Our ref:
FOI20/174; CM20/8264
2 November 2020
Mr John Smith
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Freedom of Information Request FOI20/174 – Request consultation process
The purpose of this letter is to seek information from you about access to documents that you requested
under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
Your Request
On 1 October 2020, you requested access to:
The three most recent emails, as at the time and date this request is received; between your department
and any Ministerial adviser in the Minister's parliamentary office.
On 14 October 2020, the Attorney-General’s Department (the department) acknowledged your request.
Practical refusal reason
I am an officer authorised under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to freedom of
information requests made to the department.
I have decided that, due to its size and broad scope, the work involved in processing your request in its
current form would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of this department from its other
operations. Section 24AA of the FOI Act refers to this as a ‘practical refusal reason’ (copy at
Attachment A).
As at 30 June 2020 the Attorney-General's Department had 1,962 ongoing and non-ongoing employees
across all states and territories.1 You have not limited your request by subject matter, nor by work area.
Accordingly, to be sure that it identifies the three emails you have sought access to, the department would
be required to have each staff member:
• conduct a search of their email accounts to determine if they had sent or received an email to or
from an adviser in the Attorney-General’s Office (AGO)
• if they have sent or received an email from an adviser in AGO, determine which was the most
recent as at the date of your request, and
• provide the email to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Section in the department for
assessment.
At a minimum, I expect this task would take each officer around 5 minutes to complete meaning that
approximately 9,810 minutes (or 163.5 hours) of departmental time would be diverted to just identifying
1 Attorney-General's Department,
Annual Report 2019-20: https://www.ag.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-
10/AGD_Annual%20Report_19_20_acc.pdf
documents which may be relevant to your request. In addition to this, staff in the Freedom of Information
and Privacy Section would need to collate the emails provided, and a decision maker would need to assess
them to decide whether to grant, refuse or defer access to the documents. I have therefore determined the
time required to process your request in its current form would unreasonably divert the resources of the
department from its other operations.
Request consultation process
Before I make a decision to refuse access to the documents you requested, section 24AB of the FOI Act
provides for a ‘request consultation process’ (copy at
Attachment A). This means you have 14 days in which
to respond to this notice revising your request in one of the ways described below. If you would like to
proceed with your FOI request, you must make a revised request, in writing, within 14 days of the date you
receive this letter.
Revising your request can mean narrowing the scope of the request to make it more manageable or
explaining in more detail the documents you wish to access. For example, by providing more specific
information about exactly what documents you are interested in, the department may be able to identify
the documents more quickly and avoid using excessive resources to process documents that are not of
interest to you.
During the consultation period, you are welcome to seek assistance from the contact person listed below to
revise your request. If you revise your request in a way that adequately addresses the practical refusal
grounds outlined above, the department wil recommence processing it. Please note that the time taken to
consult you about the scope of your request is not included in the 30 day time limit for processing your
request.
If you do not wish to proceed with your FOI request, you may either withdraw your request or advise the
department that you do not wish to revise your request. You request will be withdrawn if you do not
contact us or provide written notice of the revised scope of your request within 14 days from receipt of this
notice.
Review rights and questions
Your review rights under the FOI Act are set out at
Attachment B to this letter.
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If you wish to discuss this decision, the FOI case officer for this matter is Euphrasia, who can be reached on
(02) 6141 6666 or at xxx@xx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Antony Catt
Director
Freedom of Information and Privacy Section
Attachments
Attachment A:
Sections 24AA and 24AB of the FOI Act
Attachment B:
Review rights
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Attachment A
Section 24AA of the FOI Act: When does a practical refusal reason exist?
(1) For the purposes of section 24, a practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request for
a document if either (or both) of the following applies:
(a) the work involved in processing the request:
(i) in the case of an agency--would substantial y and unreasonably divert the resources
of the agency from its other operations; or
(ii) in the case of a Minister--would substantial y and unreasonably interfere with the
performance of the Minister's functions;
(b) the request does not satisfy the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b) (identification
of documents).
