LEX 45443
Decision and Statement of reasons issued under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982
Decision and reason for decision of Jessy (Position Number 62320730), Information Law
Section, Legal Services and Audit Branch, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Applicant:
Mr Alan Ashmore
Decision date:
22 November 2021
FOI reference number:
LEX 45443
Sent by (email, post etc):
Via Email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Ashmore
Freedom of Information Request: LEX 45443
Decision
1. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (
the department) has undertaken a reasonable search
of its records and has identified 238 documents relevant to your request.
2. I have made a decision to refuse access to the documents.
Authority to make decision
3. I, Jessy (Position Number 62320730), Information Access Officer, Information Law Section, am
authorised to make decisions in accordance with section 23(1) of the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (FOI Act).
Summary
4. On 2 September 2021 you made a request for access to documents in the possession of the
Department. Your request sought access to:
“…the appointment of a National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran
Suicide Prevention to inquire into suicides of serving and former ADF
members:
1
I am seeking all documents including the initial brief/direction, and all
aspects of the development of this policy by DVA up to and including 4
February 2020.
Documentation to include every document/s including internal emails and
minutes of meeting/s pertaining to the development of this policy.”
5. On 12 November 2021, you were notified as required under section 24AB of the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) that I intended to refuse your request on the basis that a
practical reason exists, as defined by section 24AA of the FOI Act.
6. Based on the terms of your request, and from searches undertaken to respond to your
request, I was of the view that a practical refusal reason exists because:
a. Processing your request is likely to result in a substantial and unreasonable
diversion of the Department’s resources from its other operations (section
24AA(1)(b) of the FOI Act).
7. Section 24 of the FOI Act provides that if the department is satisfied that a practical refusal
reason exists in relation to a request, the department must undertake a consultation process
with you, and if, after that consultation process, the department remains satisfied that the
practical refusal reason still exists, the department may refuse to give you access to the
documents subject to the request.
8. On 17 November, you provided a revised scope being:
“I am seeking all documents including the initial brief/direction, and all
aspects of the development of this policy by DVA from the starting date up
to and including the first 21 days from the initial brief/direction.”
9. Despite the revision of scope, I am still satisfied that a practical refusal reason exists in
relation to your request.
10. The business area advised that the voluminous number of documents identified could only
be produced within a secure environment.
11. Consultation was required with another agency as the material is classified as sensitive. The
agency was unable to review the documentation due to the voluminous nature which would
require up to approximately 50 hours.
2
12. As extensions of time were applied to process your request in accordance with section 15AA,
and 15AB of the FOI Act, a decision on your request is due by 22 November 2021.
Administrative access for a document
13. I am aware that you have requested a document that shows the date that the department
commenced work on the proposal for the appointment of a National Commissioner for
Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention.
14. If such a document exists and it is not a cabinet document then the department wil look to
provide it to you administratively.
15. We are prioritising these searches and will provide you with an update tomorrow.
Material taken into account
16. In accordance with section 26(1)(a) of the FOI Act, my findings on any material question of
fact, the material on which those findings were based and the reasons for my decision to
refuse access to the documents follows.
17. I have taken the following material into account in making my decision.
the terms of your request and as revised
the types of information and documents that are in the department’s possession
the content of the document that fal within the scope of your request.
Reasons for decision
18. I have decided to
refuse access to the documents within the scope of your request in
accordance with the fol owing exemption in the FOI Act:
19.
Power to refuse request - diversion of resources
a. If an agency or Minister is satisfied, when dealing with a request for a document,
that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to the request (see section 24AA),
the agency or Minister:
i. must undertake a request consultation process (see section 24AB); and
3
ii. if, after the request consultation process, the agency or Minister is satisfied
that the practical refusal reason still exists--the agency or Minister may
refuse to give access to the document in accordance with the request.
20. Section 24AA(1)(a) of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to
a request for a document if the work involved in processing the request would substantially
and unreasonably divert the resources of the department from its other operations.
Request is substantial
21. Following enquiries, I estimate that 80 hours of processing time is required to deal with this
request. The reasons for this are as follows:
• I estimate that there are approximately 1692 pages of material relevant to your
request. These 1692 pages are contained over 238 documents identified as being
relevant to your request.
• The material relevant to your request is considered sensitive in their entirety or
contain sensitive material.
• The relevant documents wil need to be analysed and a decision made before they
can be released to you. The documents subject to your request are in relation to
policy development leading to the appointment of a National Commissioner for
Defence and Veteran Suicide. It is estimated that:
o Searching and collating documents has taken 25 hours.
o 10 hours wil be required to consider the exemptions and applicable
redactions to the documents;
o 50 hours wil be required to consult with another agency and for that agency
to consider exemptions and applicable redactions;
o 5 hours will be required to prepare a decision and statement of reasons; and
o 10 hours wil be required to prepare a schedule of documents to accompany
the decision and statement of reasons.
4
22. Taking these factors into account, I have concluded the request is substantial.
Request is unreasonable
23. I have considered whether the substantial resource burden would be unreasonable having
regard to the following:
• 90 hours
of processing time is, at face value, an unreasonable burden for a single
FOI request, taking into account the need to process multiple requests at any given
time, and the impact such a burden would have on responding to other FOI
applicants and for the relevant business area to undertake their designated duties.
24. Taking this into account, I am of the view that the request is unreasonable, as well as
substantial.
Yours sincerely,
Jessy (Position Number 62320730)
Information Access Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
22 November 2021
5
LEX 45443
Schedule 2
Your Rights to Review
1. If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or request the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (
OAIC) review my decision. We
encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it may provide a more rapid
resolution of your concerns.
Internal review
2. Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Department for an Internal
Review of my decision. The Internal Review application must be made within 30 days of the
date of this letter. Where possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the
decision is necessary. The internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30
days.
3. You can make your application for Internal Review in one of the fol owing ways:
Post:
Legal Services and Audit Branch, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
Facsimile:
(02) 6289 6337
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
OAIC review
4. Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the OAIC to review my decision. An
application for review by OAIC must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this
letter, and be lodged in one of the fol owing ways:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Facsimile:
(02) 9284 9666
Phone:
1300 363 992
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
6
5. More information about your review rights under the FOI Act is available in Fact Sheet 12
published by the OAIC:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-
complaints/information-commissioner-review/
Contact us
6. If you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the Information Law
Section using the fol owing details:
Online:
https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview/reporting/freedom-
information/access-information
Post:
Information Law, Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
Facsimile:
(02) 6289 6337
Phone:
1800 838 372
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
7
Document Outline
