Prepare a notification to send to the Media Team.
80. From time to time certain Groups in the department will require additional notification of FOI
requests that relate to divisions and branches within their group. If necessary, prepare a
notification for the relevant Deputy Secretary. These emails are to be sent to the General Counsel,
to send to the Chief Counsel to pass onto the relevant stakeholder. At the time of writing
notification of matters affecting the Service Delivery Operations Group and the Integrity and
Information Group are being prepared.
81. Please see below for more detailed instructions regarding updating LEX for use in the weekly
Executive Report.
Significant Requests – Decision Making and Briefing
82. If the matter is Significant, check with the FOI Deputy General Counsel whether it needs to be
reported as a significant issue to the Office of Legal Services Coordination (OLSC), and update as
appropriate in the LEX record. What is a significant issue for the purpose of reporting the matter to
OLSC is set out in Guidance Note No 7 of the Legal Services Directions.
83. Section 24AB notices, charge notices and decisions must be cleared through the QA process prior to
being sent. Some matters may need clearance at a higher level, including by the General Counsel or
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the Chief Counsel, the Deputy General Counsel will advise FOI decision makers of this on a case-by-
case basis.
84. All external correspondence including acknowledgement letters, section 24AB notices, charges
notices and decisions must be sent from the FOI.Legal.Team inbox by an EL1/EL2.
85. Ensure the line area is provided with updates at key points of processing the request, including
payment of charge, draft primary decision, at the time the decision is made and when documents
are released. It may be necessary to set up meetings to discuss the sensitivities in the documents.
86. If documents are being released:
Prepare an Executive Communication (Secretary Brief); and
Prepare a Ministerial Submission (Minister’s Brief); and
Ensure you have
two weeks to complete the briefing process prior to the release of
documents.
87. If documents are not being released:
Prepare an email notifying the Chief Counsel of the likely decision. She/he will advise
about whether further briefing for the Secretary or the Minister is required on a case by
case basis.
This email is to be sent from the General Counsel to the Chief Counsel.
88. Provide a copy of the redacted documents to the Media team.
89. Notify the line area when the matter has been finalised.
Tip for drafting the SES email - Follow the basic outline in the template, however in some
circumstances it will be necessary to amend the email to add extra information about the history of
the matter; or add extra contextual material about the subject matter of the request.
Updating the Weekly Executive FOI Report
90. The Executive FOI Report (the Report) is settled every Thursday and distributed by the Chief
Counsel’s Office, to the Minister’s Office, Secretary, and Deputy Secretaries.
91. The Report uses data from FOI LEX based on the field identifying the matter as significant. The
report is run from LEX and must be provided to General Counsel by midday on Tuesday of each
week. Therefore the updates to your matters in LEX should be made by midday on Monday.
92. The contents of the Report are populated from the information entered in the LEX database,
therefore it is very important that your LEX updates are up to date and correct, do not contain
spelling or grammatical errors and identify the correct line area as the contact for the report.
93. Some key points for the Report are set out below. However, for a more detailed guide please see
relevant emails in the ‘General Counsel Standing Instructions’ folder in the FOI.Legal.Team inbox.
Applicant name – the following convention should be applied ‘BLOGGS, Jane
(organisation)’
Group/Division/Branch – select the branch who is the stakeholder for the request. If
there are multiple line areas, list the line area with the most responsibility
Current status: a brief summary of where the matter is at. This should
not include
information about SPOC responses other than to note that document retrieval is
underway.
94. Make sure to proof read your entries for any typos or grammatical errors.
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Serious Non Compliance (SNC)
95.
The FOI Officer must contact SNC Operations team to identify a brief customer history (e.g. length
of time as a customer etc.), the number of ongoing debts and obtain contact details of the relevant
SNC investigator.
96.
Where the request is broad and potentially too large to process, the FOI Officer should firstly
contact the relevant SNC Investigator to identify the types of documents on the file, the documents
already released to the applicant and what could be released formally/informally.
97.
The FOI Officer should undertake an informal consultation prior to considering a section 24AB
consultation process and contact the applicant to identify how the request could be narrowed. The
informal consultation can be made jointly with the relevant SNC Investigator (depending on the
circumstances).
Child Support
98.
When dealing with child support matters, it is recommended that the FOI officer first contact the
Child Support Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to gain a better understanding of the request, the
customer’s circumstances and any potential issues before sending the Document Search Minute.
99.
The SPOC can also help you quickly identify any complex and/or voluminous (section 24AB) issues.
It will also allow you to have an informed conversation with the applicant if consulting informally
either by phone or email. The informal consultation can be made jointly with an appropriate child
support officer (depending on the circumstances).
100. The FOI officers should check with Child Support to identify any incidents of customer aggression.
These facts may need to be considered when making an FOI decision on disclosure of documents,
particularly where staff names fall within the scope of an FOI request.
FOI applicant with a Personalised Service (PS) Officer
101. Where the applicant is identified as having a PS officer, an acknowledgement letter is not sent at
the initial registration stage.
102. The FOI decision maker will send the acknowledgement after the discussion with the PS
officer. This allows the PS officer to be informed of the FOI matter before the acknowledgement
letter is sent (the letter must still be sent within the 14 day statutory period). It also provides for a
discussion as to whether the FOI applicant will be given the FOI officer's contact details in the
letter, or if they should direct any FOI enquiries through the PS officer.
103. The FOI Officer must consult with the PS officer to check the contact arrangements to be included
in the FOI acknowledgement letter. The PS officer must be kept fully informed at each step in the
FOI decision process, including the details of the decision and documents to be released, at least
two days prior to the decision being notified to the applicant.
104. Where the request is broad and potentially too large to process, the FOI Officer should discuss the
request with the PS officer to obtain some background to the customer and any current issues. The
FOI officer and PS officer should also discuss any documents already released to the applicant and
what could be released formally/informally.
105. If an FOI Officer is considering entering into informal consultation, the FOI Officer should, at first
instance, consult with the PS officer to determine whether an informal consultation would be
appropriate. If appropriate in the circumstances, the FOI Officer should undertake an informal
consultation prior to considering a section 24AB consultation process and contact the applicant to
identify how the request could be narrowed. The informal consultation can generally be made
jointly with the relevant PS officer.
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FOI requests not identified as significant
106. Refer to the list of FOI Single Point of Contact (SPoC) officers for each division and send appropriate
notifications and search minutes. Copy in the Personalised Service officer where appropriate.
107. For
all new FOI requests, draft an email for the relevant line area (where sending to an SES officer
cc their Executive Assistant), with the appropriate notifications and search minute and an electronic
copy of the original FOI request attached.
108. If the scope of the request covers a couple of branches send notifications to each branch
identifying which portion of the matter they are to work on. Alternatively request that the one
branch coordinate responses from all other stakeholder branches. If you are still unsure of the
most appropriate branch, discuss with your line manager. (See the FOI SharePoint page for current
list of FOI Single Point of Contact officers).
109. The line area will advise whether they consider the request is a Significant Request and who the
contact officer(s) will be. Where a matter is identified as a Significant during processing, notify the
team leader immediately for re-allocation considerations. The reasoning for why the matter was
considered significant should then be stated in the SES email.
Assessment Services
110. Where the request is for a range of documents that may also include assessment reports, FOI
officers would not need to send a FOI clearance minutes specifically to Assessment Services in the
first instant. Other appropriate SPOC will be able to coordinate the retrieval of the assessment
reports along with other documents in scope.
111. Generally the information within the assessment reports themselves will provide details that would
assist the FOI officer in the decision process. Assessment reports include an indication from the
author of the report on the impact of disclosure of the report to the particular recipient.
For example, the Assessment reports will indicate:
This report does
not contain any information, which if released to the client, might be
prejudicial to his/her health.
Or
This report
contains information, which if released to the client, might be prejudicial to
his/her health.
When to Consult with Assessment Services
112. In some limited circumstances, a current opinion may be required before the FOI officer can make a
decision on the release of reports containing medical information. In these circumstances, the FOI
officer should seek a further clearance from Assessment Services and provide some background as
to why this further clearance is required.
For example, an assessment report retrieved from the Smart Centre, may have been completed
several years ago and identifies mental health issues. The FOI officer may like a more current
opinion on whether disclosure may be harmful to the applicant.
Assessment Services branch has a number of allied health professionals who may be able to
provide informed advice. FOI officers should ensure that the referral to Assessment Services only
occurs in limited circumstances where there is an identified need for assistance.
Assessment Services – JCA and ESAt reports
113. Assessment Services are the appropriate single point of contact (SPOC) where the request is only
for a specific assessment report/s. These reports include Job Capacity Assessment report/s (JCA),
Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) and Disability Medical Assessment (DMA). Note that
Assessment Services are the line are for DMA reports where the Disability Support Pension claim
was lodged
prior to 1 July 2015 only.
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114. FOI officers should be using the abridged email search minute for Assessment Services. This is
located in the stationery folder of both FOI team outlook accounts.
Disability and Carers – Disability Medical Assessments (DMA) reports
115. Disability and Carers are the appropriate single point of contact (SPOC) where the request is only
for a specific DMA report and the report is lodged
after 30 June 2015.
