Your Ref
Our Ref
LEX 215
Alex Pentland
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Pentland,
Your Freedom of Information request - decision
I refer to your request, received by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment
(department) on 18 February 2022, for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the fol owing documents:
al correspondents or records of communication between the Department of Education,
Skil s and Employment and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
relating to the draft national curriculum refered to in this statement
(https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tudge/roaring-back-my-priorities-schools-students-return-
classrooms)
Following correspondence with the department on 1 March 2022, you clarified that your
request is for:
al correspondence or records of communication between the department and ACARA in
relation to the draft national curriculum published in April 2021 (referred to as the ‘ACARA’s
April draft’ in Minister Tudge’s statement)
On 18 March 2022, you agreed to an extension of 21 days to process your request pursuant
to section 15AA of the FOI Act.
My decision
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
The department holds 3 documents (total ing 39 pages) that contain some small sections of
material falling within the scope of your request. I have decided to grant you
access in ful to
the documents, with irrelevant material deleted. The irrelevant material falls outside the
scope of your FOI request.
A schedule of the documents for release is at
Attachment A.
GPO Box 9880, Canberra ACT 2601 | Phone 1300 488 064 | www.dese.gov.au | ABN 12 862 898 150
Section 22 of the FOI Act: access to edited copies with irrelevant matter deleted
I have decided that some parts of the documents falling within the scope of your request
contain irrelevant material. In this regard, sections 22(1) and (2) of the FOI Act provide that:
Scope
(1)
This section applies if:
(a) an agency or Minister decides:
(i) to refuse to give access to an exempt document; or
(i )
that to give access to a document would disclose information that would
reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request for access; and
(b)
it is possible for the agency or Minister to prepare a copy (an edited copy) of the
document, modified by deletions, ensuring that:
(i)
access to the edited copy would be required to be given under section
11A (access to documents on request); and
(i )
the edited copy would not disclose any information that would
reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request; and
(c)
it is reasonably practicable for the agency or Minister to prepare the edited copy,
having regard to:
(i)
the nature and extent of the modification; and
(i )
the resources available to modify the document; and
(d)
it is not apparent (from the request or from consultation with the applicant) that
the applicant would decline access to the edited copy.
Access to edited copy
(2)
The agency or Minister must:
(a) prepare the edited copy as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b); and
(b) give the applicant access to the edited copy.
On 22 February 2022, the department advised you that it would treat the names, signatures,
position titles and contact details of Commonwealth employees as irrelevant in accordance
with section 22 of the FOI Act unless you advised otherwise. As you did not advise that you
wished to have this information included in the scope of your request, I have redacted the
signature of a Commonwealth employee and the direct email address of a Commonwealth
employee from one of the documents as irrelevant material under section 22 of the FOI Act.
I have retained the names and position titles of the two Commonwealth employees because
of their seniority in the Australian Public Service and because this information is publicly
available.
The documents identified in the Schedule of Documents include irrelevant material.
In accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act, I have deleted irrelevant material where
possible from the pages identified in the Schedule of Documents and have decided to
release the remaining material to you.
Charge
On 17 March 2022, the department made a preliminary assessment of the charge payable to
process your request in the amount of $65.00. On 18 March 2022, the department received
payment in full.
I have assessed the charge under regulation 10 of the
Freedom of Information (Charges)
Regulations 2019 and the cost of processing your request exceeded the amount estimated.
Accordingly, I have fixed the charge under this provision.
How we wil send your documents
Documents 1-3 are attached.
You can ask for a review of my decision
If you disagree with any part of the decision, you can ask for a review. There are two ways
you can do this. You can ask for an internal review by the department or an external review
by the Australian Information Commissioner.
You can find information about your rights of review under the FOI Act, as well as
information about how to make a complaint at
Attachment B.
Further assistance
If you have any questions, please email xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Alison
Authorised decision maker
Department of Education, Skil s and Employment
8 April 2022
Attachment A
SCHEDULE OF DOCUMENTS - ALEX PENTLAND
Document Page count
Date
Description
Decision
Commen
ts
number
1.
13
22/09/2021 Presentation slides
Grant access in
Irrelevant material deleted under section 22
full
2.
3
Undated
Presentation slides
Grant access in
Irrelevant material deleted under section 22
full
3.
2
24/06/2021 Letter
Grant access in
Irrelevant material deleted under section 22
full
Signature and direct email address of Commonwealth
employees redacted under section 22
Attachment B
YOUR RIGHTS OF REVIEW
Asking for a formal review of an FOI decision
If you believe the decision is incorrect, the FOI Act gives you the right to apply for a review of
the decision. Under sections 54 and 54L of the FOI Act, you can apply for a review of an FOI
decision by:
• an internal review officer in the department and/or
• the Australian Information Commissioner.
There are no fees for applying for a formal review.
Applying for an internal review by an internal review officer
If you apply for internal review, a different decision maker to the decision maker who made
the original decision will review your request. The internal review decision maker will
consider al aspects of the original decision afresh and decide whether the decision should
change.
An application for internal review must be made in writing within 30 days of receiving this
letter. You can lodge your application:
Post:
Information and Corporate Law Branch
Department of Education, Skil s and Employment
Location Code: C50MA1
GPO BOX 9880
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Email:
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Applying for external review by the Australian Information Commissioner
If you do not agree with the original decision or the internal review decision, you can ask the
Australian Information Commissioner to review the decision.
You will have 60 days to apply in writing for a review by the Australian Information
Commissioner.
You can lodge your application in one of the following ways:
Online:
https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICR_10
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
GPO Box 9880, Canberra ACT 2601 | Phone 1300 488 064 | www.dese.gov.au | ABN 12 862 898 150
Post:
Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Complaints to the Australian Information Commissioner
Australian Information Commissioner
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action taken by an
agency in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act.
A complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner must be made in writing and can be
lodged in one of the fol owing ways:
Online:
https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICCA_1
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Post:
Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Document Outline
