Our ref: 66830
Denis Jakota
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Denis
Freedom of Information Act 1982 – Notice of charges and consultation
I refer to your correspondence received by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
(the department) on 18 August 2020, in which you sought access under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (the FOI Act) to the following:
Please make available all contracts and variations, each with Minister or Accountable Authority
approval, relating to the following entry from the 2015-2016 Senate order on non-corporate
Commonwealth entity contracts (1/7/2015 to 30/6/2016):
- MASSCHALLENGE INC, Support the initial expansion of MassChallenge into Australia and help it
secure partnerships with domestic players including State and Territory Governments, $308,000.00
For each contract and variation retrieved, please make available the legislation pursuant to which
the Minister or Accountable Authority authorised the contract and the legal grounds for your
department to enter into the contract.
Lastly, for each contract and variation retrieved, please make available each financial transaction
made to MassChallenge by your department, including the date, amount, services and time period
covered.
Notice of Consultation
Your request covers documents that contains information about the business affairs of certain
organisations.
Under section 27 of the FOI Act where a request is made for a document containing information about
the business affairs of an organisation (section 27) and it appears the organisation may reasonably wish
to contend that the information is exempt or conditionally exempt, the department must give the
organisation a reasonable opportunity to make a submission in support of the contention.
Under section 27 of the FOI Act the department must have regard to any submissions made by the
organisation before making a decision to give access to the document.
Timing for consultation with third parties
Given that consultation with a third party is required, subsection 15(6) of the FOI Act extends the
standard statutory 30-day time limit for processing requests by another 30 days. Accordingly, this will
give the department 60 days within which to notify you of its decision on access to the documents.
1
Industry House – 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN:74 599 608 295
Notice of Liability to Pay a Charge
I am an authorised decision maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.
In accordance with section 29 of the FOI Act, I have decided that you are liable to pay a charge in respect
of the processing of your request, being $117.97.
Estimate of charge
My preliminary assessment of that charge is based on approximately 3 documents (consisting of 46
pages) falling within the scope of your request and at least one third party who will need to be
consulted under section 27 of the FOI Act. I have also taken into account the fact that the first five hours
of decision making time are free to all applicants requesting documents other than their own personal
information.
Search and Retrieval – 3 hours at $15 per hour
$
45.00
Decision making time – 8.84 hours at $20 per hour
$
176.22
Total
$
221.72
First 5 hours free
$
-100.00
Final amount
$
121.72
Deposit
$
30.43
Payment of the deposit will only entitle you to a decision. The document will be released upon payment
of the balance of the charge.
Processing your FOI request
Please note that the department will not make a decision on the potential release of any documents
until charges are paid to, or remitted by, this department, whether in the form of a deposit or payment
in full. In accordance with section 31 of the FOI Act, the time limit for processing your request is
suspended from the day you receive this notice and will resume on either the day the charge or deposit
is paid, or on the day on which the department makes a decision not to impose a charge.
Your rights and alternatives
You may contend that the charge has been wrongfully assessed, should be reduced or not imposed. In
deciding whether to reduce or not impose a charge the decision maker must, among other things, take
into account whether payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause you financial hardship and
whether the giving of access to the documents is in the general public interest.
If you would like the department to continue processing your request, you must notify the department
in writing within 30 days of receiving this notice that you:
A.
agree to pay the charge;
B.
wish to contend that the charge:
(i)
has been wrongly assessed; or
(ii)
should be reduced or not imposed; or
(iii) both
C.
withdraw the request for access.
Further information on options A, B and C is set out below.
industry.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
Option A – pay the charge
As the charge exceeds $100, you are required to pay a deposit of $30.43 which is 25% of the total
amount, within 30 days of receiving this notice. You may, of course, elect to pay the charge in full at this
point.
Payment
If you accept liability for the estimated charge for your request, payment can be made via one of the
following three options:
•
Cheque:
Please make the cheque payable to the Collector of Public Monies and mark it attention to:
The FOI team
Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
GPO Box 2013
CANBERRA ACT 2601
•
Credit card:
The department accepts visa or master card. If you would like to pay by credit card please
complete the enclosed credit card payment request form, return a scanned copy to the
xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx and copy the FOI team in your email at xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
•
Electronic Funds Transfer:
The department also accepts EFT payments. Please see bank details below:
Bank Name: Reserve Bank of Australia
Bank Address: 20-22 London Circuit
Canberra ACT Australia
Account Name: Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
BSB No: 092-009
Account No: 118689
Please include reference to FOI LEX 66830 in all forms of payment, and notify the FOI team at
xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx once payment has been made. Failure to include your reference number and
notify the FOI team of payment will result in delays of the processing of your FOI request.
Option B – seek reduction or non-imposition of the charge
You may contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be reduced or not imposed.
Subsection 29(5) of the FOI Act provides that in deciding whether to reduce or not to impose a charge,
the decision maker must take into account any relevant reasons. This includes whether payment of the
charge, or part of it, would cause you/your client financial hardship, and whether the giving of access to
the documents is in the general public interest or in the interest of a substantial section of the public.
If you wish to contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed or should be reduced or not imposed,
please set out your reasons and the evidence in support of your reasons as clearly as possible. If you
believe that payment of the charge would cause you/your client financial hardship, please provide
sufficient details of your / your client’s financial circumstances to enable the decision maker to make a
well informed decision in this regard.
industry.gov.au
3
Industry House - 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN: 74 599 608 295
Option C – withdraw your request
If you wish to withdraw your request you may do so in writing.
If you fail to notify the department in a manner mentioned above within 30 days of receipt of this notice
it will be taken that the request has been withdrawn.
Should you have any queries in relation to this matter please contact the FOI team by e-mail at
xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Sasha Pesic
Senior FOI Officer
Legal, Audit and Assurance
3 September 2020
industry.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