116. Note that Assessment Services are the line area for DMA reports only where the Disability Support
Pension claim was lodged
prior to 1 July 2015 only.
117. FOI officers should be using the abridged
email search minute for Disability and Carers – DMA
only. This is located in the stationery folder of both FOI team outlook accounts.
FOI SPOC Minutes
118. Everyone in the department shares responsibility in the FOI process. Some people outside of the
FOI team play a particular role in making sure that the department complies with the FOI Act.
These people are called Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Officers. SPOC Officers coordinate the
search and retrieval stage of the FOI process.
119. SPOC Officers do two main things:
coordinate comprehensive searches for documents within the scope of a request; and
assist the FOI team identify sensitivities and parts of documents that should not be
released to the applicant. This will include the identification of any customer aggression
incidents
120. The decision in response to an FOI request is heavily influenced by the searches and advice
provided by the SPOC.
121. The FOI team may request that a Document Search Minute or a Time Estimate Minute be
completed by a SPOC Officer.
122. If consideration is being given to issuing a notice of intention to refuse based on the volume of
documents falling within the scope of the request, the line area may not need to retrieve all of the
documents and instead must initially provide information about the estimated time that would be
required to process the request including time necessary to retrieve documents. This will form the
basis for the decision-maker to consider whether a Practical Refusal Reason exists and whether a
consultation period should be commenced with the applicant (see section headed Practical Refusal
Reason).
Paper files
123. As retrieval of paper files may take time to retrieve, it is wise for the line area to consider
requesting these (if potentially in scope) at an early stage to be prepared for a revised request.
Time Estimate Minute
124. A Time Estimate Minute is a request for the SPOC to provide an estimate of the number of
documents within the scope of a request and any potential sensitivities contained within the
documents. This is used as a guide:
collect the information necessary to estimate any potential charges
determine the size and resources required to process the request.
125. Where an FOI officer is considering that the request is too big to process, the SPOC should be asked
to provide a 10% sample of documents. See S24AB process for further information.
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Document Search Minute
126. A Document Search Minute is sent by the FOI team to SPOC to commence document retrieval and
to identify any sensitivities arising out of the disclosure of the documents.
Time frames for FOI time estimate and document search Minute
127. To ensure that timeframes can be met, the Time Estimate and Document Search Minutes
should be
sent within 2 days of a case being allocated. SPOC officers are asked to respond within 5 business
days.
Template Search Minute location
128. Some standard Search Minutes are located in the LEX database and are launched from the
individual record. A standard covering email is located in the stationery item in the FOI positional
mailboxes. Some specialist search minutes are email format only and are stationery items in the
FOI positional mailboxes.
FOI minutes available via LEX
129. Search Minutes and Time Estimate Minutes only available as attachment in LEX are:
The Standard search minute
The Time estimate minute
Child Support time estimate minute
Medicare search minute
Significant document search minute
SNC Document search minute
Covering emails
130. Send these FOI minutes with a covering email located in the stationery items of the FOI positional
emails. SNC requests and significant requests have a specific covering email.
FOI minutes as stationery items only
131. An abridged Search Minutes is available for Assessment Services in email format as a stationery
item (not in LEX).
Email details
132. Ensure you update the subject line of the email to include the LEX number and the due date of the
response and add your signature block to the email. Save a copy of the email in the FOI folder for
the particular case. Update the LEX file notes and status to reflect action taken.
133. A copy of the FOI request should generally be included with the FOI minutes going to the SPOC.
Tip – Ensure that the terms of the Search Minute cover only those documents which were created on
or prior to the date that the FOI request was received.
Return of Search Minutes
134. On return of the search minute from the line area:
ensure that the line area has responded to the question regarding concerns or sensitivities;
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note any comments about the potential release of the documents including information
about any concerns or sensitivities. (This information will form the basis for the decision-
maker to consider possible exemptions);
consider what consultation with third parties and with other government departments is
required; and
Ensure that the line area has responded to the question regarding any incidents of
customer aggression as this may be a factor to consider when making an FOI decision,
particularly when the scope of the request includes staff names.
135. The line area should retain all original documents and provide the relevant FOI team an electronic
copy of the documents in scope.
Obligation to produce information stored in an electronic form
136. The FOI Act provides a right to access documents held by an agency that already exist. There is no
general legal obligation to reduce information to written form (for example, to provide answers to
questions), or to “create” a document in response to an FOI request.
137. That said, where:
no written documents containing the requested information exist; but
the information is stored electronically or in some other format; and
it does not appear from the request that the applicant wishes to be provided with a
computer tape or disk,
The department must look at whether a document could be created by using resources ordinarily
available to the department (FOI Act, section 17). Examples of where this obligation can arise
include a sound recording, database, computer or other device (such as a microfiche etc.), where
the department could produce a written document containing the information in a discrete form.
138. The exception to this obligation is where producing a written document would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the department from its other operations.
CRAM reports
139. In situations where customers expressly request CRAM reports, the department is likely to be
obliged to create these reports under section 17 of the FOI Act, unless it would unreasonably divert
the resources of the department.
140. Where a request for a CRAM report is received, consultation with the applicant should occur. A
referral for a privacy complaint may be more appropriate mechanism where the applicant is has
raised concerns about unauthorised access to records.
141. Consultation with the customer’s Service Zone may also be required to ensure that any incidents of
customer aggression, or other sensitivities, are considered prior to making the FOI decision.
Practical Refusal Reason – S 24AB process
142. A practical refusal reason (see s 24AA of the FOI Act) exists in relation to an FOI request if:
(a) the work involved in processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert
the resources of the department, and/or
(b) the document cannot be identified from the request because the applicant has not
provided sufficient information concerning the document(s) to enable the department to
identify the document(s)
143. A request may be described quite broadly and must be read fairly, being mindful not to take a too
narrow or pedantic approach.
144. If the FOI request is unclear, early informal consultation must be attempted. Any clarified scope
should be acknowledged with the applicant and LEX records updated accordingly.
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145. When undertaking an informal consultation it is preferable to reiterate to the applicant that staff
details are considered to be out of scope.
146. As a general guide FOI officers need to undertake a scoping exercise for applicants with very broad
requests, e.g. ‘
my whole file’, ‘
everything you have on me’, ‘
all my records’, ‘
every document about
me’ etc.
Note – Early contact with the applicant, through telephone or email, should always be
attempted before issuing a formal notice under the s24AB consultation process.
See Attachment G – S 24AB Consultation Process - Assisting an Applicant
147. Where a
Practical Refusal Reason arises you should firstly attempt informal consultation with the
applicant to clarify the request. This should be within a reasonable period of time after being
allocated the matter (in some cases it may be possible to do so within the first two days of being
allocated the case). Informal consultation should preferably be by telephone to save time and to
facilitate discussion on the terms of the request. Telephone contact is often more helpful in
clarifying the request to remove the
Practical Refusal Reason however you should take into
account any MSP or PS arrangements.
148. FOI officers should consider if there is an opportunity to facilitate informal access to some
information during the initial FOI request stage. This may involve consultation with the stakeholder
line area or coordination through the FOI team’s administrative access processing team.
149. If a portion of the request can be identified, it is reasonable to process that portion of the request.
In some instances, this may result in a consultation process for the portion of the request that
cannot be identifiedWhere a verbal informal discussion leads to a revised request, it is best practice
to confirm the conversation and the revised scope in writing.
Process
150. The FOI officer will send an email, or letter, to the FOI applicant notifying them that they have
revised the scope of the request based on their discussion and setting out the terms of the revised
scope.
Email address available
Where an email confirmation is sent, the applicant should be asked to contact the FOI officer
within 2 days if the revised scope is incorrect. This short time frame will limit the days spent
awaiting a response.
No email address
Where there is no email address, a notification of the revised scope must be sent via post.
151. In both these cases, the FOI officer should discuss the process with the applicant to explain the
correspondence that will be sent, and the action that is required by them.
152. If it is not possible to complete informal consultation with the applicant, the request must continue
to be processed. Where a
Practical Refusal Reason still exists, which includes where an applicant
has not responded to the informal consultation within a reasonable period of time, initiate a formal
request consultation process under s 24AB. A reasonable period of time may be determined by
taking into account the time remaining to process the request. The effect of this consultation is to
‘stop the clock’ on the processing time permitted under the FOI Act. See Attachment G – S 24AB
Consultation Process – Assisting an Applicant.
153. A request consultation process can be initiated if there is evidence that the volume of documents
falling within the scope of the request would result in a substantial and unreasonable diversion of
resources of the department if the application was processed.
154. There will be instances where the identification of the documents sought is not clear. For example
where the customer seeks “my whole file” but
does not identify a programme, we cannot be
certain which particular records the customer is seeking. In this instance a consultation process
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should be initiated firstly on the basis that the documents cannot be identified from the request
because the applicant has not provided sufficient information concerning the documents to enable
the department to identify them.
155. Once the customer responds to this consultation and identifies the documents sought, there may
be instances where there is evidence that the volume of documents falling within the scope of the
request would result in a substantial and unreasonable diversion of resources of the department if
the application was processed. In this case you may undertake a further consultation indicating
your intention to refuse, on that basis.
156. As a guide, requests that may require more than 40 hours to process may require an FOI officer to
consider whether the amount of processing would lead to a substantial and unreasonable diversion
of the department’s resources.
