If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
7 January 2020
Our reference: LEX 50220
Ms Julie Middleton
By email only: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ms Middleton,
Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information (FOI) Request
Thank you for your request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (
FOI Act). You requested access to:
'1. The annual number of Newstart recipients from 2007 with an assessed work
capacity of under 30 hours per week, who have been sent for an independent medical
assessment. That is, a Disability Medical Assessment, with Sonic HealthPlus or other
service provider.
2. Statistics for the annual number of Newstart recipients from 2007, who have been
assessed under the Centrelink Impairment Tables as having a:
a) mild impact (5 points)
b) moderate impact (10 points)
c) severe impact (20 points); or
d) extreme (30 points) impact
The figures of the above, will reconcile with the annual totals in point 1.
3. The annual number of Newstart recipients from 2007, who have been assessed as
having 20 or more points from the Impairment Table, who:
a) have been actively participating in a Program of Support (POS); and
b) have a Mutual Obligation Requirement to attend compulsory appointments with
Centrelink every 12 weeks. This would be an exemption from being in the POS'.
Timeframe for processing your request
Your request was received by the department on 1 January 2020 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
Due to the department's reduced activity period over December and January, during which
many business areas of the department have end of year shut down or reduced staff, we are
seeking your permission to extend the processing time by an extra 15 days to allow us to
process your request. Can you please confirm by
10 January 2020 if you agree to an
extension of time of 15 days under the FOI Act (s 15AA).
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Charges
The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request and the amount
of any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is payable for providing a person with
their own personal information.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address to which we can send notices. You
have advised your electronic address is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. We
will send all notices and correspondence to this address. Please advise us as soon as possible
if you wish correspondence to be sent to another address or if your address changes. If you
do not advise us of changes to your address, correspondence and notices will continue to be
sent to the address specified above.
Administrative release of documents
The department has administrative access arrangements (
arrangements) for the release of
certain documents without the need for a formal FOI request. You have indicated in your
request that you agree to have documents provided to you under these arrangements. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties. You will be notified
when documents are released to you under the arrangements.
Disclosure log
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log
on the department's website. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication, however it
is subject to certain exceptions, including where publication of personal, business, professional
or commercial information would be unreasonable.
Exclusion of junior staff details
The department is working towards ensuring that all staff have a choice about whether they
provide their full name, personal logon identifiers and direct contact details in response to
public enquiries. Where such details are included in the scope of a request, this may add to
processing time and applicable charges as it may be necessary to consider whether the details
are exempt under the FOI Act. On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume that
these details are out of scope of your request and they will be redacted under section 22 of the
FOI Act.
Further assistance
If you have any FOI questions please email xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Registration Officer
Freedom of Information Team
Employment Law and Freedom of Information Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
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Department of Human Services