25 January 2022
Ms Eliza Sorensen
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ms Eliza Sorensen,
We are writing in relation to the request you made under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) to the eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) on 14 January 2022 (FOI request).
We would like to provide further information about an aspect of your FOI request.
The wording of your FOI request is:
‘I am requesting al documents which are:
- generated by or received by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, or by the
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant acting in her professional capacity, or by
the agents of the Office who handle invitations and communications functions
(whether those functions are in-house or outsourced);
- including internal or external correspondence, meeting requests, briefings or
research, database entries, diary or calendar notes, minutes of meetings, policies or
manuals, accommodation or travel documentation, invoices or receipts, and/or
delegations of work;
- covering the period beginning 1 January 2017, and ending on the date you confirm
your receipt of this FOI request;
relating to the topic described below:
I refer you to an email dated 22 September 2021 from a staff member of eSafety to
Julie Inman Grant. This document was released as "Document 4" in response to my
previous FOI request relating to the eSafety Commissioner's engagement with the
organisation NCOSE (National Centre on Sexual Exploitation).
In that document, the unidentified staff member says:
"I looked into this earlier because this podcast/interview did not go via media or
invites - although we had one for CESE back in early July so it's quite possible I was
on leave when it was going through the invitations discussion.
[...]
We did a hunt on NCOSE. I know that we have participated with them before as I
remember [redacted] has spoken of them."
I am seeking al documents relating to the engagement with NCOSE referred to by the staff
member in this email. It appears from context the staff member is referring to a different
event than the "Ending Sexual Exploitation" podcast recorded in July in connection with
NCOSE's CESE (Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation) Summit.’
We understand from your request that you are interested in all documents relating to any engagement
eSafety has had with NCOSE other than in respect of the "Ending Sexual Exploitation" podcast during
the period outlined in your request, as it was suggested by an eSafety staff member in document 4 of
the previous FOI request dated 22 November 2021 (previous FOI request) that eSafety has
previously engaged with NCOSE.
Clarification
eSafety has not engaged with NCOSE other than in respect of the "Ending Sexual Exploitation"
podcast.
We have taken al reasonable steps to search our records and we have engaged with relevant staff.
eSafety has no documents regarding any engagement with NCOSE other than in respect of the
"Ending Sexual Exploitation" podcast.
The comment in the email in document 4 of the previous FOI request stating, ‘ We did a hunt on
NCOSE. I know that we have participated with them before as I remember [redacted] has spoken of
them’, was a misunderstanding on the part of the relevant eSafety staff member who wrote the email.
We apologise for the confusion this has created.
Next steps
We wanted to clarify the reference in the previous FOI request before we begin processing your
request.
While we can process your request, given the scope relates to engagement eSafety has had with
NCOSE other than in respect of the "Ending Sexual Exploitation" podcast, there wil be no documents
in scope.
We wanted to provide you the opportunity to withdraw your request. You may also choose to submit a
new request. If you submit a new request, we encourage you to consider the scope of your previous
FOI request relating to NCOSE and the documents that have already been released for that request.
We welcome your feedback and would also welcome the opportunity to discuss your FOI request with
you.
Please contact the FOI Coordinator at
xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Kind regards,
FOI Coordinator
eSafety Commissioner