NOTE: This is a guide only, as each request must be considered in
light of the relevant circumstances at the time the request is made. FOI officers should have
regard to the matters set out at s 24AA(2) of the FOI Act and the guidance set out in the FOI
Guidelines issued by OAIC when considering if a practical refusal reason exists in a particular
case.
157. As a guide, to calculate the processing time, use the AGS Calculator. Then consider the
circumstances surrounding the FOI request (for example a customer request that includes
correspondence may be large in terms of volume but straight forward in terms of processing).
Adjust the processing time in accordance with the particulars of the request as well as the type of
documents. Note this on the copy of the calculator saved for the particular request.
158. Each matter must be reviewed on a case by case basis. In appropriate cases, requests may
continue to be processed, even where the processing time has been estimated to exceed 40 hours.
When considering if a particular FOI request would ‘unreasonably divert’ the resources of the
department from other operations, subject to s 24AA(3), FOI officers should undertake a balancing
exercise with regard to the relevant surrounding circumstances. Such a balancing exercise can
include consideration of the volume of material that may form part of an individual’s case file, and
whether disclosure of the documents will cast light on a decision that has a significant impact on an
applicant.
159. In appropriate cases a large request may be processed. Discuss large requests with your line
manager. Clearance from a team leader must be sought when considering processing a matter that
may be in excess of 40 hours.
160. If a practical refusal reason exists, you must undertake a
request consultation process (see s24AB of
the FOI Act).
FOI officers should have regard to the matters set out at s 24AB of the FOI Act, the
guidance set out in the FOI Guidelines issued by OAIC and the guidance at Attachment I of this
Manual when undertaking the request consultation process.
Starting the S 24AB consultation process
161. Prepare a written notice to the applicant (launch from the FOI LEX database template letters). This
must be carefully edited to the circumstances. Under this Notice the applicant has 14 days in which
the applicant can contact the department. The applicant must respond in writing to revise the
request, withdraw the request or indicate they do not wish to revise the request.
During the consultation process
162. The template s 24AB letter, notifies the applicant that the time frame for responding to the
consultation process may be extended with their agreement (s 24AB (5)) where circumstances
warrant an extension. With the applicant’s agreement (s 24AB (5)), time can be extended to allow
for a mail reply, or allow a third party with authority to respond in writing on the applicant’s behalf.
163. If the applicant contacts the FOI officer during the consultation period, the officer must take
reasonable steps to help them review the request so that the Practical Refusal Reason no longer
exists (s 24AB(3)).
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164. The applicant typically does not know details of the type of documents held by the department,
how they are held and how to describe the documents. In consulting with the applicant, the FOI
officer should aim to assist the applicant to frame a request that can be processed.
165. Where a verbal discussion leads to a revised request, the applicant is to be reminded that they are
required to provide written notice of the revised request (section 24AB(6)) within the consultation
period. If the applicant is not able to email the revised request, then check the response date.
Consider if agreement to an extension of the consultation period is appropriate to allow the
applicant more time to post the revised request.
End of the consultation process
166. If a written notice of a revised request is received, continue to process in line with the FOI Act.
167. If a verbal request to withdraw is received, send a confirmation of the withdrawal in writing (see
template drive).
168. The request will be deemed withdrawn if the applicant does not contact the department during the
consultation period. Where this occurs there is no need to send a confirmation letter to the
applicant.
169.
Sampling: Where a decision is being considered under s 24 on the grounds that it is too big to
process, to inform decision making you will require the single point of contact officer to send
through a sample of documents. As a guide, you should be sampling about 10% of the total
documents i.e. where you have 600 documents on your estimate search minute, a sample of 60
documents needs to be provided from the line area.
Preliminary Assessment of Charges and Reconsideration of Charges
170.
Requests by applicants for their own personal information or from third parties acting on behalf
of another person are free. Where the applicant requests other information, including
information of another person, or non-personal information, charges should be considered for
the portion of their request that is not for their own personal information.
171. Once the Search Minute and the documents are received from the line area, estimate the charge
(see s 29 of the FOI Act). The charge can be estimated using the charge calculator and the figures
provided by the line area in Attachment ‘A’ of the document search minute. However, do not just
rely on the information summary sheet provided by the line area. Have a look at the documents to
assess the appropriate charge estimate. For example:
Check the number of pages and documents;
Consider the line area’s estimate regarding the number of pages considered sensitive
and likely to be exempted;
Consider the line area’s estimate of the amount of time for search and retrieval;
Ensure appropriate limits are applied, e.g. if part of the documents caught by the request
are the applicant’s own personal information, the charge should be reduced
proportionally as access to a person’s personal information is free.
Tip for calculating charge estimate
The best approach is to print the calculator with its standard costs, and then handwrite
amendments to reflect the particular circumstances of the matter. Round down to nearest five
minutes and adjust the dollar amount accordingly. Manually check any calculations included in the
preliminary estimate of charge letter.
172. When the requested documents are received from the line area, prepare a notice of liability to pay
a charge to be sent to the applicant (refer to FOI Templates). This notice provides a preliminary
estimate of the charges payable for processing the request.
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173. Before calculating the charge, ensure you have removed true duplicates so that the applicant is not
double charged for multiple copies of the same document. You should only remove
true duplicates.
If a document has been changed in any way (e.g. by inclusion of a handwritten comment) it
becomes a new document.
174. Depending on who the applicant is, you may need to amend the language in the template
documents to suit the request situation. For example you may need to amend the section headed
“
Option B – seek reduction or non-imposition of the charge” to reflect ‘your client’ rather than
‘you’ when discussing financial hardship, where an applicant has applied on behalf of another
person.
175. Update LEX reminders and the main details screen – large text box ‘Current status’ to reflect the
date payment is due.
Tip for issuing a preliminary estimate of charge
The effect of issuing a notice of liability to pay a charge is the statutory timeframe is
suspended from the date the notice is received from the applicant. The statutory
timeframe begins again when the charge is paid or a decision on reduction or non-
imposition of the charge is made.
Certain limits apply in relation to the preliminary estimate of the charge:
(i)
Requests by applicants for their own personal information are free of
charge.
(ii)
In relation to requests for documents that are not the applicant’s own
personal information, the first five hours of decision-making time is free of
charge.
If no response is received to the preliminary estimate of charge within 30 calendar
days of receipt of the notice, the applicant is deemed to have withdrawn the
request.
176. Charges can be paid online via Government EasyPay or by way of a cheque/money order made out
to Collector of Public Monies. The template Charge Notification includes information for the
applicant regarding how to pay the charge.
177. If payment of the charge is made, action payment as follows:
When payment is received, complete an Account Request form and save in the
electronic file.
Send email to applicant to advise of receipt.
Scan cheque / money order details and save in electronic file.
Send an email to xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx, requesting an account be
created; attach account request form and cheque / money order scan. Advise them the
original cheque and Account Request form will be sent through internal mail. This must
be done on the day the cheque is received.
When account has been created, Accounts Area will send details. Save these details in
electronic file.
Receipt for the payment will then be processed. Update LEX to start the clock on the
request 3 working days from receipt of payment. (This is considered bank clearance time
for cheque processing).
The LEX database must be accurately coded to reflect the charges. This allows the
department to meet reporting requirements.
Coding charges notified requires coding three fields in LEX. These are:
(i)
File Notes – Date charges notified;
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(ii)
File Notes – Stop clock and;
(iii)
Main Details – Amount of charge notified.
Coding charges received requires coding three fields in LEX. These are
(iv)
File Notes – Date charges received;
(v)
File Notes – Re-start clock and;
(vi)
Main Details – Amount of charge received.
Preparing a reconsideration of charges decision
178. When a preliminary assessment of charges has been issued to an applicant, they are entitled to ask
for the charge to be reduced or not imposed. The applicant can provide submissions to support
their request, that relate to the impact of the charge on their financial circumstances, any public
interest considerations or any other matter that is relevant to the possible reduction or waiver of
the charge.
179. The decision maker is also required to undertake a reconsideration of charges if the applicant
reduces the number of documents in scope of the request.
180. On receipt of a request for the charge to be reduced or waived, the department has 30 days to
make its decision.
181. There is no template for a reconsideration decision in LEX, however examples are available in HP
Trim in relation to previous matters.
182. When preparing a new reconsideration decision, the decision maker should review the documents
that are in scope of the request, including any subsequent revisions made by the applicant, and
should prepare a new calculator confirming that the reconsidered charge is appropriate.
183. The charge cannot be increased during the reconsideration process.
Making a final decision on charges
184.
Remember – when the time comes to make the Primary Decision regarding release it is essential
the charge calculation is re-visited to determine whether it should be adjusted. The charge cannot
be increased but if the time taken to process the request was less than the estimate, then you will
need to adjust the charge accordingly. If the adjusted charge is less than the amount already paid,
arrange a refund. The decision letter must reflect that the charge has been reviewed and advise the
outcome of that review (see example paragraph in decision letter templates).
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Stage 3 – Third Party Consultation
Third Party Authority
185. Where the scope of the request includes personal information about a third party, ask the
applicant whether they have evidence of authority from the third party.
