Our Reference: LEX1358.
Chris H
C/O Right To Know
By email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Chris
Your freedom of information request no. LEX1358
I refer to your email on 18 February 2022 to the Australian Electoral Commission (‘AEC’) in
which you request access (your ‘FOI Request’) under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982
(the ‘FOI Act’) to documents about donations made to each political party from 01 January
2010 to present.
2
I am writing today to give you a decision about access to documents that you
requested in your FOI Request.
SUMMARY
3
I, William Mueller, of the AEC, am an officer authorised under subsection 23(1) of
the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to FOI Requests.
4
Specifically, you sought access to:
the portfolio or documents showing donations made to each political party from 01
January 2010 to present.
5
The AEC acknowledged your request in an email to you dated 25 February 2022,
and in a further email to you dated 4 March 2022. Included in these
acknowledgements was a request that you consider the AE
Cs Transparency
Register and confirm whether it contained the information you were seeking by 7
March 2022.
6
The AEC has not received a response to the requests.
7
I identified that the information contained within the AE
Cs Transparency Register
falls within the scope of your FOI Request (the ‘Relevant Documents’).
8
I did this by searching within the AECs Transparency Register to determine that the
information that the AEC holds within scope is contained within the Transparency
Register.
9
More information, including my reasons for my decision, is set out below.
DECISION AND REASONS FOR DECISION
Decision
10
With regard to the information contained within the
Transparency Register, I have
decided that the information available on the register meets the request. Further, the
Transparency Register contains all information in scope that the AEC holds to date.
Material taken into account
11
I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:
(a) The terms of your FOI request;
(b) the content of the Transparency Register that falls within the scope of your FOI
Request;
(c) the FOI Act;
(d) the guidelines
(‘FOI Guidelines’) issued by the Australian Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act,
(e) the
Privacy Act 1988
YOUR REVIEW RIGHTS
12
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or
Information Commissioner review of the 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
13
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the AEC for an internal
review of my decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days
of the date of this letter.
14
Where possible, please attach reasons why you believe review of my decision is
necessary. The internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30 days.
Information Commissioner review
15
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 this letter, and
be lodged in one of the following ways:
online:
https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/oaic/foi-review-/
email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
post:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution, GPO Box 5218,
Sydney NSW 2001
fax:
02 9284 9666
16
More information about Information Commissioner review is available on the Office
of the Australian Information Commissioner website at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/information-
commissioner-review/.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS DECISION
17
If you wish to discuss my decision, please contact me at:
email:
xxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
fax:
02 6293 7657
post:
Locked bag 4007, Canberra ACT 2601
telephone:
13 23 26
Yours sincerely
Will Mueller
Manager, Corporate and Information Law
Legal Services Section
Legal and Procurement Branch
15 March 2022
