FOI ref: 2020/0564
29 October 2020
Mr John Smith
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Smith
Notice of internal review decision for freedom of information request no.
2020/00564
The purpose of this letter is to advise you of my decision on your request for internal
review under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
Summary
I am an of icer authorised under s 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to
FOI requests.
On 29 August 2020 you made a request under the FOI Act in the following terms:
I seek as fol ow-up to this FOI, the total number of Member Services Officers working at the
AAT on a labour hire contract.
I also seek the position titles of all SES officers working on a labour hire contract (if any
exist). SES officers do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy as to their employment
status, given their seniority and high level of renumeration [sic]
.
On 28 September 2020 we sent you a decision refusing access to the documents you
requested under section 24A of the FOI Act on the basis that the documents do not
exist.
• In relation to the first part of your request, the decision-maker found no document
existed because there were no Member Support Of icers working under labour
hire arrangements.
• In relation to the second part of your request, the decision-maker found no
document existed because Senior Executive Service (SES) officers are a class
of employee that must be employed under the
Public Service Act 1999 and
cannot be engaged under labour hire arrangements.
Level 6, 83 Clarence Street
T: 02 9276 5000 or 1800 228 333
National Relay Service
SYDNEY NSW 2000
F: 02 9276 5599
www.relayservice.gov.au
GPO Box 9955 Sydney NSW 2001
E: xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
ABN 90 680 970 626
www.aat.gov.au
On 29 September 2020 we received your request for internal review of that decision in
the following terms:
I seek internal review of that decision; on the grounds that I obviously did not mean SES
officers as defined in the Public Service Act.
What the request was obviously asking for; was for people working on labour hire contracts,
working in roles that would ordinarily be fil ed by somebody with an SES level classification; if
a labour hire employee was not being used.
I have treated your request for internal review as concerning the decision on the second
part of your request.
Decision
In making my decision, I have taken the following into account:
• your emails received on 29 August 2020 and 29 September 2020
• the notice of decision for FOI request no. 2020/0096
• the FOI Act, specifically sections 22 and 47F
• the guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under s 93A of
the FOI Act, and
• the views of a third party consulted by the AAT under section 27A of the FOI Act.
I have decided to grant full access to the information you seek; namely, the position title
of any person working under a labour hire arrangement in a role that could be
considered equivalent to an SES level. This information is set out in the at ached
document, which is the document originally sent to you with the notice of decision for
FOI request no. 2020/0085. The information released in accordance with this decision is
no longer redacted. The other information set out in that document, which is irrelevant to
the FOI request the subject of this internal review decision, has been deleted in
accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act.
If you have any questions about this decision, please contact me a
t xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Your review rights and right to make a complaint
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply to the Australian Information
Commissioner for review. An application for review by the Information Commissioner
must be made in writing within 60 days after the date of this letter, and be lodged in one
of the following ways:
online:
https:/ forms.business.gov.au/aba/oaic/foi-review-/
email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
post:
GPO Box 2999, Canberra ACT 2601
in person:
Level 3, 175 Pit Street, Sydney NSW.
If you have a complaint about the way in which we have processed your request for
access under the FOI Act you can ask the Australian Information Commissioner to
investigate. An online complaint form is available on the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner’s website, details of which are provided below.
Further information is available on the Of ice of the Australian Information
Commissioner’s website at
www.oaic.gov.au and you can contact the office on 1300 363
992 or by email at
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
Christopher Matthies
Authorised FOI Of icer (Senior Executive Service Band 1)
Attachments:
List of contractors currently working at the AAT, as at 17 August 2020
