Dear To

 

The Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (the department) has received your Freedom of Information requests of 15 January 2021 and 17 January 2021 (attached).

 

This correspondence is to acknowledge receipt of your requests.

 

Combining requests and clarifying scope

 

As your two requests are substantially similar, the department has combined your requests and will process them together. We understand the scope of your combined request to be:

 

“all documents with dates of third-party (public) enquiries/concerns/allegations regarding conflicts of interests in the incubator support initiative, excluding:

·       third party information (other than the content of enquiries/concerns/allegations;

·       staff names; and

·       duplicate documents.

 

In your request received on 17 January 2021, you indicated that the department 'may exclude … replies and redact everything except the dates'.  Could you please clarify that you are only seeking the dates of any responses by the department to third party enquiries, concerns and allegations, and not the responses themselves?

 

Personal information – exclusion of staff details

 

For documents that fall within the scope of a request, it is the practice of the department to withhold:

 

• the names, signatures and contact details of junior staff; That is:
  • Commonwealth staff who are not in the Senior Executive Service (SES); and

  • Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff; and

• the mobile phone numbers of SES officers.

 

As noted above, we understand that you have excluded staff names, as well as third party information, from the scope of your request. Could you please confirm that you are not seeking any 'personal information' (i.e. the names and contact details of any staff or third parties, or information that could reasonably identify an individual)? Providing this confirmation may enable a more timely and cost effective processing of your request.

 

If you are seeking access to particular types of personal information, could you please specify.

 

 

Request for extension of time

 

Currently a decision is due to you by 14 February 2021. However, the department has faced unavoidable delays in processing your Freedom of Information request.

 

To assist in the processing your request, we seek your agreement to a 30 day extension under section 15AA of the FOI Act. If you agree to this extension, the department will notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner of the extension of time, and the decision on your request would then be due to you on or before 16 March 2021.

 

 

Responding to this email

 

Could you please confirm your agreement to the extension of time request, and clarify the scope of your request, at your earliest convenience but no later than Tuesday 9 February 2021.

 

If you have any questions, please contact the FOI Team by email at [email address]. 

 

Kind regards

 

FOI Team

Legal, Audit and Assurance | Corporate & Digital

GPO Box 2013, Canberra ACT 2601 | [Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources request email]

Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources | www.industry.gov.au

 

Supporting economic growth and job creation for all Australians

 

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