(2) Subject to subsection (3), but without limiting the matters to which the agency or Minister may
have regard, in deciding whether a practical refusal reason exists, the agency or Minister must
have regard to the resources that would have to be used for the fol owing:
(a) identifying, locating or collating the documents within the filing system of the agency, or
the office of the Minister;
(b) deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document to which
the request relates, or to grant access to an edited copy of such a document, including
resources that would have to be used for:
(i) examining the document; or
(ii) consulting with any person or body in relation to the request;
(c) making a copy, or an edited copy, of the document;
(d) notifying any interim or final decision on the request.
(3) In deciding whether a practical refusal reason exists, an agency or Minister must not have regard
to:
(a) any reasons that the applicant gives for requesting access; or
(b) the agency's or Minister's belief as to what the applicant's reasons are
for requesting access; or
(c) any maximum amount, specified in the regulations, payable as a charge for processing
a request of that kind.
Section 24AB of the FOI Act: What is a request consultation process?
Scope
(1) This section sets out what is a request consultation process for the purposes of section 24.
Requirement to notify
(2) The agency or Minister must give the applicant a written notice stating the following:
(a) an intention to refuse access to a document in accordance with a request;
(b) the practical refusal reason;
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(c) the name of an officer of the agency or member of staff of the Minister (the contact
person ) with whom the applicant may consult during a period;
(d) details of how the applicant may contact the contact person;
(e) that the period (the consultation period) during which the applicant may consult with the
contact person is 14 days after the day the applicant is given the notice.
Assistance to revise request
(3) If the applicant contacts the contact person during the consultation period in accordance with the
notice, the agency or Minister must take reasonable steps to assist the applicant to revise
the request so that the practical refusal reason no longer exists.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), reasonable steps includes the fol owing:
(a) giving the applicant a reasonable opportunity to consult with the contact person;
(b) providing the applicant with any information that would assist the applicant to revise
the request.
Extension of consultation period
(5) The contact person may, with the applicant's agreement, extend the consultation period by
written notice to the applicant.
Outcome of request consultation process
(6) The applicant must, before the end of the consultation period, do one of the following, by written
notice to the agency or Minister:
(a) withdraw the request;
(b) make a revised request;
(c) indicate that the applicant does not wish to revise the request.
(7) The request is taken to have been withdrawn under subsection (6) at the end of the consultation
period if:
(a) the applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with the notice; or
(b) the applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection (6) before the end of
the consultation period.
Consultation period to be disregarded in calculating processing period
(8) The period starting on the day an applicant is given a notice under subsection (2) and ending on
the day the applicant does one of the things mentioned in paragraph (6)(b) or (c) is to be
disregarded in working out the 30 day period mentioned in paragraph 15(5)(b).
Note: Paragraph 15(5)(b) requires that an agency or Minister take all reasonable steps to notify
an applicant of a decision on the applicant's request within 30 days after the request is made.
No more than one request consultation process required
(9) To avoid doubt, this section only obliges the agency or Minister to undertake a request
consultation process once for any particular request.
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Attachment B - FOI Review rights
If you are dissatisfied with the decision of the Attorney-General’s Department (the department), you may
apply for internal review or Information Commissioner review of the decision.
The department encourages applicants to consider seeking internal review as a first step as it may provide
a more rapid resolution of your concerns.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), applications for internal review must be
made in writing within 30 days of the date of the decision letter, and be lodged in one of the fol owing
ways:
email: xxx@xx.xxx.xx
post: Freedom of Information and Privacy Section
Strategy and Governance Branch
Attorney-General’s Department
3-5 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600
An officer of the department other than the officer who made the original decision will complete the
internal review within 30 days of receipt of your request.
Providing reasons you believe internal review of the decision is necessary will facilitate the completion of
the internal review.
Information Commissioner review
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner to review my
decision. An application for review by the Information Commissioner must be made in writing within 60
days of the date of the decision letter, and be lodged in one of the fol owing ways:
online: https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICR_10
email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001
More information about Information Commissioner review is available on the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner website. Go to https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-
complaints/information-commissioner-review/
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