15 November 2021
Ms Davey, Eleanor
BY EMAIL: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA 21/08/01045
File Number:
OBJ2021/25817
Dear Ms Davey,
Freedom of Information (FOI) request - Access Decision
On 20 August 2021, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) received a request for
access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
1
Scope of request
You have requested access to the following documents:
I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act, the number of times per
year that Transfield has been required to investigate behaviour of individual staff
members contracted to work at the Nauru Regional Processing Centre since 2012;
the number of times these investigations led to a change in a staff member’s duties;
the number of times these investigations led to termination of a staff member’s
contract. Thank you for your assistance.
2
Authority to make decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in respect of
requests to access documents or to amend or annotate records.
6 Chan Street Belconnen ACT 2617
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 • Telephone: 02 6264 1111 • Fax: 02 6225 6970
• www.homeaffairs.gov.au
3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the FOI Act
• Guidelines published by the Office of the Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines)
• advice from Departmental officers with responsibility for matters relating to the
documents to which you sought access
4
Decision
Section 24(1)(b) of the FOI Act provides that, where a practical refusal reason exists, an
agency may refuse to process a request only if the agency has undertaken the ‘consultation
process’ in s24AB of the Act and, after completing the consultation, the agency remains
satisfied that a practical refusal reason exists.
The Department issued a section 24AB notice on 28 October 2021 because of our initial
estimation that the work required to respond to the scope of this request, in its current form,
would be highly likely to substantially and unreasonably divert the Department’s resources.
The Department’s initial estimation was based on a response from the Department’s
internal business division who have responsibility for the matters in scope, which found that
the work required to produce documents that would be covered in scope would exceed 40
hours.
At the time of writing, the Department has not received a formal reply to its section 24AB
notice of 28 October 2021, which would advise us of your instructions in respect to either
revising the scope or any of the other options provided under s24AB(6), including a
withdrawal of the request or an indication that you do not wish to revise scope.
Having considered the scope of the request and the advice of the Department’s internal
business division who has responsibility for the matters in scope, I am satisfied that the
practical refusal reason remains. Therefore, I have decided to refuse your request under
s24(1) of the FOI Act.
5
Legislation
A copy of the FOI Act is available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562.
If you are unable to access the legislation through this website, please contact our office
for a copy.
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6
Your Review Rights
Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
You may apply directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for
a review of this decision. You must apply in writing within 60 days of this notice. For further
information about review rights and how to submit a request for a review to the OAIC,
please see Fact Sheet 12 "Freedom of information – Your review rights", available online
at https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-review-process.
7
Making a Complaint
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action taken by the
Department in relation to your request.
Your enquiries to the Australian Information Commissioner can be directed to:
Phone 1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Email
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
There is no particular form required to make a complaint to the Australian Information
Commissioner. The request should be in writing and should set out the grounds on which
it is considered that the action taken in relation to the request should be investigated and
identify the Department of Home Affairs as the relevant agency.
8
Contacting the FOI Section
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Section
at xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Signed electronically
Glen
Position number 60081621
Authorised Decision Maker | Freedom of Information Section
FOI and Records Management Branch
Data Division | Strategy and National Resilience Group
Department of Home Affairs
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Document Outline
