Our ref: 66782
Mr Harry Witherspoon
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Witherspoon
Freedom of Information Act 1982 – Notice of Decision
I refer to your correspondence, received by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
(
the department) on 10 August 2020, for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act) as
follows:
I would like to see each disclosure of interests from the Entrepreneurs' Programme Committee
meeting held on 11 December 2019 at Darling Park Tower 3, Level 18, 201 Sussex Street, Sydney.
For each disclosure, please leave unredacted:
- the discloser (at the very least the department position/role of the discloser), and
- the reference number of the application to which the disclosure pertains.
Decision
I am an authorised decision maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.
On the outset, I have decided not to impose any charges for the processing of your request.
I am satisfied all reasonable searches have been undertaken for documents relevant to your request.
I am advised the department has in its possession one document relevant to your request. The
document is described in the Schedule of Documents at
Attachment A.
I have decided to grant access to one document in part.
I have found the requested documents contain material which is exempt under Section 47F(1) of the FOI
Act, as disclosure of the information would be an unreasonable disclosure of an individual’s personal
information and Section 47G of the FOI Act, as disclosure of the information would be an unreasonable
disclosure of an individual’s or an organisation’s business information.
The reasons for my decision are set out below, as required by section 26 of the FOI Act, in Part A of the
Annexure.
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Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, your review rights are set out in Part B of the Annexure.
Yours sincerely
Leonie Horrocks
A/g Head of Division
AusIndustry - Industry Capability and Research
28 August 2020
Enclosures
Annexure (Part A – Statement of Reasons and Part B – Review Rights)
Attachment A – Schedule of Documents
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Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
Annexure
Part A – Reasons for Decision (section 26 FOI Act)
Request: Harry Witherspoon – 10 August 2020 (LEX 66782)
Decision Maker: Leonie Horrocks, General Manager, Industry Research and Investment
1. Evidence/Material on which my findings were based
1.1 In reaching my decision, I relied on the following information and documentary evidence:
• the FOI Act;
• the contents of the documents described in Attachment A;
• your correspondence setting out the particulars of your request;
• consultation with departmental officers as to the nature of the documents; and
• the Guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner under section
93A of the FOI Act (
FOI Guidelines).
2. Section 22 – Deletion of exempt or irrelevant material
2.1 Subsections 22(1) and (2) of the FOI Act permit an agency to decide to provide a copy of a
document (modified by redaction) edited to remove information that would reasonably be
regarded as irrelevant to the request (edited copy).
Subsection 22(1)
Scope
(1) This section applies if:
(a) an agency or Minister decides:
(i)
to refuse to give access to an exempt document; or
(ii)
that to give access to a document would disclose information that would
reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request for access; and
(b) it is possible for the agency or Minister to prepare a copy (an edited copy) of the
document, modified by deletions, ensuring that:
(i) access to the edited copy would be required to be given under section 11A (access
to documents on request); and
(ii)
the edited copy would not disclose any information that would reasonably be
regarded as irrelevant to the request; and
(c) it is reasonably practicable for the agency or Minister to prepare the edited copy,
having regard to:
(i)
the nature and extent of the modification; and
(ii)
the resources available to modify the document; and
(d) it is not apparent (from the request or from consultation with the applicant) that the
applicant would decline access to the edited copy.
Subsection 22(2)
Access to edited copy
(2) The agency or Minister must:
(a) prepare the edited copy as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b); and
(b) give the applicant access to the edited copy.
2.2 Accordingly, where possible, I have decided that the exempt information will be deleted under
section 22(1) of the FOI Act and a copy of the documents, with the exempt information deleted,
will be provided to you.
2.3 These deletions are identified in the Schedule of Documents at Attachment A.
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Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
3. Section 47F – Personal Information
3.1 Subsection 47F(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
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).
3.2 The term, ‘personal information’, is defined in section 4 of the FOI Act to mean:
information or an opinion (including information forming part of a database), whether
true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose
identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.
3.3 When determining whether the disclosure of personal information would be unreasonable,
subsection 47F(2) of the FOI Act requires me to consider:
(a) the extent to which the information is well known;
(b) 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;
(c) the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources; and
(d) any other matters that I consider relevant.
3.4 I have decided that material contained in certain documents, as identified in the Schedule of
Documents, is conditionally exempt under subsection 47F(1)of the FOI Act.
3.5 The information which I have determined would be unreasonable to disclose includes the names
and details of individuals, and their personal/private affairs. This personal information is not well
known or publicly available and the individuals to which the information relates, are not known
to be (or to have been) associated with the matters contained in the documents. I also do not
consider that any public purpose would be achieved through the release of the personal
information of these third parties.
3.6 Under subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act, the department must give you access to this
conditionally exempt material unless in the circumstances it would be, on balance, contrary to
the public interest to do so. Subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act sets out the following factors
favouring access to a document:
• promote the objects of the FOI Act;
• inform debate on a matter of public importance;
• promote effective oversight of public expenditure; and
• allow a person access to his or her own personal information.
3.7 I have considered each of the factors favouring access listed above and I have decided that
disclosure of the personal information in question would not go towards promoting the object
of the FOI Act or inform debate on a matter of public importance. Disclosure of the personal
information would also not promote effective oversight of public expenditure and will not allow
you or another person to access his or her own personal information.
3.8 Following consideration of these factors, I have decided that in the circumstances of this
particular matter, the public interest in disclosing the personal information is outweighed by the
public interest against disclosure.
