FOI - [ROYAL COMMISSION] - PANE, Verity - Royal Commission legal
team costs
LEX ID
47338
Decision/Outcome FOI Decision: Access granted
(part)
File notes
Date
Type
DVA officer
Timeframe days
15 Feb 2022
FOI: s22(1)(a)(ii) Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
- irrelevant/out of
scope
Exempt information removed from documents.
15 Feb 2022
FOI: s47F -
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Personal privacy
Redacted personal information (surnames and contact information) of non-SES staff from documents. Also
withheld Document 9 - an excel spreadsheet containing the health information of veterans, due to size of
documents redactions not practical in the circumstances.
24 Jan 2022
FOI: s47E -
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Certain
operations of
agencies
Under s 47E, removed last names and other identifying details of non-SES staff, to prevent the risk of an
adverse effect on operations of agency.
24 Jan 2022
FOI: s17 -
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Document
creation
Under s 17 created a table containing information requested by applicant (Document 1).
24 Jan 2022
FOI: s22(1)(a)(i) Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
- exemptions
applied/edited
copy
Under s 22, removed exempt material from the documents.
24 Jan 2022
FOI: s47F -
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Personal privacy
Relied upon s 47F in redacting personal information from Document 4, due to the document containing
personal information about APS employees that would be unreasonable to disclose in the circumstances.
24 Jan 2022
FOI: s47E -
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Certain
operations of
agencies
Relied upon s 47E in redacting some information from Document 4, due to document containing information
regarding APS employees (such as names and other identifying details) which, if released could disrupt DVA
operations through allowing established lines of communication to be bypassed.
24 Jan 2022
FOI: s47 - Trade Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
secrets
Relied upon s 47 in redacting material from Document 1, due to document containing information regarding
the charge-out rates of contractors from relevant companies.
24 Jan 2022
1.1.1 Clock stop Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Clock stopped. Reason: Decision sent to applicant.
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24 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Primary decision and docs ready to be sent out - currently in drafts.
24 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Decision sent to Derek for his adoption.
24 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Consultations were not considered required for 47F and 47 exemption application at this stage, due to
personal information being redacted and business information (related to the value of commercial contracts)
being publicly available, or set to be publicly available on Aus Tender.
20 Jan 2022
1. File note
Chantal s 47E, s 47F
Draft decision sent to M Campbell to QA - 20.01.22 - C s 47E, s 47F
19 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Received table created under s 17 FOI Act from Ken; drafted reasons for decisions, which are now saved in
r-drive and also sitting in email draft for review.
19 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
I have now requested that Ken s 47E, s 47F create a table for cost of Royal Commission Contractors to the DVA, in
line with Ms Lane's FOI request.
17 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Ken has confirmed via email that, with exception to the names of specific APS staff that wil need to be
redacted, all the details included on the contracts including value of the contracts etc is already publicly
available. It therefore appears that third party consultation wil not be required.
17 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Received signed search minute and documents from Kenneth s 47E, s 47F General Counsel Division. As noted in
earlier file note, Ken stated that he believed he had access to all documents within scope. Saved documents
and signed search minute in r-drive.
12 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Spoke with Ken s 47E, s 47F (Finance Manager) on the phone to confirm he was aware of the due date and the
short turnaround time. He confirmed that he was aware and also let me know that he has already col ected
most of the documents and wil shortly send the documents for sign off. Confirmed with Ken that the request
is currently only with him, due to People Operations letting us know that they did not have any relevant
documents, and that we have not sent the request to any other business areas. Confirmed with Ken that it is
not necessary to send the request to any other business areas due to his area having access to all relevant
files.
11 Jan 2022
1. File note
Chantal s 47E, s 47F
Search minute sent to LSA RC section and people operations - C s 47E, s 47F
10 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Drafted Search Minute Request emails to both Legal Services and People Operations. Both emails currently
in draft form waiting to be sent
6 Jan 2022
1. File note
Llewellyn s 47E, s 47F
Acknowledgement Email sent 6 January 2022 by Sneha (Position number: 62315639)
Dear Verity Pane,
Freedom of Information Request: FOI 47338
I refer to your request for access to documents held by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (department)
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Your request was received by the department on 23
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December 2021 and was made in the following terms:
‘ … I've heard DVA has a DVA Royal Commission Legal Team of about 25 people working in DVA's General
Counsel Division.
There is interest in the community as to what the purpose of this DVA Royal Commission Legal Team is,
what it does, what law firms have seconded their staff to it, and how much this is al costing the taxpayer.
I seek copy of the following documents (it is likely to be easier for DVA to do as a table rather than provide
copy of the source documents as it wil mean a lot less work for DVA in redaction/consideration):
* the cost of all contractors employed within the DVA Royal Commission Legal Team, broken down by law
firm/personnel agency seconded from (with number of contractors from that law firm/personnel agency) -
cost may be at fortnightly, monthly, or yearly basis as suits DVA
* the cost of all APS staff employed within the DVA Royal Commission Legal Team, broken down by
classification - cost may be at fortnightly, monthly, or yearly basis as suits DVA
* copy of any position/duty statement for the positions within the DVA Royal Commission Legal Team
* any other document directly relevant to what the purpose of this DVA Royal Commission Legal Team is,
what it does, what law firms have seconded their staff to it, and how much this is al costing the taxpayer,
that DVA reasonably believes gives such context....’
In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, the due date for a decision on your request is 22 January
2022.
When the processing period may be extended or suspended
The current due date may be extended by up to 30 days if agreed by you (section 15AA of the FOI Act).
Also, the due date may be extended by an additional 30 days in each instance, if your request is considered
voluminous or complex (section 15AB of the FOI Act) or if the department is required to undertake a third
party consultation (sections 26A, 27 or 27A of the FOI Act). If any of these extensions apply, the department
will notify you.
Additionally, there are occasions where the time to process your request may be suspended. This wil
usually take place if a practical refusal consultation process takes place (section 24AB of the FOI Act) or if a
charges notice is issued to process your request (section 29 of the FOI Act). If the department decides that
either of these apply to your request, the department wil notify you.
We wil write again when the department has more information. Further information on FOI processing can
be found at the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
Publication of documents
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be published online on our disclosure log
at https://www.dva.gov.au/about-dva/freedom-information/foi-disclosure-log subject to certain exceptions,
such as if the documents relate to your own personal information. The Department wil advise you in its
decision whether details of your request wil be published on the disclosure log or not.
Contacting us about your request
We will contact you using the email address you have provided. Please advise if you would prefer us to use
an alternative means of contact.
If you have any questions, please contact us using the following details:
Post: Information Law Section, Legal Services & Audit Branch
GPO Box 9998 CANBERRA ACT 2601
Facsimile: (02) 6289 6337
Email: xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
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Sneha (Position number: 62315639)
23 Dec 2021
1.1.1 Clock start Kate s 47E, s 47F
30
Clock started
Produced by s 22 - Out of scope
LEX for FOI Management
Sunday, 10 Apr 2022
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