Attachment A
Schedule of documents - Freedom of Information request MS01-2021
Doc
Pages
Date
Description
Decision
Exemption
Notes
No.
Personal information relating to the complainant
1
1
09.05.2021
PDF of email from
Exempt in part
s 47F
and ORIC staff member has been redacted
complainant to ORIC
Personal information relating to the complainant
2
2
12.05.2021
PDF of email response
Exempt in part
s 47F
and ORIC staff member has been redacted
from ORIC to
complainant
Personal information relating to the complainant
3
3
13.05.2021
PDF of email from
Exempt in part
s 47F
and ORIC staff member has been redacted
complainant to ORIC
Personal information relating to the complainant
4
3
13.05.2021
PDF of email from
Exempt in part
s 47F
and ORIC staff member has been redacted
ORIC to complainant
1
Document 1
Document 2
Document 3
---------------------
Document 4
From:
Sent:
2021 3:53 PM
To:
-
Subject:
RE: Job Ref Id: 1515138 - suppressed surnames and financial details. - Wiradyuri
Central West Aboriginal Corporation - ICN: 7184 [SEC::;OfFICIAL]
Notification of change of officers' details form
The extract document posted on the ORIC website is the extract of a document lodged by the corporation. The extract document
infonns the members/public that the corporation has had a change/s to directors details. Please note not all information submitted
to ORIC is public information.
2018 General Report
The corporation incorrectly recorded assets on the 2018 general report and; ORIC was informed by the corporation of the error ..
If you are member of the corporation you can put your concerns to the directors via the listed contact person.
Members ofa corporation have rights and one of these is they can ask questions about the management of the corporation; usually
this is done at an annual general meeting.
I-lope this is helpful to you.
With kind regards
Adviser
Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC)
Phone 1800 622 431 (not free from mobiles)
Charles Perkins House 16 Bowes Place WODEN ACT 2606
PO Box 29 WODEN ACT 2606
fmOC
The National Indigenous A11stralia11s Agency (N!AA) acknowledges the traditional wners and custodians of
country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, waters and
community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past. present and emerging.
From:
Sent: Tuesday, 13 April 202111:17 AM
To:
Subject: Re: acknowledgment and re poly - Job Ref Id: 1515138 Wiradyuri Central West Aboriginal Corporation ICN:
7184 [SEC=OFFICIAL]
1
Attachment B
REASONS FOR DECISION – Freedom of Information request MS01-2021
My reasons for exempting parts of the four documents in the schedule in Attachment A from
disclosure under the Freedom of information Act 1982 (Cth) (
FOI Act) are set out below.
Section 47F – documents affecting personal privacy
1. Section 47F of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document (or material contained in a
document) to the extent that its disclosure would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal
information about any person.
Personal information
2. Personal information is defined in section 4 of the FOI Act to have the same meaning as in the
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Section 6 of the Privacy Act 1988 defines it as:
“
information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably
identifiable:
(a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
(b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.”
3. The elements of “personal information” are:
a. it relates only to a natural person (not, for example, a corporation);
b. it says something about the individual;
c. it may be in the form of an opinion;
d. it may be true or untrue;
e. the individual’s identity is known or is reasonably identifiable.
4. I find that parts of the four documents falling within the scope of the applicant’s FOI request, as
noted on the documents, are conditionally exempt under section 47F, as they contain the
following types of personal information:
a. the name of a person who sent a complaint to ORIC via email (the Complainant);
b. the email address of the Complainant;
c. the name of the officer of ORIC who responded to the Complainant.
5. Accordingly, I find that those parts indicated on Documents 1, 2, 3 and 4 are exempt under
section 47F of the FOI Act as they contain personal information about one or more individuals.
Disclosure unreasonable
6. If informational is personal information, it will be conditionally exempt if disclosure would be
“unreasonable”. In considering whether disclosure would be unreasonable, subsection 47F(2) of
the FOI Act requires me to take into account:
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 each document;
c. the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources; and
d. any other matter I consider to be relevant.
7. I am satisfied from the nature of the information that the information is not well known or
publicly available.
Attachment B
8. I have also taken into account the circumstances in which the information was obtained and/or
the reasonable expectation of confidentiality held by the individuals whom the information is
about, given the context of the communications and processes undertaken.