Tip for Authorisation
Authorisation is relevant to the s 47F exemption (documents affecting personal privacy).
Authorisation is not mandatory. A request is still VALID even if authority is not provided.
If no third party authorisation is provided by the applicant, it is usually necessary to consult
with the individual whose personal information is contained in the documents.
If authorisation is provided, disclosure of personal information would generally not be
considered unreasonable.
If the request is from a lawyer stating ‘we act on behalf of…’ this is considered to be an
authorisation.
If the authority provided is narrower than the scope of the request, discuss with the applicant
whether they can provide a broader authority.
Undertaking Third Party Consultations
186. Once payment of the charge or charge deposit is received (if applicable), conduct any third party
consultation if required and consider the responses received.
187. Once it is evident that the documents being requested contain third party information (e.g.
information from a business or professional or employer who wrote a report about a person;
information about a spouse of the person), the applicant should be immediately notified of the
additional time required to allow consideration of whether it is necessary to consult with third
parties. Generally, consultation with the third party should commence at the same time as the
applicant is notified of the additional time, unless a charge notice has been sent.
When to consult
188. Third party consultation is required where the requested documents:
are
likely to affect Commonwealth/State relations;
relate to the
business, commercial or financial affairs of a person or organisation; or
Contain
personal information within the meaning of the FOI Act.
189. If third party consultation is required, the statutory time frame will be extended by 30 calendar
days (this means a total of 60 days to process the request).
190. Consultations should be emailed where possible. Activate the
read receipt function, and insert the
appropriate department FOI address in the
From email address field.
Personal privacy consultation
191. Where a document includes personal information relating to a person who is not the applicant, you
should provide that individual (the third party) a reasonable opportunity to make a submission that
the document should be exempt from disclosure, before making a decision to give access (s 27A). If
the third party is deceased, their legal representative should be given this opportunity.
192. Whilst the statutory obligation under section 27A must be considered prior to making a decision to
give
access, FOI officers should generally turn their mind to consultation with a third party, even if
the decision maker is considering exempting the documents from disclosure. Consultation should
occur where it is reasonably practical to do so and considering all relevant factors.
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Protecting the privacy of the FOI applicant
193. When undertaking consultations with anyone outside the department, the identity of the FOI
applicant must not be disclosed, unless you have obtained the consent of the applicant to do so.
You must not disclose the identity of the third party when obtaining the applicant’s consent.
LEX coding for consultation
194. If consultation is undertaken, extend the time by selecting the ‘extend’ selection near the clock
running section. Select the s 15(6) option which will automatically add 30 days to the decision due
date.
195. Update the checklist and set LEX reminders to reflect that the processing time has been extended
and when consultation responses are due.
Providing documents for the consultation
196. You should only give the third party access to the parts of the documents containing information
that is relevant to them and that they could make submissions about. If a document contains a
third party’s personal information as well as other information about other third parties you
must redact the information about the other parties before sending the document to the third party for
consultation.
197. Sometimes personal information about one person is also personal information about another
person. For example where a document states that person X holds an opinion about person Y, that
statement is personal information about BOTH person X and person Y. In the first instance you
should consult person X about the statement (as it is their opinion held about person Y). Depending
on their response you may decide to exempt the statement. In that case it would not be necessary
to consult with person Y. If person X did not object, you should then consult person Y about the
possible release.
Consultation response received
198. If the third party has no objection to the release of the information you should record this in the
FOI database. If no objections have been raised by the third party, no further correspondence is
required with the third party.
199. Any objections by third parties regarding disclosure, must be considered and addressed before the
documents may be released. Documents should be folioed (numbered) using the Adobe Pro tool,
for ease of reference.
Tip for third party consultation
If time allows you can wait until the charge deposit has been paid before sending consultation
letters out to the third parties. However, if the timeframe is tight or the matter is complex, it may be
prudent to undertake consultations as early as possible, even before the charge deposit has been
paid.
Third Party Objections to release
200. If the third party objects to the release, consider whether you need to call them to find out further
information, to determine if a relevant exemption applies.
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201. If a third party objects to the release but subsequently withdraws their objections, obtain their
email address so you can confirm this in writing.
Third party Review Rights
202. If a third party objects to release, and the decision-maker nevertheless decides to release those
documents, the third party has review rights that need to be exhausted
before the documents are
released.
203. Once you have sent the Primary Decision to the applicant (without the documents to which the
third party objected), send a letter to the third party providing a statement of reasons for your
decision to release and giving the information about their rights of review.
204. Update LEX reminders to reflect the date a response is due from the third party to initiate their
rights of review (30 days from the date of them receiving the letter).
205. If no response is received, the remaining documents can then be released to the applicant. Prior to
release of the documents you should phone the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
to ensure the third party has not sought Information Commissioner Review of the decision. In that
case the document should not be released until the OAIC review process is exhausted.
Courtesy Consultations with Commonwealth government departments or agencies
206. Consultation may also be appropriate with other Commonwealth government departments or
agencies where the documents being considered for release contain information relevant to them.
These “courtesy consultations” do not extend the statutory time frame in which the decision must
be made.
207. As a matter of practice:
where an FOI request regarding cyber threats or cyber security is made, the department
will conduct a courtesy consultation with the Attorney General’s Department in relation
to the request, and any proposed release of documents, to ensure that the decision
made considered any related sensitivities.
where an FOI request is for documents, the release of which would have whole of
government implications, the department will conduct a courtesy consultation with the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Cabinet Documents
208. Under s34 of the FOI Act a document will be exempt from disclosure if it has been submitted to
Cabinet for its consideration, or is a document that a Minister proposed to take to Cabinet, and the
document was brought into existence for the dominant purpose of submission for consideration by
Cabinet.
209. The Cabinet Handbook (issued by Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet (PM&C)) requires a
department to consult with the FOI Coordinator of PM&C on any Cabinet-related material
identified as being within the scope of the FOI request.
210. As the custodian of Cabinet records (of both current and former governments), the Secretary of
PM&C is required to provide evidence in support of Cabinet-related exemptions made under the
FOI Act.
211. Decisions on Cabinet material should not be made, or documents released or exempted, until
consultation has been undertaken with PM&C.
212. The Cabinet exemption in s 34 of the FOI Act is designed to protect the confidentiality of the
Cabinet process and the principle of collective ministerial responsibility.
213. ‘Cabinet’ for the purpose for s 34 of the FOI Act means the Cabinet and Cabinet committees. (It
does not include informal meetings of ministers outside the Cabinet).
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214. The 2010 reforms to the FOI Act redefined and extended the Cabinet exemption to cover draft
documents, Cabinet submissions not actually submitted to Cabinet and documents prepared for
the dominant purpose of briefing a Minister in relation to Cabinet submissions.
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Stage 4 – Making the Decision
Decision
215. Once the documents within the scope of the request have been retrieved and all third party
consultations have been completed, the matter is ready for a decision.
216. All documents must be read, page by page and line by line. Consider all the facts and evidence, the
FOI Act and OAIC guidelines.
217. Only those documents which were created on or prior to the date that the FOI request was
received should be considered in the decision.
218. If documents cannot be located the stakeholder must confirm all searches undertaken to locate the
relevant documents.
Stakeholder escalation
219. If the stakeholder has raised concerns around sensitivities regarding disclosure, and the FOI
delegate determines that an exemption/conditional exemption will not be applied, the stakeholder
must be further consulted to commence any escalation. This will provide the FOI officer with an
opportunity to ensure that all relevant facts have been considered. An FOI officer must also
escalate to their team leader.
Preparing the decision
220. Prepare the
primary decision and prepare the documents for release (see Template letters in the
FOI database and also in shared Drive).
221. Where consultation was required, update the paragraph in the decision letter on ‘material taken
into account in making the decision’ to include:
Consultation with individuals in relation to the disclosure of their personal information;
and
Consultation with any organisation in relation to the disclosure of information
concerning the business, commercial or financial affairs of that organisation.
222. Consider the following when making a primary decision:
Primary decisions may only be made by authorised decision makers.
Documents may be released in full, in part, or may be fully exempt from disclosure.
Provide reasons to the applicant for releasing documents in part or for exempting
documents.
A Schedule of Documents is to be included in the decision notice, listing the documents
within scope and decision on disclosure (Release in Full, Release in Part or Exempt in Full)
as well as exemptions and deletions (see Template letters in the FOI database). When
there is one document with only a few pages, an FOI officer may decide to include a full
description of the document within the body of the decision letter, instead of preparing
a separate schedule. This would only be contemplated where there is one document
with limited number of pages.
Schedule heading - Where the request is from a third party for the personal information
of another, the schedule heading should include the name of the person to whom the
information relates.
Full or part access
223. Where you redact a portion of a document as out of scope, but you decide to release the balance
of the document, this is considered a full
release on the basis that the entire part of the document
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falling within the scope of the request is being released. Where part of the document is exempt
from release, and part is released that is a
partial release.
Re-assess charges
224. Your primary decision must reflect consideration of whether the charge (if one was paid) was
accurate. Use time entered in LEX to assist. If the actual processing of the request took less time
than what you estimated for the purposes of the charge, a refund will need to be issued to the
applicant. If the processing took more time than what you estimated for the purposes of the charge
note that in the decision. The preliminary estimate of charge cannot be increased at the decision
stage.
