19 June 2020
Robert Gorwa
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Gorwa
Request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 –
revision of scope, third party consultation and extension of deadline
I refer to our telephone conversation on 16 June 2020.
In accordance with our verbal agreement on 16 June, the purpose of this letter is to:
• obtain your confirmation of the revised scope of your request under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) dated 8 June 2020;
• notify you of the requirement to consult with third parties which will extend the
statutory deadline by 30 days under s15(6) of the FOI Act;
• confirm your agreement to an extension of the statutory deadline under s15AA of the
FOI Act for an additional 30 days.
I confirm that I am an authorised decision maker within the meaning of section 23 of the FOI
Act.
Original request
On 8 June 2020, you lodged a freedom of information (FOI) request with the Office of the
eSafety Commissioner (eSafety).
In accordance with eSafety’s letter to you dated 16 June 2020 notifying you of a part transfer
of your original FOI request, the part of your request which remained with eSafety was as
follows:
All documentation relating to the engagement with civil society and industry stakeholders in
the lead up and follow up to the AVM legislation being passed, including but not limited to
documents pertaining to the… (b) 'eSafety Commisioner's meetings with industry
stakeholders,' … mentioned in the Commisioner's Factsheet on the AVM act published on
the 24th of March.[1] These documents may include but not be limited to email
correspondence, meeting minutes and agendas, draft reports and policy memos.
[1]: https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/eSafety-AVM-factsheet.pdf
Revised scope of the request
Based on our discussion, the revised scope of your FOI request is as follows:
All documentation relating to the eSafety Commissioner’s engagement with civil society and
industry stakeholders in relation to the Abhorrent Violent Material legislation in the period
from 15 March 2019 to 31 May 2019, including but not limited to documents pertaining to the
eSafety Commissioner’s meetings with industry stakeholders mentioned in the
Commissioner’s Factsheet on the AVM act published on the 24th of March.[1]
[1]: https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/eSafety-AVM-factsheet.pdf
P: 33992873
1800 880 176
E: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
esafety.gov.au
Excluded from any documentation which falls within the above scope of the request are:
• all draft documents
• all internal correspondence within the eSafety Commissioner’s Office (for example,
back and forth internal emails between eSafety staff)
• documents already published by the eSafety Commissioner on the FOI Disclosure
Log.
A draft document will be taken to be multiple iterations of the same document or incomplete
or unfinalised documents. However, if there is a finalised but unpublished document, this will
not be categorised as ‘draft’.
Consultation with third parties
A number of documents which fall within the terms of your request contain personal
information about third persons.
Section 47F of the FOI Act relevantly provides:
(1) A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would involve the
unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased
person).
A number of documents which fall within the terms of your request also contain information
about the business or professional affairs of third persons.
Section 47G of the FOI Act relevantly provides:
(1) A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would disclose
information concerning a person in respect of his or her business or professional affairs... in
a case in which the disclosure of the information:
(a) would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that person adversely on
respect of his or her lawful business or professional affairs....
As the individuals whose personal information and/or information concerning their business
or professional affairs appears in these documents may reasonably wish to contend that the
information is exempt under sections 47F or 47G of the FOI Act, eSafety is required, in
accordance with sections 27 or 27A of the FOI Act, to give them a reasonable opportunity to
make submissions in relation to the application of the exemption.
I will therefore be writing to the relevant individuals in relation to the documents that contain
their personal information and/or information concerning their business or professional
affairs.
Time limit for processing your request
To enable this third party consultation, the statutory time period for processing the request
has, in accordance with subsection 15(6) of the FOI Act, been extended by an additional 30
days (i.e. 7 August 2020).
P: 33992873
1800 880 176
E: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
esafety.gov.au
As discussed, can you please also confirm by return email that you are amenable to
extending the deadline for processing your request for an additional 30 days under s15AA of
the FOI Act. This would mean that the final date for processing the request would be 7
September 2020, although the decision on access will be made as soon as practicable.
If you have any questions, please contact me.
Kind regards,
FOI Coordinator
Office of the eSafety Commissioner
E: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
T: 1800 880 176
W
: www.esafety.gov.au
P: 33992873
1800 880 176
E: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
esafety.gov.au