9. I do not consider that the disclosure of this information would shed light on the workings of the
Government or enhance accountability or transparency. Further, such disclosure would
disproportionately interfere with the privacy of the persons identified or reasonably able to be
identified in Documents 1, 2, 3 or 4.
10. On that basis, I find that parts of the 4 documents, as noted on the documents, are conditionally
exempt under section 47F of the FOI Act and that disclosure would be unreasonable.
11. Nonetheless, I must provide you with access to the four documents unless providing access at
this time would, on balance and in the circumstances, be contrary to the public interest.
The public interest
12. Conditionally exempt material must be released on request unless, in the circumstances, access to
that document at this time would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest (section 11A(5),
FOI Act). As noted in paragraph 6.27 of the
Guidelines issued by the Australian Information
Commissioner under s 93A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Guidelines),
“
To conclude that, on balance, disclosure of a document would be contrary to the public
interest is to conclude that the benefit to the public resulting from disclosure is outweighed by
the benefit to the public of withholding the information. The decision maker must analyse, in
each case, where on balance the public interest lies, based on the particular facts of the
matter at the time the decision is made.”
13. I have considered the factors favouring access in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act and have not had
regard to factors that are irrelevant in subsection 11B(4).
14. In balancing the public interest in this case, I have considered factors for and against disclosure
as outlined below.
Factors in favour of disclosure
15. I have considered the following factors in favour of disclosure as recommended under paragraph
6.19 of the FOI Guidelines:
a.
promoting the objects of the FOI Act, particularly to inform the community of the
Government’s operations, revealing the reasons for government decision and any
background or contextual information that informs the decision, and enhancing the
scrutiny of government decision making; and
b. informing the debate on a matter of public importance of an agency or official.
Factors in favour of disclosure
16. I have considered the following factors against disclosure:
a.
protecting individuals from unreasonable interference with their privacy and adverse
consequences;
b. the information was provided under an expectation of statutory protection;
c.
preserving reasonably held expectations of confidentiality;
d. the ability of ORIC to be able to maintain confidentiality over information provided in
confidence;
Attachment B
e. disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice an agency’s ability to obtain similar
information in the future;
f. disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice the fair treatment of individuals
where information about them is unsubstantiated; and
g. the impact on the ability of ORIC to effectively regulate, manage and assist Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander corporations, their directors and members if ORIC is unable to
guarantee confidentiality in its regulatory functions.
17. I acknowledge that there is a public interest in documents of ORIC being made available to the
public for the purpose of encouraging debate and to promote oversight of ORIC’s activities. I do
not consider that disclosure of those parts of the documents that are exempted under section 47F
would facilitate any of these objects.
18. By contrast, there is a public interest in protecting the privacy of individuals from interference
and in certain circumstances, this public interest may be significant.
19. In the circumstances and taking into account the above matters, I consider that, on balance,
disclosure of the information is contrary to the public interest. Accordingly, I have decided not to
release to the applicant those parts of the four documents that contain personal information, as
noted on the documents, under section 47F of the FOI Act.
Deletion of exempt or irrelevant matter – section 22
20. Section 22 of the FOI Act provides that exempt or irrelevant information may be deleted from a
copy of a document, and access granted to such an amended copy, where it is reasonably
practicable to do so, unless it is apparent that the applicant would not wish to have access to such
a copy.
21. I have found material in the document being released to the FOI applicant to be conditionally
exempt under section 47F of the FOI Act. This material has also been deleted from the
documents being released to the applicant.
22. I consider it is reasonably practicable to make a copy of the documents that are being released
with the irrelevant and exempt material deleted.
Publication of the documents – section 11C
23. Under section 11C(1) of the FOI Act, ORIC is required to publish documents released to FOI
applicants on its website in its disclosure log, within 10 working days of notification of its FOI
access decision. However, subsection 11C(1) of the FOI Act also provides for exemptions from
this publication requirement in certain circumstances, including personal information about any
person, if it would be unreasonable to public the information (section 11C(1)(a), FOI Act).
24. As indicated above, I have decided to release each document to the applicant in part, with exempt
material deleted as noted on each document.
Document Outline