Third Party Objections
225. If a third party objects to release, the documents or paragraphs they are objecting to cannot be
released to the applicant until the third party’s rights of review have expired.
Review rights
226. Include the relevant Rights of Review attachment to the decision.
Disclosure log determination
227. There is no need to include the disclosure log determination in the decision. The determination is
made separately and should be included on the file but need not be notified to the applicant.
For all Decisions:
i.
Save a final version of the decision letter
ii.
Convert to PDF version (this is the evidence of the final version as it can’t be
edited) – also retaining a word document
iii.
If an email is sent, retain a copy of the email with attachments as
confirmation the email has been sent
iv.
If a letter is sent via express post, keep the express post tracking code into a
LEX file note
Notifying a line area before release
228. In relation to:
All significant requests;
CSP matters;
SNC; and
where a line area noted sensitivities;
A copy of the documents in the form proposed for release must be given to the line area
before
release.
229. This gives the line area the opportunity to comment on whether the decision maker has correctly
understood relevant sensitivities and to correct any mistakes regarding the factual basis of the
decision.
Significant requests
230. Where a request is Significant, it is essential that the Minister's Office and the Executive be briefed
on the implications of release and in particular on whether there are any residual sensitivities
following the release of the documents in the proposed form. This also gives the Minister's Office
and the Executive the opportunity to arrange further briefings or media talking points if required.
Making redactions Using Adobe
231. Where exemptions apply and redactions need to be made to documents, follow this process using
the Adobe tool.
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Scan hard copy documents to ‘searchable’ PDF format.
Convert any coloured PDF documents to grayscale to reduce the overall size of the
documents. This will speed up the electronic handling of the documents. Add Print
Production to your tool bar via the Customize option in Adobe. Once added to the tool
bar, select ‘pre-flight’. Select ‘PDF fixups’ and convert to grayscale.
Collate all PDF documents into a single PDF by selecting the Document menu then Insert
Pages. When using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, select tools – combine files.
Folio collated documents by selecting the Document menu then Header and Footer then
Add. Place your cursor in the Header Text field you would like the folio number to
appear in then click Insert Page Number. Click OK. On Adobe Acrobat Pro DC you can
select tools – edit PDF – Header & Footer – Add.
Show the Redaction Toolbar by selecting the Advanced menu then Redaction then Show
Redaction Toolbar. On Adobe Acrobat Pro DC select Tools – Redact – Mark for redaction
– Text & Images.
Change the colour of redactions by clicking Redaction Properties. Click on the check box
next to Redacted Area Fill Colour – Select No Fill Colour (white square with a red line).
Redact sections of text by clicking Mark for Redaction. The point cursor selects areas to
redact, such as pictures or bullet points. The text cursor will redact selected text only.
Redact reoccurring material such as a word, name or sentence or telephone number by
selecting Search and Redact. Type the term to be redacted into the Search box and
Select Whole words only. Click Search and Redact. This will search the document for
each appearance of the term and return a list of each instance the term is mentioned.
Select Check All then Mark Checked Results for Redaction to redact all the returned
instances of the term. To search for an additional term click Begin a New Search.
Redact a page range by selecting the drop down menu next to the Mark for Redaction
button. Select Mark Page Range. Select Mark Specific Page Range for Redaction and
enter the folio numbers.
232. Save a copy of the document noting ‘redactions marked’ in the title. This is used in the event of a
review process.
233. Redact the document by clicking Apply Redactions. A pop up box appears asking if you would like to
examine the document for additional information. Click Yes. Select Metadata Click Remove.
234. Save your document noting ‘redactions applied’ in the title. Print that document and then re-scan.
That scanned copy of the document can be forwarded to the applicant.
Redaction in No Fill Colour
235. When documents are released by the department under FOI any documents that are released with
redactions must show, on the redacted document, the s of the FOI Act relied on to redact the
material.
236. The applicant must be provided with a schedule that outlines where material has been redacted.
237. The department uses a redacting tool (Adobe Pro Software) that requires a ‘fill colour’ to be chosen
when redacting material; to keep printing costs down the department chooses the ‘no colour’
option.
Staff details
238. FOI request acknowledgement letters notify the applicant that, unless they tell us otherwise, it is
assumed that staff name and contact information is out of scope of the request.
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239. IT Security considers the unique identifier (User ID) of departmental staff to be one of the key
authentication factors that enable us to keep the department’s IT network secure.
240. These ID’s should be considered ‘need-to-know’, and those outside the department, and greater
members of the public, do not need to know. Providing information around these ID’s to persons
outside the department increases departmental risk levels, as any potential malicious actor has a
significant piece of the puzzle, should they want to inappropriately access the department’s secure
network.
241. When providing information externally, staff names, logon ID’s and direct contact details are
generally considered as out of scope and would be redacted under section 22, as to aid in the
prevention of inappropriate access.
242. Where an applicant has stated they wish to received staff names, logon ID and/or direct contact
details in their request, the matter is to be categorised as significant. An FOI officer must
undertake consultations with all stakeholder line areas and potentially with individual staff and
their line managers. It may be appropriate to consider section 47E (certain operations of agencies)
and section 47F (personal privacy) in relation the information.
243. The
exceptions to redacting staff details (where they are within the scope of a request) are as
follows:
Logon IDs that start with a * (for example, *ABCD): These are automatic computer
transactions and not individual staff logon ids. As a result, are not redacted
13XXXX numbers (for example, 131212): Where these are publicly available numbers
they would generally not be redacted
Fax numbers: These numbers are not assigned to an individual officer, and as a result are
not redacted under section 22
Embedded staff logon ID’s: Staff logon ID’s are only redacted where they are identified.
This is generally were there is a prefix or heading indicator, such as ‘Author ’, ‘printed by’
or ‘logon ID’.
The redaction of embedded logon ID’s would generally only occur when a line area has
specifically identified concerns.
Quality Assurance – FOI Team
244. Note: All correspondence and document proposed for release
must have a quality assurance
review prior to release, as set out below.
Failure to have material referred for a quality assurance
review is considered a serious breach of the approved FOI Procedures.
Type of correspondence
Quality Assurance requirement
Confirmation of new scope emails only
APS5 or above
Non-significant matters – All correspondence and APS 6 or above
decisions
Significant matters - All correspondence and
General Counsel
decisions Correspondence regarding requests for
EL2 or above
consultation with DHS (in relation to a request
being processed by another agency/state
government)
Transfer requests (to or from the department)
EL2 or above
Legal advice (written or verbal)
Legal EL2 (Principal Government Lawyer) or
General Counsel
(See Quality Assurance Guide at Attachment D)
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Stage 5 – Notifying the Decision
Content of Statements of Reasons for Decisions
245. When you have made a decision on a request, a decision letter is provided to the applicant. When
any aspect of the FOI request is refused or access is deferred, a decision maker must give the
applicant a statement of the reasons in line with s 26(1).
246. Section 26 of the FOI Act sets out the content requirements for the decision.
247. A statement of reasons should not include any information that, if it were in a document, would
cause that document to be exempt (s 26(2)). Consider the use of s 25 to neither confirm nor deny
the existence and characteristics of a document as appropriate (e.g. section 37(1)).
Verification of Identity
248. Before sending documents containing personal information to a postal or email address you will
need to verify the postal or email address, as part of the process of verifying the identity of the
applicant (if the identity of the applicant is relevant to the decision whether to release the
documents).
249. Check if the applicant has requested that notices be posted to a specific address or to an email
address. If sending by post, consider the due date and as where appropriate use express post.
When using email, activate the
read receipt function, and insert the relevant FOI address in the
‘From’ Box: Either:
For FOI section matters: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
For Significant FOI matters: xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
250. An FOI applicant can choose to use a pseudonym or to engage with the department anonymously.
Applicants are not obliged to provide their name. Where corresponding with an applicant by email,
it is not necessary to send a duplicate by post.
Privacy checks
251. For each FOI request a two-step privacy check process is undertaken whenever FOI correspondence
is sent and when documents are released. This is to ensure the right correspondence and right
documents are going to the right applicant.
252. Privacy checks are required for all correspondence being sent externally. Postal and email
addresses must be checked against the original request and a database check of the address should
be included to ensure that the correct address information has been recorded.
253. Any attachments to correspondence must be checked to ensure the correct documents are being
sent to the correct applicant.
Mandatory Privacy Check
FOI officer
254. Prior to sending a matter to QA, an FOI officer
must undertake a Privacy check to ensure
documents have been complied correctly and documents have been checked for any third party
information was considered, redactions were applied appropriately and Tax file numbers were
removed. The check must be undertaken by opening the original FOI request and comparing this to
the address on the FOI correspondence and in the database to ensure this is correct and that the
correct applicant name and reference numbers have been applied.
255. This mandatory check must be documented in the LEX database via a hotkey – lower case ‘e’ and
hit the ‘back tick’ key. See Attachment H – LEX database Key Phrases.
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Secondary check prior to release
256. Before any correspondence is sent externally, a privacy check
must be completed by another
member of the FOI team. This check must include looking at the original FOI request, the FOI
database and the prepared correspondence. This ensures that the correct applicant, correct
address/email is being used and final redacted documents are sent. When posting documents, the
check should include the correct address on the envelope.
