27 July 2020
Mr J Smith
BY EMAIL: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request:
FA 20/06/00821
File Number:
OBJ2020/19987
Dear Mr Smith
Freedom of Information (FOI) request - Access Decision
On 18 June 2020, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) received a request for
access to a document under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
1
Scope of request
You have requested access to the following document:
A copy of the contract with commonwealth tender ID CN315697, between DHA and
Launch Recruitment Pty ltd, publish date 25 March 2011.
2
Authority to make decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in respect of
requests to access documents or to amend or annotate records.
3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
the terms of your request
the document relevant to the request
the FOI Act
Guidelines published by the Office of the Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines)
consultation responses from third parties consulted in accordance with the FOI Act
advice from departmental officers with responsibility for matters relating to the
document to which you sought access.
6 Chan Street Belconnen ACT 2617
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 Telephone: 02 6264 1111 Fax: 02 6225 6970 www.homeaffairs.gov.au
4
Document in scope of request
The Department has identified one document as falling within the scope of your request.
This document was in the possession of the Department on 18 June 2020 when your
request was received.
5
Decision
The decision in relation to the document in the possession of the Department which falls
within the scope of your request is as follows:
Release one document in part with exemptions.
6
Reasons for Decision
Detailed reasons for my decision are set out below.
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemption provisions apply to that
information are set out below.
6.1 Section 22 of the FOI Act – irrelevant to request
Section 22 of the FOI Act provides that if giving access to a document would disclose
information that would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request, it is possible for
the Department to prepare an edited copy of the document, modified by deletions, ensuring
that the edited copy would not disclose any information that would reasonably be regarded
as irrelevant to the request.
It is the Department’s policy to exclude the personal details of officers not in the Senior
Executive Service (SES), as well as the mobile and work telephone numbers of SES staff,
contained in documents that fall within scope of an FOI request.
Accordingly, I have decided that parts of document marked ‘s22(1)(a)(ii)’ would disclose
information that could reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to your request. I have
prepared an edited copy of the document, with the irrelevant material deleted pursuant to
section 22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act.
The remainder of the document has been considered for release to you as it is relevant to
your request.
6.2 Section 47F of the FOI Act – Personal Privacy
Section 47F of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure
under the FOI Act would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information of
any person. ‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified
individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion
is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not
(see s.4 of the FOI Act and s.6 of the Privacy Act 1988).
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I consider that disclosure of the information marked 's47F' in the document would disclose
personal information relating to third parties. The information within the document would
reasonably identify a person, either through names, positions or descriptions of their role
or employment circumstance.
The FOI Act states that, when deciding whether the disclosure of the personal information
would be ‘unreasonable’, I must have regard to four factors set out in s.47F(2) of the
FOI Act. I have therefore considered each of these factors below:
the extent to which the information is well known;
whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have
been) associated with the matters dealt with in the document;
the availability of the information from publicly available resources;
any other matters that I consider relevant.
The information relating to the third parties is not well known and would only be known to
a limited group of people with a business need to know. As this information is only known
to a limited group of people, the individuals concerned are not generally known to be
associated with the matters discussed in the document. This information is not available
from publicly accessible sources.
I do not consider that the information relating specifically to the third parties would be
relevant to the broader scope of your request, as you are seeking access to a contract
between the Department and an organisation, rather than information that wholly relates to
other individuals.
I am satisfied that the disclosure of the information within the document would involve
an unreasonable disclosure of personal information about a number of individuals.
I have decided that the information referred to above is conditionally exempt under
section 47F of the FOI Act. Access to a conditionally exempt document must generally be
given unless it would be contrary to the public interest to do so. I have turned my mind to
whether disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest and have
included my reasoning in that regard at paragraph 6.4 below.
6.3 Section 47G of the FOI Act – Business Affairs
Section 47G(1)(a) of the FOI Act permits conditional exemption of documents containing
business information where disclosure of that information would, or could reasonably be
expected to, unreasonably affect the organisation adversely in respect of its lawful
business, commercial or financial affairs.
I consider that parts of the document contain information concerning the business,
commercial or financial affairs of an organisation.
The information is in the nature of amounts or rates of payment for the services specified
in the contract.
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In determining whether disclosure of the information within the document would or could
reasonably be expected to adversely affect the lawful business, commercial or financial
affairs of an organisation, I have had regard to the following factors:
(a)
the extent to which the information is well known;
(b)
whether the organisation or undertaking is known to be associated with the
matters dealt with in the document;
(c)
the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources; and
(d)
any other matters that the Department considers relevant.
