OFFICIAL

Freedom of Information (FOI) request
Notice of Decision
Reference: FOI 2022/083
To Allan
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Allan
I refer to your email of 13 March 2022 in which you made an FOI request to the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(the FOI Act).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
Scope of request
You set out your request in the fol owing terms (extrat):
…under the FOI Act, please provide the last three broadbanding proposals PMC provided to the
Australian Public Service Commission (from any agency or Department) to ensure that the
proposals conformed to the requirements set out at (i) – (iii) above where one of the
classifications across which a proposed broadband was effected was an SES classification (e.g. a
broadband over the Executive Level 2 and SES1 Band).
Authorised decision-maker
I am authorised to make this decision in accordance with arrangements approved by the
Department’s Secretary under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Material taken into account
In reaching my decision I referred to the fol owing:
•  the terms of your request
•  searches undertaken by the Department
•  the FOI Act (specifically s 24A)

Postal Address: PO Box 6500, CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: +61 2 6271 5849   Fax: +61 2 6271 5776   www.pmc.gov.au ABN:  18 108 001 191

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link to page 2 CHOOSE CLASSIFICATION
•  the Guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner1 (the FOI Guidelines)
Decision
I have decided to refuse your request under s 24A(1) of the FOI Act, on the basis that the Department
has taken al  reasonable steps to locate the documents you have requested, and those documents
cannot be found or do not exist.
Reason for decision
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding that certain information is irrelevant is set out below.

1.  Documents cannot be found or do not exist

Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a)  all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b)  the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i) is in the agency’s or Minister’s possession but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist.

Taking into consideration my knowledge of the processes of People Branch in the Department, I can
advise that the Department has not provided the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) with
any proposals for broadbanding where one of the classifications across the proposed broadband has
been at the SES classification. The Department does not view or submit broadbanding proposals to
the APSC on behalf of any other agency or department.

As a result no documents relevant to your request have been identified.

Accordingly, I am refusing your request for access as al  reasonable steps have been taken to find a
document and I am satisfied that documents cannot be found or do not exist.
Review rights
If you disagree with my decision, you may apply for internal review or Information Commissioner
review of the decision.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Department for an internal review of
my decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days after the date of this letter.
Where possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the decision is necessary.
Applications for review should be sent to xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.

1 s 93A of the FOI Act

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CHOOSE CLASSIFICATION
Information Commissioner review
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 after the date of this letter.
More information about Information Commissioner review is available at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/information-commissioner-
review/.
FOI Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your FOI request, please let us know what we could
have done better. We may be able to rectify the problem. If you are not satisfied with our response,
you can make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner. A complaint to the
Information Commissioner must be made in writing.
More information about complaints is available on the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/make-an-
foi-complaint/.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your requests, you can contact the FOI Section by email at
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.

Yours sincerely

Melinda Bopping
Chief People Officer
People Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

5 May 2022

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Document Outline