3.9 I am therefore satisfied that the material is of such a nature that it is conditionally exempt under
subsection 47F(1) of the FOI Act. Furthermore, I have decided that on balance it would be
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Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
contrary to the public interest to release this information. Accordingly, I have deleted the
exempt material in the document and have decided to release the remaining material in
accordance with subsection 22(1) of the FOI Act.
4. Section 47G – Business Information
4.1 Paragraph 47G(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under the FOI Act would disclose
information concerning a person in respect of his or her business or professional affairs or
concerning the business, commercial or financial affairs of an organisation or undertaking,
in a case in which the disclosure of the information:
(a) would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that person
adversely in respect of his or her lawful business or professional affairs or that
organisation or undertaking in respect of its lawful business, commercial or
financial affairs; or
(b) could reasonably be expected to prejudice the future supply of information to
the Commonwealth ….”
4.2 I am satisfied that certain material in the document contain information about the lawful
business, commercial or financial affairs of an organisations and as such disclosure of this
information would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably adversely affect that
organisation in respect of its lawful business, commercial and financial affairs.
4.3 Accordingly, I am satisfied that certain material contained in the document is conditionally
exempt under section 47G(1) of the FOI Act.
4.4 Subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act requires that access to a conditionally exempt document,
including a document that is conditionally exempt under section 47G must be given to the
applicant unless disclosure of the document would, on balance, be contrary to the public
interest. I have considered s11B of the FOI Act and Part 6 of the FOI Guidelines when applying
the public interest test.
4.5 In weighing up the public interest factors both in favour and against disclosure, I have considered
the factors favouring access set out in subsection 11B(3) of the FOI Act and the further factors and
guidance material set out in the FOI Guidelines. I have therefore considered the following factors
which may favour disclosure, including the extent to which disclosure would:
• promote the objects of the FOI Act;
• inform debate on a matter of public importance;
• assist in the effective scrutiny of government decisions; and
• promote effective oversight of public expenditure.
4.6 While I consider that disclosure would promote the objects of the FOI Act and would have some
relevance to matters affecting oversight of public expenditure, I do not consider that disclosure of
the business information would inform debate on a matter of significant public importance. I
consider that the public interest factors in favour of disclosure are outweighed by the public
interest factors against disclosure, namely that:
• the information is not well known and is not available from publicly-accessible resources;
• no public purpose would be achieved through the release of the business information of
these people or organisations;
• disclosure of this information would reasonably be expected to:
o unreasonably affect a person or organisation in respect of their lawful business
affairs; and
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Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
o potentially prejudice the Commonwealth’s ability to obtain business information
of the same or a similar nature in the future.
4.7 Having considered the strengths of the public interest factors for and against disclosure, I am of
the view that, on balance, the public interest factors against disclosing the material in the
document outweigh those in favour of disclosure. Therefore, I have decided that certain
material contained in the document is conditionally exempt from disclosure under
section 47G(1) of the FOI Act and will not be released.
5. Publication
5.1 Section 11C of the FOI Act requires agencies to publish documents released through an FOI
request on our website within 10 days of release, except in certain circumstances including
when the documents contain personal or business information that would be unreasonable to
publish.
5.2 The documents being released to you do contain personal or business information that would
be unreasonable to publish. As a result, they will not be published on our disclosure log.
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Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
Part B – Review Rights
Application for Internal Review
Section 54 of the FOI Act gives you the option to apply for a departmental internal review of my
decision. If you make an application for internal review it will be conducted by an officer of the
department (other than me) appointed by the Secretary of the department to conduct a review and
make a completely fresh decision on the merits of the case.
Application for a review of the decision must be made within 30 days after the day of receipt of this
letter, or within 15 days of receipt of the documents to which this decision relates (whichever is the
longer period). You do not have to pay any fees or processing charges for an internal review, except for
charges relating to the provision of any additional relevant material located as a result of the review
(for example photocopying). While a specific form is not required, it would assist the decision maker if
your application specifies the grounds on which you consider the decision should be reviewed.
Application for a review of a decision should be addressed to:
FOI Coordinator
Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
GPO Box 2013
CANBERRA ACT 2601
or by e-mail to
: xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Review by the Australian Information Commissioner
If any decision on internal review were not satisfactory to you, section 54L of the FOI Act gives you the
right to apply for review of my decision by the Information Commissioner.
An application for review by the Information Commissioner may be made regardless of whether the
decision was the subject of a departmental internal review. An application for review by the
Information Commissioner must be made within 60 days of receipt of this notice. There is no fee for
review by the Information Commissioner.
You must apply in writing and you can lodge your application in one of the following ways:
Online
: www.oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
An application form is available on the website at
www.oaic.gov.au. Your application should include a
copy of this notice and your contact details. You should also set out why you are objecting to the
decision.
Complaints to the Australian Information Commissioner
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner concerning action taken by an agency
in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act. There is no fee for
making a complaint. The Australian Information Commissioner will make a completely independent
investigation of your complaint. A complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner must be
made in writing and can be lodged online using the Information Commissioner Complaint Application
form on the Australian Information Commissioner’s website a
t www.oaic.gov.au.
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Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
Request for Access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
FOI Applicant: Harry Witherspoon
SCHEDULE OF DOCUMENTS
Doc
Description of document
Pages
Decision
Reasons
No
1. Disclosure of Interest – 11 Dec 2019 EPC Meeting
1-17
Release in part
s47F – Personal Information
s47G – Business Information
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Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