The information exempted from release is not in the public domain; while the organisation
is known to be associated with the matters contained in the document, this is not the case
in relation to the specific information that has been exempted; and the information that has
been exempted is not available from publicly accessible sources, such as the
organisation’s website. I am therefore satisfied that the disclosure of the information would,
or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that organisation in respect of its
lawful business, commercial or financial affairs.
I have decided that the parts of the document referred to above are conditionally exempt
under section 47G of the FOI Act. Access to a conditionally exempt document must
generally be given unless it would be contrary to the public interest to do so. I have turned
my mind to whether disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest,
and have included my reasoning in that regard at paragraph 6.4 below.
6.4 The public interest – section 11A of the FOI Act
As I have decided that parts of the document are conditionally exempt, I am now required
to consider whether access to the conditionally exempt information would be contrary to
the public interest (section 11A of the FOI Act).
A part of a document that is conditionally exempt must also meet the public interest test in
section 11A(5) before an exemption may be claimed in respect of that part.
In summary, the test is whether access to the conditionally exempt part of the document
would be, on balance, contrary to the public interest.
In applying this test, I have noted the objects of the FOI Act and the importance of the other
factors listed in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act, being whether access to the document would
do any of the following:
(a)
promote the objects of this Act (including all the matters set out in sections 3 and
3A);
(b)
inform debate on a matter of public importance;
(c)
promote effective oversight of public expenditure;
(d)
allow a person to access his or her own personal information.
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Having regard to the above:
I am satisfied that access to the document would promote the objects of the FOI
Act.
I consider that the subject matter of the document does not seem to have the
character of public importance. The matter has a very limited scope and, in my
view, would be of interest to a very narrow section of the public.
I consider that no significant insights into public expenditure would be provided
through examination of the document.
I am satisfied that you do not require access to the document in order to access
your own personal information.
I have also considered the following factors that weigh against the release of the
conditionally exempt information in the document:
Disclosure of the personal information that is conditionally exempt under
section 47F of the FOI Act could reasonably be expected to prejudice the
protection of those individuals’ right to privacy.
The Department is committed to complying with its obligations under the Privacy
Act 1988, which sets out standards and obligations that regulate how the
Department must handle and manage personal information. It is firmly in the
public interest that the Department upholds the rights of individuals to their own
privacy and meets its obligations under the Privacy Act. I consider that
non-compliance with the Department’s statutory obligations concerning the
protection of personal information would be contrary to the public interest and that
this factor weighs strongly against disclosure.
Disclosure of the parts of the document that are conditionally exempt under
section 47G of the FOI Act could reasonably be expected to prejudice the
competitive commercial activities of third party organisations. I consider that this
would be contrary to the public interest and that this factor weighs strongly against
disclosure.
I have also had regard to section 11B(4) which sets out the factors which are irrelevant to
my decision, which are:
a) access to the document could result in embarrassment to the Commonwealth
Government, or cause a loss of confidence in the Commonwealth Government;
b) access to the document could result in any person misinterpreting or
misunderstanding the document;
c) the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to which the
request for access to the document was made;
d) access to the document could result in confusion or unnecessary debate.
I have not taken into account any of those factors in this decision.
Upon balancing all of the above relevant public interest considerations, I have concluded
that the disclosure of the conditionally exempt information in the document would be
contrary to the public interest and it is therefore exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act.
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7
Legislation
A copy of the FOI Act is available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562.
If you are unable to access the legislation through this website, please contact our office
for a copy.
8
Your Review Rights
Internal Review
If you disagree with this decision, you have the right to apply for an internal review by the
Department of this decision. Any request for internal review must be provided to the
Department within 30 days of you being notified of the decision. Where possible please
attach reasons why you believe a review of the decision is necessary. The internal review
will be carried out by an officer other than the original decision maker and the Department
must make a review decision within 30 days.
Applications for review should be sent to:
By email to: xxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
OR
By mail to:
Freedom of Information Section
Department of Home Affairs
PO Box 25
BELCONNEN ACT 2617
Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
You may apply directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for
a review of this decision. You must apply in writing within 60 days of this notice. For further
information about review rights and how to submit a request for a review to the OAIC,
please see Fact Sheet 12 "Freedom of information – Your review rights", available online
at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-review-process.
9
Making a Complaint
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action taken by the
Department in relation to your request.
Your enquiries to the Australian Information Commissioner can be directed to:
Phone 1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Email xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
There is no particular form required to make a complaint to the Australian Information
Commissioner. The request should be in writing and should set out the grounds on which
it is considered that the action taken in relation to the request should be investigated and
identify the Department of Home Affairs as the relevant agency.
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10
Contacting the FOI Section
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Section
at: xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Position no. 60018716
Authorised Decision Maker
Department of Home Affairs
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