ONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT
BARTON
FOI/2021/118
Trav S
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
FOI
Dear Trav S
I refer to your email of 20 July 2021 in which you made a request to the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet (the
Department) under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI
Act) in the following terms:
Please refer FOI/2021/007 and in particular Mr Rush’s statement regarding documents
prepared for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister - Senator the Hon Jan
McLucas.
Relevantly, Mr Rush states “the matter continued to be the subject of consultations and
deliberations which were not finalised as at the date the Hon Jan McLucas ceased in the
role of PSPM.”
1. We would like to review the documents relevant to, and showing, the department’s
consultations and deliberations during Senator McLucas’s tenure as PSPM.
2. We would also like to review the documents relevant to, and showing, the department’s
consultations and deliberations during Senator the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh's tenure as
PSPM.
Authorised decision-maker
The authorised decision-maker for your request is Mr Peter Rush, Assistant Secretary,
Parliamentary and Government Branch.
Processing charge
The FOI Act provides that charges can be imposed for processing requests. Unless a decision is
made to waive the processing charge in whole or in part, the combined effect of
paragraph 11A(1)(b) of the FOI Act and subsection 11(1) of the
Freedom of Information
(Charges) Regulations 2019 (the
Charges Regulations) is that an applicant is required to pay any
charge before access is given to a document.
Postal Address: PO Box 6500, CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: +61 2 6271 5849 Fax: +61 2 6271 5776 www.pmc.gov.au ABN: 18 108 001 191
The Charges Regulations specify different rates for the various activities involved in processing a
request with the first five hours of decision-making time free for all FOI applicants.
The decision-maker has decided that you are liable to pay a charge should you wish to proceed
with your request. The preliminary assessment of the charge for processing your request is set out
below:
TASK
Rate
UNIT
CHARGE
Search and retrieval
$15 per hour
8 hours
$120.00
Decision-making
$20 per hour
10.43 hours
$208.60
Less first 5 hours free
-$ 100.00
TOTAL
$228.60
Section 29 of the FOI Act requires you to exercise one of the following options in writing within
30 days of receipt of this letter:
(1)
You can agree to pay the charge. If you agree, processing of your request will resume as
soon as the Department receives a payment, either in full or a deposit.
- Payment in full is $228.60. Payment in full entitles you to receive a decision in relation
to your request, a schedule which lists the documents relevant to your request, and any
documents released.
- Alternatively, payment of a deposit in the amount of $57.15 entitles you to receive a
decision in relation to your request and a schedule which lists the documents relevant
to your request. Relevant documents would only be released on payment of the balance
of the charge. The deposit paid by an applicant is not refundable unless the Department
decides to waive the charge, or fails to make a decision on the FOI request within the
statutory time limit including any extension, or may be refundable in part if the final
charge is less than the deposit paid.
- You may pay by direct debit or by credit card.
Direct debit
You may pay by direct debit into the following account:
Account Name:
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Official
Departmental Account
BSB:
032-722
Account:
132263
Reference:
FOI/2021/003
Credit card
You may pay by credit card over the phone by contacting the Department’s Accounts
Receivable team on 02 6271 6000 select option 4 then option 3.
- Please advise the FOI and Privacy Section at
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx once you have made
payment. Once the Department receives your payment, the Department will send you a
receipt.
2
(2)
You can contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or that it should be reduced or
not imposed, or both. You should provide reasons for contending any charge. In
determining whether or not to reduce or not impose the charge, the FOI Act requires the
Department to take into account whether payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause
financial hardship and whether the giving of access would be in the public interest. The
Department may also consider any other relevant matters.
(3)
You can withdraw your request.
Processing timeframe
In accordance with section 31 of the FOI Act, the time limit for processing your request is
suspended from the day that you receive this letter and will resume on either:
• the day you pay the charge (in full or the required deposit); or
• if you contend under (2) above that charge should be reduced or not imposed and the
Department decides not to impose a charge, the day of that decision.
If you contend under (2) above that a charge should be reduced or not imposed and the
Department confirms that a charge is payable (either the original amount or a reduced amount),
the time limit for processing your request would resume on the day you pay that charge (in full or
the required deposit).
Subsection 29(2) of the FOI Act provides that if you do not respond within 30 days after this
notice was given, you will be taken to have withdrawn your request.
No guarantee of access Please be aware that even if you pay the charge (in full or the required deposit), there is still no
guarantee that documents will ultimately be released. That is a matter for the decision-maker to
decide in the usual manner after examining the relevant documents.
If you have any queries, please contact the FOI and Privacy Section on (02) 6271 5849 or
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely
Senior Adviser
FOI Section
30 July 2021
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Document Outline
