26 April 2013
Dr Jason Wilson
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Dr Wilson
FOI REQUEST - REFERENCE NUMBER 2013-13
I refer to your email of 14 February 2013 in which you sought access to documents under
the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). In our subsequent correspondence, the
scope of your request was refined to the following:
Documents which report on traffic and comments to the following websites during the
period 1999 to 2011:
“ABC The Drum” websites - The Drum and The Drum Unleashed when it was
operating under a separate masthead; and
ABC Online’s opinion websites prior to the launch of The Drum.
I am writing to notify you in accordance with s24AB of the FOI Act of my intention to refuse
access to documents on the basis of a practical refusal reason, and to initiate a consultation
period to enable you to revise your request so that the practical refusal reason no longer
exists.
The practical refusal reasons are as follows:
The request does not provide sufficient information concerning the documents which
would enable me to identify them. In my letter of 28 February 2013, I advised that:
“the ABC receives and publishes comments on an enormous number of
websites and digital services. Some of these sites may be managed and/or
moderated by third parties (such as co-producers), and others may be social
media pages... It would be of assistance to clarify and refine your request to
limit the scope to ... include only specific websites”
The scope of your request was not sufficiently narrowed in your email of 26 March
2013 to enable me to identify the particular “opinion websites” that you are referring
to.
The work involved in processing the request would substantially and unreasonably
divert the ABC’s resources from its other operations. There are hundreds of
contributors who provide opinion pieces on ABC digital services. ABC staff would be
required to search through an extensive number of records in order to identify all
documents relating to comments and traffic to all services which could be described
as “opinion sites” over a 12 year period. This would involve a substantial amount time
and resources. There will be a further body of work required to make an assessment
as to relevance and access.
The FOI allows a 14 day consultation period from the day after the date of this letter. If you
wish to revise your request so that the practical refusal reasons no longer exist, you may
contact me either by phone on 02 8333 5316 or by email
at xxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Within that 14 day period you are required to do one of the following in writing:
a. Withdraw the request;
b. Revise the request; or
c. Indicate that you do not wish to revise the request.
Please note that if I do not hear from you, your request will be deemed to be withdrawn.
Yours sincerely
Judith Maude
Head, Corporate Governance
Direct line 02 8333 5316
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