257. Once the privacy check has been completed, the FOI Officer making the privacy check is to code a
file note in FOI LEX. See Attachment H – LEX database Key Phrases.
Sending personal information by email
258. Customer’s personal information is protected under the Control of Customer Information outside
Core Systems Policy: Control Plan. In FOI matters, on a case by case basis, the FOI Officer will
consider the risks of sending customer information electronically. To mitigate the risk,
consideration is given to whether the customer’s consent has been provided to transmit the
information electronically. If all risks have been determined as acceptable, then the emails are
marked as ‘unclassified’ and sent.
Sending emails externally
259. When sending an email externally send from the relevant FOI mailbox by opening an email and
selecting ‘Options’: ‘Show from’ and entering the relevant FOI mailbox in the ‘From’ field:
For FOI section matters: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
For Significant FOI matters: xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
260. Prior to sending, select ‘Request a Read Receipt’ and ‘Request a Delivery Receipt’ from the Options
menu. This is important so you can track the email and make sure it went to a valid email address.
Read receipts are also important as evidence that the email has been opened. Print and file the
receipts with a copy of the email in the FOI file.
Disclosure Log
261. Once you have made the Primary Decision you must update LEX
and make a disclosure log
determination.
262. There is no need to include the disclosure log determination in the decision. The determination is
made separately and should be included on the file but need not be notified to the applicant.
263. If you make a determination to publish on the disclosure log, follow the process for publishing. The
FOI reference number must be included with the description of the request. This will allow for a
streamlined process if requests are subsequently received for the released documents.
264. The publication on the disclosure log
must completed within 10 working days of making the
decision. The department publishes onto its disclosure log as soon as practicable.
265. FOI decisions are NOT uploaded on the disclosure log.
266. FOI database must be updated to reflect when disclosure log determination and include a file note
to reflect when the publication was requested and when the publication has then been completed.
Notifying Line Areas of Finalisation
267. Once the decision has been notified, the line areas must be informed that the matter is now
finalised.
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268. A standard email is available as a stationery item in the FOI positional mailboxes.
FREEDOMOFINFORMATION
mailbox 2. Stationary 1. SPOC SPOC Notification of Finalised
FOI Request
Internal Review Process
269. The internal review request must be allocated to a person with authority to make internal review
decisions. The internal review decision should be made by someone at the same or at a more
senior level than the original decision maker.
270. When an internal review is received, a new LEX record is created and this is linked to the related
primary decision. A new e-file is also created at that time.
Acknowledgment
271. Whilst the FOI Act does not require acknowledgement of an internal review request, it is good
administrative practice to do so within 14 days.
Internal review – Access grant decision
272. Where it is a third party who has requested internal review of a decision
to release document
containing their information (following consultation with the third party), the FOI applicant needs
to be advised that an application for review has been received, and of the time frame for an
internal review decision.
273. NB: To protect the privacy of third parties, the identity of the party seeking internal review must
not be disclosed to any other person including the applicant.
Dealing with Requests outside the FOI Act
274. A line area may decide to deal with a request for information that does not directly refer to the FOI
Act, through the department’s Administrative Access Arrangements (the Arrangements). Such a
request can be directly handled by the line area and does not need to be processed under FOI.
275. An applicant may make an enquiry directly to the FOI team for access to documents that may be
available to them through the Arrangements. An applicant should not be required to make a valid
FOI request for these type of documents.
276. Further details on releasing customer information through administrative access arrangements can
be found in the Operational Blueprint guide - Customer requests access to their personal
information 104-01010010.
277. Where the request is for personal information, the FOI Acknowledgment letter notifies the
applicant that the department has an administrative access arrangements (‘the arrangements’) for
the release of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI request. It goes on to notify an
applicant that unless they advise otherwise, we may provide the requested documents through the
Arrangements.
278. If the line area deals with a request that directly referred to the FOI Act, via the Arrangements,
confirm in writing with line area that the release has occurred or will occur, including the date of
release and documents released.
279. FOI will then deal with any residual documents falling with the scope of the request.
280. If all the documents requested are publicly available, generally you can consider providing a link
and confirm the request can be treated as completed.
Data Management
281. Data from LEX is used for reporting purposes. It also provides the team leaders with an accurate
and up-to-date snapshot of work on hand to ensure caseloads can be managed effectively.
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282. All relevant requests must be correctly coded in LEX to allow for accurate data retrieval for
reporting purposes.
Resources
Freedom of Information Act 1982
FOI Guidelines (issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under s93A).
OAIC website (especially see published decisions).
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PART 3 – Amendment and Annotation requests
Overview
283. Part V of the FOI Act gives individuals the right to apply to an agency or minister to amend or
annotate an incorrect record of their personal information kept by the agency or minister.
284. Part V enables records that are incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading to be amended on
the application of the affected person. An applicant may also ask for the record to be annotated to
include a statement explaining their objection and the reasons for their objection (s 51).
285. Decisions on the amendment or annotation of records under FOI Act must be made by authorised
decision makers.
286. It is important to make preliminary enquiries to ensure the application meets
all the formal
requirements under the Act – section 49 (Amendment) or section 51A (Annotation), including that
the applicant must have had lawful access- section 48.
287. Generally an amendment or annotation request will be registered as an enquiry and the FOI officer
allocated the matter must check the matter carefully to check that it meets all the requirements of
a valid amendment/annotation.
FOI LEX coding when enquiry becomes valid
288. If the matter becomes valid, a new amendment request should be registered into LEX. This can be
cloned from the enquiry record and then updated to reflect the new access request. The enquiry
record can finalised by coding a finalised date and also linked as a related request. This will ensure
reporting can completed on the newly valid amendment request.
Acknowledgment
289. Whilst the FOI Act does not require acknowledgement of a request for amendment or annotation
of personal information it is good administrative practice to do so within 14 days.
Transfer of Amendment or Annotation request
290. A request can be transferred with agreement from the receiving agency. Take care to confirm you
have a valid amendment or annotation request to complete a formal transfer. Check to see if the
request requires mandatory transfer. Check schedule 2 of the Act.
Time Frames
291. An amendment or annotation decision must be made within 30 days from the day after a valid
amendment or annotation request is received. An extension of time is only available by applying to
the Information Commissioner in writing for an extension of the process period after the initial
period has expired (after the matter is deemed) (s 51DA(3)).
Implementing an Amendment Decision
292. Where a decision is made to amend a record in response to a request, all relevant records must be
amended in whatever form those records are kept.
293. The records may be amended by correcting or updating them or by adding new information to
make the record complete.
294. Care must be taken, however, to preserve the integrity of the record. The information being
amended still has value as an historical record, and therefore should be retained as far as possible.
Section 50(3) requires an agency or minister when making an amendment to ensure, as far as
practicable, that the amendment does not obliterate the text of the record as it existed. Removing
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or destroying part of a record would prejudice the record’s integrity as an account of the
information.
295. Although information should be amended in a way that does not obliterate the original text of the
record, this may not always be possible with electronic records.
296. Where information cannot be altered on the document or in the database, the folio(s) or record(s)
which contain this information should be clearly cross-referenced to the relevant place where the
correct information is held.
Centrelink electronic records
297. For Centrelink records, a current On line document recording may have an annotation added with
the details of the FOI Act amendment made. It should also include the FOI Act references under
which the amendment decision has been made.
298. If other electronic records need amending, consider:
printing out the documents and making the amendments to the paper form;
scanning these amended documents to the specific customer record;
Create an On line document recording on the customer record to fully explain the
decision, noting the location of the scanned document showing the amendment; and
Create a Display on Access (DOA) document. This has the effect to alert all staff to the
documents that were amended, the ODR with the full explanation of the decision and
information on where the amended version is located.
(i)
There is a specific FOI DOA category for FOI amendment. This advises
staff when accessing the customer record, that under the FOI Act decision, staff
must not have regard to the original document, instead referring to the
information within the amended scanned document.
Implementing an Annotation Decision
299. A person can apply at any time for an annotation to personal information, they do not have to
apply for an amendment to the record first (s 48(d)).
300. When a decision is made to decline to amend, either wholly or in part, the applicant must be given
the opportunity to submit a statement seeking annotation of the record they claim is incorrect,
incomplete, out of date or misleading.
301. An annotation decision is implemented by adding the applicant’s statement to the record, cross-
indexed to the material claimed to be incorrect, incomplete, out of date or misleading. The
annotation must be clearly displayed by flagging the electronic record.
Centrelink electronic records
302. For Centrelink records, a current On line document recording may have an annotation added with
the details of the FOI Act annotation decision made. It should also include the FOI Act references
under which the annotation decision has been made.
303. If other electronic records need amending, consider:
printing out the documents and making the annotation to the paper form;
scanning these annotated documents to the specific customer record;
Create an On line document recording on the customer record to fully explain the
decision, noting the location of the scanned document showing the annotation; and
Create a Display on Access (DOA) document. This has the effect to alert all staff to the
documents that were annotated, the ODR with the full explanation of the decision and
information on where the annotated version is located.
