7 March 2022
Damien
Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA22/02/00359
File Number:
OBJ2022/2954
Dear Damien
I refer to your request dated 3 February 2022 in which you have sought access to documents
held by the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) under the
Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
You have requested access to:
1) The number of people waiting to be allocated to an Australian citizenship
ceremony (who have been approved) in Waverley Council NSW.
2) The number of people allocated to an Australian citizenship ceremony (who
have been approved) in Waverley Council NSW.
This letter is to notify you that a preliminary assessment has been made that you are liable to
pay a charge for the processing of this request.
As provided under section 29 of the FOI Act and the
Freedom of Information (Charges)
Regulations 1982 (the Regulations), my preliminary assessment of the amount of charges you
are liable to pay is
$15
Preliminary assessment of charges
Under section 17 of the FOI Act, the Department has used its computer system to produce a
document containing information relevant to the terms of you request.
I have assessed the work the Department would need to do to process your request and have
calculated the following breakdown of charges.
Search and Retrieval – 1 hour @ $15 per hour
$ 15.00
Decision Making – 1 hour (first 5 hours free of charge)
$ 00.00
Total
$15.00
6 Chan Street B 1
el connen ACT 2617
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 • Telephone: • w ww.homeaffairs.gov.au
Details of the Charge
It has taken 1 hour to search for, retrieve and produce the document(s) which fall within the
scope of your request. The 1 document consisting of 1 page wil require a decision to be
made on access and it is estimated that this wil take 1 hour. The 1 document wil require a
decision to be made on access, and it is estimated that this wil take 1 hour (noting that the
first 5 hours are free of charge).
Timeframe for your response and next steps
The FOI Act provides you with 30 days to respond, in writing, to this notice. The due date for
your response is
Wednesday, 6 April 2022.
By this date you
must do one of the following:
•
agree to pay the full charge;
•
contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed; or should be reduced or not
imposed; and explain your reasons; or
•
you may withdraw your request.
If you agree to pay the charge, please note that by paying the
$15 charge you are deemed to
have accepted the charge and wil be liable for the full amount once a decision has been made
on the documents.
If you seek to contend the assessment of charges the Department may make a decision on
whether a charge should be reduced or not imposed and
must take into account:
•
whether payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause you financial hardship
•
whether giving access to the documents is in the general public interest or in the interest
of a substantial section of the public.
This is not an exhaustive list and the Department may consider any other relevant matters.
Please note that if you do not provide a written response within the
30 day timeframe your
request wil be taken to have been withdrawn (by you) under section 29(2) of the Act.
Payment
To indicate your agreement to pay the charge you are required to pay
$15 charge in full.
The Department has a number of payment options available, including an online payment
facility for credit/debit cards; automated telephone payment system and BPay. You may also
pay the charge by cheque or money order.
Electronic funds transfer/credit card payment
If you wish to pay the charges using a credit card, the online payment facility, telephone
payment system or BPay, please advise the FOI Section, and a tax invoice wil be provided to
you which wil include full details of how the payment can be made.
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Payment by cheque/money order
If you wish to pay by cheque or money order, please make the cheque/money order payable
to ‘
Collector of Public Monies Home Affairs’; and send via post to:
Freedom of Information Section
Department of Home Affairs
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616
If the Department fails to make a decision on your request within the statutory time limit, the
payment wil be refunded.
Processing period suspended
The period for processing your request is suspended from the day that you are deemed to
have been ‘notified’ of the charge and resumes on:
•
the day you indicate that you agree to pay the charge; or
•
the day on which this agency makes a decision not to impose a charge.
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.
Contact
If you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please contact the FOI Section at
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Kel
FOI Officer | Freedom of Information Section
FOI and Records Management Branch
Data Division | Strategy & Law Enforcement Group
Department of Home Affairs
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