LEX 49375
Decision and Statement of reasons issued under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982
Decision and reason for decision of Sara (Position Number 62214764),
Information Access Officer, Information Access Unit,
Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch, Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Applicant:
Ms Verity Pane
Date of primary decision:
26 April 2022
FOI reference number (Primary): LEX 48748
Internal review decision date:
25 May 2022
Internal review reference number: LEX 49375
Sent by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ms Pane,
Freedom of Information Internal Review Request: LEX 49375
Decision
1. The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about your request for internal review for
the decision made in LEX 48748 under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (
FOI Act)
2. I have made the decision to affirm the original decision made by Suzanne (Position Number
62210948), Information Access Officer, Information Access Unit, Client Access Rehabilitation
Branch. That decision was to create and grant access in full to one (
1) document within the
scope of your request.
3. The document that I have decided to grant access to is set out in
Schedule 1, together with
the applicable provision of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (
FOI Act).
Authority to make decision
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4. I, Sara (Position Number 62214764), Information Access Officer, Information Access Unit,
Client Access Rehabilitation Branch, am an officer authorised by the Secretary of the
Department to make decisions about access to documents in the possession of the
Department in accordance with section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Summary
Original Decision
5. On 26 March 2022, you made a request for access to document in the possession of the
Department. Your request sought access to:
‘…I seek a document listing the number of liability and compensation claims DVA has
*received* for the last full ten financial years, as wel as the current partial financial
year listed by Act [MRCA, VEA (excluding NLHC claims), and SRCA/DRCA] of
entitlement that applies, with Non-Liability Health Care (NLHC) claims listed in their
own row/column…’
6. On 29 March 2022, the Department acknowledged your request via email.
7. As no extensions of time were applied to process your request, a decision on your request
was due by 25 April 2022. When a decision due date fal s on a weekend or public holiday,
the decision may be made the following day. Accordingly, the decision was due 26 April
2022.
8. On 26 April 2022, the Department made a decision to create and grant access in full to one
document within the scope of your request, under the fol owing provisions of the FOI Act:
a. Section 15 Request for Access
b. Section 17
Requests involving the use of computers etc
Internal Review
9. After receiving the Department’s decision on 26 April 2022, you contacted the Department
on 3 May 2022 requesting an internal review of the handling of this FOI request. Your
internal review request was made in the following terms:
‘…Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans' Affairs's
handling of my FOI request 'Number of liability and compensation claims received'.
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DVA has invalidly varied the scope of the FOI made, claiming that some fields of the
table produced under s 17 are outside scope 'as the definition of ‘document’ provided
at section 4 of the FOI Act, does not extend to material which is publicly available'.
This is an untenable position as this would only apply to a request for a discrete
document that had been published (for example, if the FOI had been for copy of the
2020-21 Annual Report, DVA could decide to give administrative access to the
published report), not a data in table produced in a s 17 because no such discrete
document as applied for existed.
As such this exclusion of scope made is invalid…’
10. As no extension of time has been applied to process this internal review, a decision on your
internal review application is due 2 June 2022.
Material taken into account
11. In accordance with section 26(1)(a) of the FOI Act, my findings on any material question of
fact, the material on which those findings were based and the reasons for my decision to
grant partial access to the document follow:
12. I have taken the fol owing material into account in making my decision.
• the terms of your original request made on 26 March 2022 and the original decision
made on this request on 26 April 2022;
• the records of the searches carried out in processing your original request;
• the terms of your internal review request made on 3 May 2022;
• the types of information and documents that are in the Department’s possession;
• the content of the document that fal s within the scope of your request;
• Sections 3, 11 and 11A of the FOI Act which give the Australian community a legally
enforceable right to obtain access to information held by the Government of the
Commonwealth. I have also considered the following provisions of the FOI Act
relevant to my decision:
- Section 15 Request for Access
- Section 17 Requests involving the use of computers etc
• the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (
FOI Guidelines).
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13. A full extract of all FOI Act provisions used to make my decision are provided in
Schedule 2.
Reasons for decision
14. I have decided to affirm the original decision made on 26 April 2022 to create and grant full
access to the document within the scope of your request, subject to the fol owing provision
in the FOI Act:
Requests involving use of computers etc (s 17)
15. The primary decision maker consulted with the Client Benefits Division and determined the
Department does not hold the information sought in its entirety, in a discrete document.
16. At the conclusion of this consultation process, the decision maker determined that some of
the information requested is publicly available and can be found in the Department’s Annual
Reports.
17. In order to provide you with access to relevant information, the decision maker requested
that data be extracted (where not publicly available) to create a document.
18. The document that was created comprises the gross number of compensation claims
received for DRCA and MRCA Incapacity claims and NLHC claims for the financial periods
FY2011/12 – 2020/21.
