If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
14 January 2021
Our reference: LEX 60430
Mr Anatoly Kern
Only by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Mr Kern
Your Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your request dated and received by Services Australia (the
agency) on 12 January
2021 for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) to the following
document:
I am looking to obtain a copy of the internal staff instruction on how to respond to "So
when" question, which is completely pronounced as "So when are you going to
comply with the limitation of s25c and accept responsibility for knowingly participating
in criminal harassment actions, unlawfully using violence and causing permanent
disability."
If you are having issues locating this document I am sure that NCP UB55Y would be
of your service on that, or anyone from the department of Serial Criminals that is
causing the death of more than a thousand people every year, but not taking the
responsibility for it.
Practical Refusal Reason
Currently your request does not sufficiently identify the document you require. The agency is
therefore formally consulting with you under section 24AB of the FOI Act.
This letter is giving you an opportunity to provide us with specific information about the
documents you need. Providing this additional information will assist the agency in
processing your request.
If you decide not to provide further information or revise your request, I will have to refuse
your FOI request as a ‘practical refusal reason’ exists. For a more detailed explanation of
what this means, including some suggestions on what to consider when revising your
request, please see
Attachment A. How to send us a 'revised request'
Before I make a final decision on your request, you can submit a revised request.
Within the next 14 days (consultation period) you must do one of the following, in writing:
withdraw the request
make a revised request or
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tell us that you do not want to revise your request.
If you do not contact us during the consultation period, we will assume you do not want to
continue with your request. See
Attachment A for relevant sections of the FOI Act.
If you decide to make a revised request you should be specific about what documents you
actually want. This could help the agency find the documents.
We have 30 days to give you a decision about your request, however the time taken to
consult with you now is not included in this 30 day time period.
Contact officer
I am the contact officer for your request. During the consultation period you are welcome to
ask for my help in revising your request. You can contact me:
in writing to the address at the top of this letter or
via email
to xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Note: When you contact us please quote the reference number
FOI LEX 60430.
Your response will be expected by
28 January 2021.
If no response is received, your matter
will be taken as withdrawn.
Timeframe for processing your request
The agency received your request on 12 January 2021 and the 30 day statutory period for
processing your request commended from the day after that date. However, we note the
consultation period referred to above is not included in this 30 day time period. The period of
30 days may also be extended if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons.
Charges
The agency will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request and the amount of
any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is payable for providing a person with
their own personal information.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send notices to. You
have advised that your electronic address is
foi+request-7014-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. We will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish correspondence to be sent to another
address or if your address changes. If you do not wish to advise us of changes to your
address, correspondence and notices will continue to be sent to the address specified above.
Administrative release of documents
The agency has administrative access arrangements (arrangements) for the release of
certain documents without the need for a formal FOI request. Unless you advise us
otherwise, in processing your request we may provide you with documents under these
arrangements where appropriate. The arrangements do not extend to information or
materials of third parties. You will be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements.
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Disclosure log
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log
on the agency’s website. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication, however it is
subject to certain exceptions, including where publication of personal, business, professional
or commercial information would be unreasonable.
Exclusion of junior staff details
The agency is working towards ensuring that all staff have a choice about whether they
provide their full name, personal logon identifiers and direct contact details in response to
public enquiries. Where such details are included in the scope of a request, this may add to
processing time and applicable charges as it may be necessary to consider whether the
details are exempt under the FOI Act. On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will
assume that these details are out of scope of your request and they will be redacted under
section 22 of the FOI Act.
Further assistance
If you have any questions please emai
l xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Alexandra
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
Freedom of Information Team
Employment Law and FOI Branch | Legal Services Division
Services Australia
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Attachment A
What I took into account
You requested access under the FOI Act to the following documents:
I am looking to obtain a copy of the internal staff instruction on how to respond to "So
when" question, which is completely pronounced as "So when are you going to
comply with the limitation of s25c and accept responsibility for knowingly participating
in criminal harassment actions, unlawfully using violence and causing permanent
disability."
If you are having issues locating this document I am sure that NCP UB55Y would be
of your service on that, or anyone from the department of Serial Criminals that is
causing the death of more than a thousand people every year, but not taking the
responsibility for it.
Your request is unclear
Currently your request does not sufficiently identify the documents you require. Section
15(2)(b) of the FOI Act requires that you must provide such information concerning a
document as is reasonably necessary to identify it.
For example, your request makes reference to complying with ‘the limitation of s 25C’. I am
seeking clarification as to what you mean by ‘the limitation of s25c.’ I have conducted
preliminary consultations within the agency and I have been advised that it is not clear what
type of information you are seeking.
As a large service delivery provider, the agency is responsible for administering a broad
variety of programs and payments. To allow us to identify the documents you are requesting,
we would be grateful if you could please provide further detail describing the requested
document. For example, ‘s25C’ appears to refer to a legislative provision. Providing the
precise citation of the relevant legislation will assist the agency identify the document you are
requesting.
Assistance to revise your request
In order to allow the agency identify the documents you are requesting, we would
recommend you revise your request by specifying:
the citation of the legislation which includes ‘s25C’
the meaning of ‘the limitation of s25C’
the type of document you are requesting (e.g. policy documents, training documents,
documents relating to a debt, relating to Centrelink or medicare etc.) and
a date range for the creation of the document, if known (for example, 1 January 2019
– 1 January 2020).
If you do not revise, I intend to refuse your FOI request as a ‘practical refusal reason’ exists
under sections 24AA(1)(b) and 24 of the FOI Act. Under the FOI Act, the practical refusal
reason is that your request does not satisfy the requirements in section 15(2)(b)
(identification of documents).
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Relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Section 24AA(1)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to
a request for a document if the request does not satisfy the requirement in section 15(2)(b) of
the FOI Act.
Section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a request must provide such information as is
reasonably necessary to enable the agency to identify the documents that are being
requested.
Section 24AB(6) says that the applicant must, before the end of the consultation period, do
one of the following, by written notice to the agency or Minister:
withdraw the request
make a revised request or
indicate that the applicant does not wish to revise the request.
Section 24AB(7) of the FOI Act provides that the request is taken to have been withdrawn at
the end of the consultation period if:
the applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with the notice or
the applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection (6) before the
end of the consultation period.
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