OFFICIAL
PO Box 457
CANBERRA ACT 2601
dta.gov.au
Our ref. 180/2020
Andy Johnson
Via email
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Andy,
Notice of intention to refuse FOI request - request consultation process
1.
Your revised FOI request, dated 29 February 2020 and received by the DTA on 29 February 2020,
requested access to the fol owing documents:
All reports / documents delivered by consulting firm McKinsey & Company to the Agency since
inception. In addition, I would like to request a copy of each invoice paid to McKinsey for each
report (including $ fees paid, rate card applied, and other commercial terms).
2.
This is a notice of an intention to refuse access to the documents you have requested because a
practical refusal reason exists under s 24(1) of the FOI Act. I am issuing this notice under s 24AB(2) of
the FOI Act.
3.
The practical refusal reason is that the work involved in processing the request would substantial y
and unreasonably divert the resources of the DTA from its other operations as specified in
s 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the FOI Act.
Request is substantial
4.
Following our electronic searches of documents, I have identified 98 documents totalling 793 pages
relevant to your request as presently framed. I estimate that retrieval and processing of these
documents so they can be reviewed for decision making would require 5 hours.
5.
The nature of the documents you have requested captures deliberations and decision documents that
are likely to include commercial information.
6.
In addition to the significant volume of material that would need to be reviewed, the inherent
complexity of the material will require a detailed and careful analysis and review to make a decision. I
estimate 2 minutes per page would be required for document review and decision making. I also
estimate that consultation with up to 17 third parties would be required and would take 7 hours. It is
also reasonable to expect that a significant amount of material might require redaction to exclude
exempt parts and would require a further 2 minutes per page. Further time would be required to
prepare a decision and statement of reasons and reflect this in a schedule of documents.
7.
In total, I estimate this would require over 80 hours of processing time to deal with this request. In
other words, if one person were to dedicate themselves to processing this request ful time, it would
take them two weeks. I am satisfied that this is a 'substantial' request.
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Request is unreasonable
8.
For the purpose of providing you with this notice, I have considered that the substantial resource
burden would be unreasonable having regard to:
— the fact that the work involved in processing your request wil require DTA staff to be taken away
from their usual duties for a substantial period of time.
9.
This is consistent with guidance from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in
VMQD and Commissioner
of Taxation (Freedom of information) [2018] AATA 4619 (17 December 2018) about the threshold for
a practical refusal reason where SM Puplick commented that:
[100] The Information Commissioner has noted in relation to the other element of
the test that, “whether or not disclosure would be “unreasonable” is a question of
fact and degree which calls for a balancing of all the legitimate interests involved.”
[101] What constitutes valid practical refusal grounds is thus agency specific and
resource dependent. Nevertheless for any agency, a burden in excess of 200 hours
would almost certainly make the threshold of a rational and objective test. As is
il ustrated above, burdens as (relatively) small as 74 hours have been so
characterised.
What you should do
10.
I am the agency officer with whom you may consult with a view to making the request in a form that
would remove the ground for refusal. You can contact me on 02 6120 8541.
11.
I will assist you, as far as possible, to revise your request so that the practical refusal reason no longer
exists. We did ask you if you wished to restrict your request to the previous twelve months, although
we have not heard back from you. If you are able to reduce the time frame, pinpoint the specific
documents within your request, or clarify more particularly the information you are seeking, that may
assist. I would be pleased to discuss with you in greater detail how your request might be
appropriately further revised.
12.
You have 14 days from the date you receive this notice to either:
— withdraw your request
— make a revised request
— indicate you do not wish to revise your request.
13.
If you do not respond in one of these ways within 14 days your request wil be taken to have been
withdrawn pursuant to s 24AB(7) of the FOI Act. If you indicate you do not wish to revise your
request, I wil proceed to make a decision on whether to refuse your request on resource grounds
under s 24(1). If you need more time to respond, please contact me within the 14 day period to
discuss your need for an extension of time.
14.
Under s 24AB(8) of the FOI Act, the time for processing your FOI request is suspended from the day
you receive this notice until the day you do one of the things listed in paragraph
12 above.
Yours sincerely,
Morgan
FOI Officer
Date: 19/03/2019
OFFICIAL
Document Outline