19. As requested, the document also contains the gross number of compensation claims
received for VEA, DRCA and MRCA for FY2021/22 up to and including 28 February 2022.
20. On the basis of the consultation with the Client Benefits Division, the decision maker
determined that al other statistics requested are publicly available in the Department’s
Annual Reports, as noted above in paragraph 16.
21. For the purposes of the FOI Act, material which is publicly available is not classified as a
document of the Department. As such, this material was not included in the document
created under section 17 and did not form part of the access decision.
22. I have reviewed the primary decision and the reasoning for creating a document pursuant to
section 17, including the content of that document, and am satisfied that the correct and
preferable decision has been made by the original decision maker.
Access to documents
23. You were provided with the document previously, on 26 April 2022, as part of the primary
FOI decision LEX 48748. I have therefore not enclosed the document again.
24. On 26 April 2022, you were also provided with the link to the Department’s Annual Reports.
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Information Publication Scheme
25. The Information Publication Scheme requires the Department to publish information
released in response to individual requests made under the FOI Act, except in specified
circumstances.
26. Details of your request have been made available in the Department’s Disclosure Log and
can be identified at Log Number 301.
Your rights of review
27. If you are dissatisfied with my decision you may apply for Information Commissioner Review
of the decision through the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (
OAIC).
OAIC review
28. Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the OAIC to review my decision. An
application for review by OAIC must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this
letter, and be lodged in one of the fol owing ways:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Facsimile:
(02) 9284 9666
Phone:
1300 363 992
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
29. More information about your review rights under the FOI Act is available in Fact Sheet 12
published by the OAIC:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-
complaints/information-commissioner-review/
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Contact us
30. If you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the Information Access
Unit using the following details:
Online:
https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview/reporting/freedom-
information/access-information
Post:
Information Access Unit
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001
Phone:
1800 838 372
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Sara (Position Number 62214764)
Information Access Officer
Information Access Unit
Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
25 May 2022
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LEX 49375
Schedule 1
Document schedule
Applicant:
Ms Verity Pane
Decision date:
25 May 2022
FOI reference number:
LEX 49375
Document Date of
Document description
Page
Decision
FOI Act
reference document
number
provision
1
8/04/2022 LEX 48748 – Gross Claims FY 2011/12 – FY 2020/21
1
Full access
s 17
& FY 2021/22 or part thereof
7
LEX 49375
Schedule 2
Schedule of relevant provisions in the FOI Act
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Objects—general
(1)
The objects of this Act are to give the Australian community access to information held by
the Government of the Commonwealth or the Government of Norfolk Island, by:
(a)
requiring agencies to publish the information; and
(b)
providing for a right of access to documents.
(2)
The Parliament intends, by these objects, to promote Australia’s representative democracy
by contributing towards the fol owing:
(a)
increasing public participation in Government processes, with a view to promoting
better informed decision-making;
(b)
increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government’s
activities.
(3)
The Parliament also intends, by these objects, to increase recognition that information held
by the Government is to be managed for public purposes, and is a national resource.
(4)
The Parliament also intends that functions and powers given by this Act are to be
performed and exercised, as far as possible, to facilitate and promote public access to
information, promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost.
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Right of access
(1)
Subject to this Act, every person has a legally enforceable right to obtain access in
accordance with this Act to:
(a)
a document of an agency, other than an exempt document; or
(b)
an official document of a Minister, other than an exempt document.
(2)
Subject to this Act, a person’s right of access is not affected by:
(a)
any reasons the person gives for seeking access; or
(b)
the agency’s or Minister’s belief as to what are his or her reasons for seeking
access.
11A Access to documents on request
Scope
(1)
This section applies if:
(a)
a request is made by a person, in accordance with subsection 15(2), to an agency or
Minister for access to:
(i)
a document of the agency; or
(ii)
an official document of the Minister; and
(b)
any charge that, under the regulations, is required to be paid before access is given
has been paid.
(2)
This section applies subject to this Act.
Note:
Other provisions of this Act are relevant to decisions about access to documents, for example the fol owing:
(a)
section 12 (documents otherwise available);
(b)
section 13 (documents in national institutions);
(c)
section 15A (personnel records);
(d)
section 22 (access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted).
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Mandatory access—general rule
(3)
The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document in accordance with
this Act, subject to this section.
Exemptions and conditional exemptions
(4)
The agency or Minister is not required by this Act to give the person access to the
document at a particular time if, at that time, the document is an exempt document.
Note:
Access may be given to an exempt document apart from under this Act, whether or not in response to a request
(see section 3A (objects—information or documents otherwise accessible)).
(5)
The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document if it is conditionally
exempt at a particular time unless (in the circumstances) access to the document at that
time would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.
Note 1: Division 3 of Part IV provides for when a document is conditional y exempt.
Note 2: A conditional y exempt document is an exempt document if access to the document would, on balance, be
contrary to the public interest (see section 31B (exempt documents for the purposes of Part IV)).