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(i)
There is a specific FOI DOA category for FOI amendment/annotation
decision. This advises staff when accessing the information that was subject of
the annotation request, to also note the information provided by the FOI
applicant within the annotated scanned document.
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PART 4: APP 12 – Procedures for FOI Staff
Overview
304. Under Australian Privacy Principle 12 (APP12) of the
Privacy Act 1988, if the department holds
personal information about an individual, then the department must, on request by the individual,
give the individual access to that information. There are exceptions to access which are equivalent
to the exceptions used in determining whether to release information under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
Process
305. An APP12 request is processed in the same manner as an FOI Act request
except for the following
differences.
Registration
306. A valid APP12 request is one where the request is:
a request for access to personal information;
made by an individual or their authorised agent; and
cites the
Privacy Act 1988.
307. The request is registered in FOI Lex with the ‘Request Type’ field value set to ‘9.3 Privacy request
for access APP12’. A file cover must also be created.
308. An email must be sent to the xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx mailbox advising that the matter is
registered in the FOI LEX database; the FOI reference number and that the customer has been sent
an acknowledgment.
309. Privacy will register the request in the Privacy LEX database and provide the LEX ID to FOI. The FOI
LEX database will need to cross reference the Privacy reference number. However, only the FOI LEX
number should be used in correspondence with the individual.
Processing the Request
310. Under 12.2 of APP12 the department is not required to provide the information to the individual
where the department is required or authorised to refuse to give the individual access to the
personal information under the FOI Act.
Written Notice of the Decision
311. Where the individual has been refused information, or refused access in the manner requested, the
department must, by written notice, provide the reasons for the refusal and the mechanisms
available to the individual to complain about the refusal. The individual can complain to the
Information Commissioner under the
Privacy Act 1988. However, the individual will not have a right
to seek internal review or Information Commissioner Review.
312. The individual will be notified of the decision by the FOI team. The notification will include the FOI
LEX number. The decision maker’s signature block will identify that they are from the Legal Services
Division but will not include a specific job title or branch.
313. An email must be sent to the xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx mailbox and include a copy of the
decision letter.
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Complaints
314. The Privacy Team will handle any complaints which are made regarding the request (including
those made via the Privacy Commissioner).
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PART 5: FOI Statistical Returns
What are the Quarterly and Annual Statistics?
315. Under s 93 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) each agency listed in Schedule 1 of the
FOI Act is required to report both quarterly and annually statistics within the statutory timeframe
set out below. We report different information depending on whether we are reporting for the
quarterly or annual statistics.
316. The types of information required to complete the quarterly statistics are:
the number of valid requests the department received during the quarter;
what decisions were made on the requests, for example full release or partial release;
the number of Section 24AB consultation notifications and which cases were subsequently
processed and not withdrawn or refused under Section 24;
what the department’s response times were;
the total amount of application fees the department received during the quarter;
the total amount of processing charges that we notified the applicant of during the quarter and
the total amount of processing charges that were received during the quarter;
the number of applications received for Internal Review and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
and the decisions made from these reviews;
details of any amendments to personal records.
317. The types of information required to complete the annual statistics are:
Number of staffing resources involved in FOI work. This is broken down into staff members
spending 0-75% of time on FOI work and staff members spending over 75% of time on FOI work;
calculating the total number of hours the line areas spent of FOI work;
cost associated with FOI. This includes the cost of photocopying, postage, telephone, purchase
of FOI material, FOI training, printing, travel, solicitor’s fees, legal counsel fees, application’s
litigation costs, computer time and any other cost spent on FOI.
Important Dates
Quarterly Statistics
318. Below are the reporting deadlines:
Quarter 1 covers the period from 1 July to 30 September and the statistical information is due
on 21 October.
Quarter 2 covers the period from 1 October to 31 December and the statistical information is
due on 21 January.
Quarter 3 covers the period from 1 January to 31 March and the statistical information is due on
21 April.
Quarter 4 covers the period for 1 April to 30 June and the statistical information is due on 21
July.
Annual Statistics
319. The Annual returns must be submitted by 31 July for the financial year ending 30 June.
Roles and Responsibilities
FOI Officers
320. The FOI officer is responsible for ensuring all fields are accurately completed in the LEX record,
including once the request has been finalised.
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FOI Stats Officer
321. At the beginning of each month the FOI stats officer is responsible for actioning the FOI statistical
reporting. The FOI stats officer is required to follow the FOI statistical reporting process
documented in the FOI Statistical Reporting Task card.
322. The FOI stats officer is responsible for completing the FOI statistical quarterly reporting to the
OAIC. This is to be completed by the dates shown above in Important Dates – Quarterly
Statistics. The FOI stats officer is required to follow the OAIC quarterly reporting process
documented in the FOI Statistical Reporting Task card.
323. The FOI stats officer is responsible for completing the FOI statistical annual reporting to the
OAIC. This is to be completed by the dates shown above in Important Dates – Annual
Statistics. The FOI stats officer is required to follow the OAIC annual reporting process documented
in the FOI Statistical Reporting Task card.
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Attachment D – Quality Assurance Guide
Freedom of Information Quality Assurance Guide and
Checklist
Decision Maker Responsibilities
When quality assurance is complete – read and take into account the
quality assurance comments/feedback, and discuss anything you do
not agree with or understand with the team member who completed
the quality assurance.
Presenting the work for quality assurance
Read over the request to ensure you have covered all aspects of what has been requested.
Proof read the letter to ensure it addresses the request meets the legislative requirements
and flows logically.
Correct any grammatical errors and typos as this is not the role of quality assurance.
Case notes must be up to date in the database and scans of all stakeholder consultation and
statutory consultations in LEX folders to assist with background information.
Ensure that you advise the second counsellor of any sensitivity and/or any particular issues
you may have with the decision and/or letter.
In addition to quality assurance, a further check is required to ensure all redaction is correctly
applied on all documents.
Ensure there is enough time for quality assurance within FOI time frames
Do not assume a same day turnover. If the matter is complex or sensitive more time will be
required.
You should be discussing timeframes with the team member undertaking quality assurance as
part of workload management.
Do not make a commitment to an applicant on decision notification dates without checking
with quality assurance officer first.
Generally a case should be ready for quality assurance
five working days prior to the due
date.
All documents are checked for redaction before sending to the applicant
Decision and documents should be prepared for notification within a timely period after QA
response received (generally with 24 hours).
In addition to the quality assurance of the decision,
all documents must be checked by
another person before sending to the applicant.
Check all paper copies of documents to ensure redaction has been applied and correct
documents are being sent to applicant
If documents are being sent by email, another person should check that the correct redacted
documents have been attached to the email, prior to the email being sent.
After documents are thoroughly checked, signed off, place in envelope/ prepare email and
send to applicant
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Quality Assurance suggestions
1.
Why is quality assurance undertaken?
Helps decision maker and the quality assurance officer to learn.
Helps assure quality and consistency.
Ensures that all redaction is applied correctly before decision is sent to the applicant thereby
reducing the risk of inadvertent disclosure.
2.
Who can complete quality assurance?
Quality assurance must occur at the EL1 and above level. See Second Counselling Guide
above.
3.
Feedback
This is an opportunity to drive quality and consistency.
Quality assurance officers should be prepared to discuss their feedback with the decision
maker. If time is not available prior to the decision being notified, make some time to discuss
as soon as time is available after the matter notified.
4.
Ensure timely feedback
If a quality assurance officer cannot provide feedback in a reasonable time, the matter
should be escalated to an EL2 for urgent re-allocation of quality assurance.
5.
Consider whether the substance of the decision meets the legislative
requirements
If the decision is legally incorrect or is unclear provide constructive suggestions as to how the
decision/letter could be improved.
Explain the changes you are making – it is not useful to merely cross out parts of or the entire
decision without explanation.
6.
Look at the structure of the letter
Is it set out on the decision template?
Is the letter structured/set out appropriately?
Does the letter make sense?
7.
Check all paper work to ensure documents are correct
All documents for release must be checked before sending including to ensure that
redactions have been correctly applied?
The schedule and decision letter must be checked to ensure exemptions and redaction has
been correctly applied?
Is any meta data visible or can the redaction be lifted from the paper work?
Please note:
Quality assurance does not take the place of supervision and does not limit the role of supervisors giving
performance feedback.
The quality assurance provides an integrity check to ensure the decision aligns with the FOI legislation and
is not a process to redo the original decision.
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Guide – FOI Quality Assurance Checklist
Action
Open:
decision letter; and
documents for release with draft
redactions
Open original request (shared drive LEX folder):
Address details in request– match the
address on the notice
Scope of the original request
How notices to be sent
Open LEX – go to file notes – reports and
display all file notes
Check the POI check done – generally
during registration phase.
No Privacy issues
In share drive LEX folder
SPOC responses
Consultation with applicant, third parties.
Check letter – decision is in line with the Act.
Ful scope is addressed.
Check documents – appropriate redactions
Checked against schedule
File notes are up to date in the database and
scans of all stakeholder consultation and
statutory consultations saved in folders to
assist with background information.
Check coding on LEX as appropriate for:
Time and costs coded
Clock coding and date valid are correct
Documents requested is correct
Exemptions coded in file notes for Grant
in part and access refused decisions
Open QA spreadsheet in your name - Record
the QA outcome
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Attachment E – Request for Psychological reports
Psychologist Reports
1.
