Our ref:
FOI21/144; CM21/108427
16 September 2021
Faustus
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Freedom of Information Request FOI21/144 – Decision letter
The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about your request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) which you submitted to the Attorney-General's Department
(the department).
Your request
On 17 August 2021, you requested access to:
‘…any document containing aggregate statistics relating to the number internal reviews that are
conducted annually e.g. "there are x agencies, and a total of y internal reviews were conducted in the
year 2020-21".’
On 20 August 2021, the department sought clarification of the terms of your request. On 25 August 2021 you
clarified the terms of your request to be for the fol owing:
‘…There are 9 divisions at the AAT. If available, I would like statistics that map onto the same
divisions e.g. total number internal reviews in relation to FOI, general (citizenship/workers'
compensation/…), migration, NDIS, security, etc.
If statistics on those 9 categories don't exist, I would prefer more granular data so I can collapse the
data into meaningful categories myself.’
On 8 September 2021, the department acknowledged your request for the fol owing:
‘…
annual statistics on internal review decisions made by any agency that align with the 9 divisions of
the AAT.'
A decision in relation to your request is due on 16 September 2021.
My decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to freedom of
information requests made to the department.
In making my decision, I have taken the fol owing into account:
• the terms of your request,
• advice provided to me by officers with responsibility for matters to which your request relates,
• the provisions of the FOI Act, and
• the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act
(the Guidelines).
Section 24A of the FOI Act relevantly provides that an agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to
a document if all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document and the agency is satisfied that the
document:
• is in the agency’s possession but cannot be found, or
• does not exist.
When considering a decision to refuse access under section 24A of the FOI Act, the Guidelines relevantly
provide at paragraph 3.89 that an agency or minister should take comprehensive steps to locate documents,
having regard to:
• the subject matter of the documents,
• the current and past file management systems and the practice of destruction or removal of
documents,
• the record management systems in place, and
• the individuals within an agency or minister’s office who may be able to assist with the location of
documents.
To identify the document for your request, I arranged for a comprehensive search of the department’s
recordkeeping systems using search terms developed with reference to the scope of your request. I also
consulted with the business area likely to hold documents relevant to your request.
Having regard to the above, I am satisfied that reasonable steps to locate the documents to which you have
sought access were undertaken. I am also satisfied that the documents do not exist within the department’s
records holdings. I have therefore decided to refuse access pursuant to section 24A of the FOI Act.
Additional information
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) provides an avenue for independent merit review of
administrative decisions made under Commonwealth legislation. As you noted in your request, the AAT
groups these merits review processes into 9 organisational divisions. In each of the AAT divisions, reviews of
decisions may have their own specific legislative process to enable a review to be undertaken by the AAT.
Statistics on AAT decisions are available at: https://www.aat.gov.au/about-the-aat/corporate-
information/statistics.
These specific legislative processes means there is no one agency that collects information on al internal
review decisions. I have provided some information about how the FOI merit review process works as an
example of the review process under the Freedom of Information Act.
FOI Review
Under the FOI Act, a person who is dissatisfied with the decision of an agency or minister on their initial FOI
request has a number of avenues of review. A person can seek internal review with the agency or minister,
or apply directly for an external merits review by the Information Commissioner (IC review). However, a
person cannot apply directly to the AAT for review of an agency or minister’s decision under section 54 of
the FOI Act. The Office of Information Commissioner (OAIC) has more detailed information about reviews at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews/review-of-decisions-made-under-the-freedom-
of-information-act-1982/.
Under section 93 of the FOI Act, agencies and ministers are required to provide information and statistics to
the OAIC. The OAIC is required to prepare an annual report under section 30 of the
Australian Information
Commissioner Act 2010 (AIC Act). The OAIC Annual report summarises the col ected statistics including
statistics on internal reviews of agency decisions. The OAIC also makes historical statistics available on
data.gov.au at https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/freedom-of-information-statistics.
Details on the statistics agencies are required to report is available at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/guidance-and-advice/foistats-guide/.
Freedom of Information request FOI21/144 – Decision letter
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The OAIC Annual report for 2019-20 is available on the OAIC website at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/assets/about-us/our-corporate-information/annual-reports/oaic-annual-
reports/annual-report-2019-20/OAIC-Annual-Report-2019-20.pdf.
Information on internal reviews may be held across government and by different bodies depending on the
legislation under which the decision was made.
Your review rights under the FOI Act are set out at
Attachment A to this letter.
If you wish to discuss this decision, the FOI case officer for this matter is Fiona, who can be reached on (02)
6141 6666 or by email to xxx@xx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Joanna Baker
Assistant Director
Freedom of Information and Privacy
Attachments
Attachment A:
Review rights
Freedom of Information request FOI21/144 – Decision letter
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Attachment A - 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 following 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 following 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/.
FOI Review rights
Freedom of Information request FOI21/144 – Decision letter
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