Note 3: Section 11B deals with when it is contrary to the public interest to give a person access to the document.
(6)
Despite subsection (5), the agency or Minister is not required to give access to the
document at a particular time if, at that time, the document is both:
(a)
a conditional y exempt document; and
(b)
an exempt document:
(i)
under Division 2 of Part IV (exemptions); or
(ii)
within the meaning of paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of exempt
document in subsection 4(1).
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Requests for access (as related to the requirements for requests)
Persons may request access
(1) Subject to section 15A, a person who wishes to obtain access to a document of an agency
or an official document of a Minister may request access to the document.
Requirements for request
(2)
The request must:
(a)
be in writing; and
(aa) state that the request is an application for the purposes of this Act; and
(b)
provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably necessary to
enable a responsible officer of the agency, or the Minister, to identify it; and
(c)
give details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the applicant (for
example, by providing an electronic address to which notices may be sent by
electronic communication).
(2A) The request must be sent to the agency or Minister. The request may be sent in any of the
following ways:
(a)
delivery to an officer of the agency, or a member of the staff of the Minister, at the
address of any central or regional office of the agency or Minister specified in a
current telephone directory;
(b)
postage by pre-paid post to an address mentioned in paragraph (a);
(c)
sending by electronic communication to an electronic address specified by the
agency or Minister.
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Requests involving use of computers etc
(1)
Where:
(a)
a request (including a
request in relation to which
a practical refusal reason exists)
is made in accordance with the requirements o
f subsection 15(2) to an
agency;
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(b)
It appears from the
request that the desire of th
e applicant is for information that
is not available in discrete form in writte
n documents of the
agency; and
(ba)
it does not appear from the
request that th
e applicant wishes to be provided with
a computer tape or computer disk on which the information is recorded; and
(c)
th
e agency could produce a written
document containing the information in
discrete form by:
(i) the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the
agency for retrieving or collating stored information; or
(ii) the making of a transcript from a sound recording held in th
e agency;
th
e agency shall deal with the
request as if it were
a request for access to a written
document so produced and containing that information and, for that purpose, this Act
applies as if th
e agency had such
a document in its possession.
(2)
An
agency is not required to comply wit
h subsection (1) if compliance would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the
agency from its other operations.
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Decisions to be made by authorised persons
(1)
Subject to subsection (2), a decision in respect of a request made to an agency may be
made, on behalf of the agency, by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of the
agency or, subject to the regulations, by an officer of the agency acting within the scope of
authority exercisable by him or her in accordance with arrangements approved by the
responsible Minister or the principal officer of the agency.
(2)
A decision in respect of a request made to a court, or made to a tribunal, authority or body
that is specified in Schedule 1, may be made on behalf of that court, tribunal, authority or
body by the principal officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body or, subject to the
regulations, by an officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body acting within the scope
of authority exercisable by him or her in accordance with arrangements approved by the
principal officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body.
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Reasons and other particulars of decisions to be given
(1)
Where, in relation to a request, a decision is made relating to a refusal to grant access to a
document in accordance with the request or deferring provision of access to a document,
the decision-maker shall cause the applicant to be given notice in writing of the decision,
and the notice shal :
(a)
state the findings on any material questions of fact, referring to the material on
which those findings were based, and state the reasons for the decision; and
(aa)
in the case of a decision to refuse to give access to a conditionally exempt
document—include in those reasons the public interest factors taken into account
in making the decision; and
Note:
Access must general y be given to a conditional y exempt document unless it would be contrary to the public
interest (see section 11A).
(b)
where the decision relates to a document of an agency, state the name and
designation of the person giving the decision; and
(c)
give to the applicant appropriate information concerning:
(i)
his or her rights with respect to review of the decision;
(ii)
his or her rights to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
relation to the decision; and
(iii)
the procedure for the exercise of the rights referred to in subparagraphs (i)
and (i ); including (where applicable) particulars of the manner in which an
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application for internal review (Part VI) and IC review (Part VII) may be
made.
(1A)
Section 13 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 does not apply to a
decision referred to in subsection (1).
(2)
A notice under this section is not required to contain any matter that is of such a nature
that its inclusion in a document of an agency would cause that document to be an exempt
document.
(see section 11A).
54C
Internal Review – decision on internal review
Scope
(1) This section applies if an application fo
r internal review o
f an access refusal decision or an
access grant
decision (the original decision ) is made in accordance with this Part.
Decision
(2) The
agency must, as soon as practicable, arrange for a person (other than the person who made
the original decision) to review the decision.
(3) The person must make a fresh decision on behalf of th
e agency within 30 days after the day on
which the application was received by, or on behalf of, th
e agency.
Notice of decision
(4)
Section 26 extends to a decision made under this section.
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Document Outline