Section 47E(a), (b) and (d) should be carefully considered when a request for a
psychologists report is received. For such request FOI officers must consult with the
appropriate Psychologist stakeholder area. This is necessary to ensure that all documents
that fall within the scope of the request are located, and that all concerns regarding the
release are identified. Documentation of the interaction with the psychologist should be
maintained on file, especially when the psychologist expresses concern about the release
of the report.
2.
There are a number of exemptions that can be considered when making decisions
regarding release of psychologist’s reports. When applying any of these exemptions, the
FOI officer must include documentary evidence of consultation and responses from
appropriate stakeholders. Psychologist’s reports must not be released without consultation
with the relevant line area.
Background:
3.
DHS Psychologists conduct interviews which may include psychometric
assessments. Where relevant, the Psychologist collects information from third parties,
records relevant information and writes a report.
4.
DHS often receives FOI requests from customers seeking access to reports prepared by
psychologists. When such requests are received, the relevant line area must be advised of
the request, and asked to identify any concerns about the direct release of the report to
the customer.
5.
DHS occasionally receives FOI requests for access to the raw test results from psychometric
test instruments used by the psychologist during the assessment. Generally these test
materials, data and reports have not been designed for release to the customer as they are
in a format for professional use only.
Psychometric Tests:
6.
The effectiveness of psychological tests is based on the confidentiality of the test questions
and answers.
7.
Release of test questions and answers to members of the public would seriously
compromise their confidentiality.
8.
It would also allow potential test participants to contrive or modify responses during future
tests, thereby placing the validity, integrity and usefulness of the test in jeopardy.
9.
Thus, public knowledge of test questions and answers would render such tests useless to
DHS Psychologists specifically, and to the psychological profession generally.
10. For this reason, access to, and administration of psychometric tests are restricted to
qualified and registered psychologists.
11. Under the Psychologists Code of Ethics (Section A/6), psychologists must not compromise
the effective use of psychological tests, nor render them open to misuse, by publishing or
otherwise disclosing their contents to persons unauthorised or unqualified to receive such
information.
12. Accordingly, consideration needs to be given to whether psychometric test materials
administered by psychologists and customer responses to those tests would be exempted
from release under FOI.
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Attachment F - Decision Tree FOI and CSA secrecy provisions
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Attachment G - S 24AB Consulatation Process - Assisting an Applicant
S 24AB Consultation Process – Assisting an Applicant
FOI guidelines
FOI officers must have regard to the guidelines issued by the OAIC where a Practical Refusal Reason is
identified.
Informal Consultation First
Where a Practical Refusal Reason arises you should firstly attempt informal consultation with the
applicant to clarify the request. This should be within a reasonable period of time after being allocated
the matter. In some cases it may be possible to do so within the first two days of being allocated the
matter.
FOI officers should consider if there is an opportunity to facilitate informal access to some information
during the initial FOI request stage. This may involve consultation with the stakeholder line area or
coordination through the FOI team’s administrative access processing team.
Informal consultation should preferably be by telephone to save time and to facilitate discussion on the
terms of the request. When undertaking an informal consultation it is preferable to reiterate to the
applicant that staff details are considered to be out of scope.
Telephone contact is often more helpful in clarifying the request to remove the Practical Refusal Reason.
Where a verbal informal discussion leads to a revised request, it is best practice to notify the applicant of
the revised scope in writing. If it is not possible to do so then FOI practitioners must consult their Team
Leader.
Process
Process
The FOI officer will send an email, or letter, to the FOI applicant notifying them that they have revised the
scope of the request based on their discussion and setting out the terms of the revised scope.
Email address available
Where an email confirmation is sent, the applicant should be asked to contact the FOI officer
within 2 days if the revised scope is incorrect. This short time frame will limit the days spent
awaiting a response.
No email address
Where there is no email address, a notification of the revised scope must be sent via post.
In both these cases, the FOI officer should discuss the process with the applicant to explain the
correspondence that will be sent, and the action that is required by them.
If it is not possible to complete informal consultation with the applicant, the request must continue to be
processed. Where a Practical Refusal Reason still exists, which includes where an applicant has not
responded to the informal consultation within a reasonable period of time, initiate a formal request
consultation process under s 24AB. A reasonable period of time may be determined by taking into
account the time remaining to process the request.
Assisting the applicant during a request consultation process
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If the applicant contacts the FOI officer during the consultation period, the officer must take reasonable
steps to help them review the request so that the Practical Refusal Reason no longer exists (s24AB(3)).
The applicant typically does not know details of the type of documents held by the department, how they
are held and how to describe the documents. In consulting with the applicant, the FOI officer should aim
to assist the applicant to frame a request that can be processed.
Suggestions
Consultation with the stakeholder FOI single point of contact officer. They may assist you by:
identifying issues that may have triggered a request; and
identify types of documents that could be helpful to the applicant for that issue.
Consultation with the applicant
Clarify the program the matter may relate to.
Is there a particular issue that has prompted the request for documents? Perhaps the request
could be narrowed to summary documents associated with issue.
Is there a particular date range that the request can be limited to?
Could some documents be excluded from the request? For example, letters sent to the applicant.
Applicants must respond to a consult notice in writing. You may consider extending the timeframe for a
response to the notice where circumstances warrant an extension however you must have the applicant’s
consent (s 24AB(5)). If the applicant cannot reply by email, time can be extended, with the applicant’s
agreement (s 24AB(5)), to allow for a mail reply. Time could also be extended, with the applicant’s
agreement (s 24AB(5)), to allow a third party with authority to respond in writing, where literacy is an
issue.
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wil need to be created in this circumstance to ensure reporting requirements can be
met. Link as related requests.
6
Checking with SNC to see if related to SNC matter
7
Check with Serious Non Compliance (SNC) and not a SNC matter
8
EOT - Bulk Notification to OAIC
9
E File No: ER17/
a
Request received INSERT DATE (date format example 14 July 2017):
A
Referred for QA - Grant full access
- s22 redactions applied to staff details / out of scope material
- no s22 redactions to be applied
- No exemptions identified
- s47F considered but not applied in respect of (identify information) as (provide reason)
- satisfied documents provided by SPOC/s address rqst
- SPOC concerns noted, however not warranting any additional consults
- SPOC has not identified any sensitivities
- Al relevant consults undertaken
- Out of scope documents removed – relates to (provide brief description or explanation)
- Duplicate documents removed – relates to (provide brief description or explanation)
- Have amended decision letter to suit circumstances of this matter
- Include any other comments relevant to decision
B
Referred for QA - Grant access in part – (provide Act Reference/s)
- s22 redactions applied to staff details / out of scope material
- no s22 redactions to be applied
- No other exemptions identified
- s47F considered but not applied in respect of (identify information) as (provide reason)
- satisfied documents provided by SPOC/s address rqst
- satisfied reasonable searches undertaken by SPOC/s to locate requested documents
- SPOC concerns noted, however not warranting any additional consults
- SPOC has not identified any sensitivities
- Al relevant consults undertaken
- Out of scope documents removed – relates to (provide brief description or explanation)
- Duplicate documents removed – relates to (provide brief description or explanation)
- Have amended decision letter to suit circumstances of this matter
- Include any other comments relevant to decision
b
Date request received in Dept:
Received via: Positional Mailbox/Process Direct
DOC ID:
Work item ID:
(Delete DOC ID & Work item ID if not received via Process Direct)
Date request received in the FOI team:
c
Empty
C
Referred for QA - ACCESS REFUSED
- Access refused – (provide Act Reference/s)
- For s24A
- satisfied reasonable searches undertaken by SPOC/s to locate requested documents
- For S47F(1)
- 3rd party consulted – refer to LEX note XX/XX/XXXX for details
- 3rd party not consulted (provide explanation)
- Do not consider reasonable to release documents (provide explanation)
- Include any other comments relevant to decision
D
Empty
d
MANDATORY PRIVACY CHECKLIST - FOI
_____________________________________________
COMPILING FOI DOCUMENTS
1. Documents checked for third party information. Redactions applied as appropriate
and in line with the FOI Act (e.g. spouse, child not in care, wrong customer, lists of other
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customer names)
____________________________________________
2. Tax File Numbers removed.
_______________________________________
PREPARE FOI LETTERS:
3. Correct Address used (latest address on FOI application or mainframe)
4. Cover letter checked for correct names and correct reference number/s.
_____________________________________________
BEFORE SENDING FOR QA
5. Final check of letters, schedule and documents for third party information
(appropriately considered under the FOI Act)
____________________________________________
e
FINAL PRIVACY CHECK PRIOR TO RELEASE (TO BE COMPLETED BY ANOTHER
PERSON)
____________________________________________
1. Check for correct documents to the correct customer, and correct address.
2. Final redactions applied to documents for release.
3. Checked that covering letter is consistent with the FOI decision and documents to be
released (FOI reference numbers match, amount of pages to be released matches
decision letter).
4. Final check for correct applicant and correct mailing address on envelope or email
(latest address on FOI application or mainframe)
5. S47F(5) documents are not attached to the initial decision. Held back for release to
qualified person. ____________________________________________
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