Attachment A – Reasons: Freedom of Information
Request No. LEX3110
Authority
As a Manager, Corporate and Information Law, Legal and Procurement Branch, I am an authorised
decision-maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Retrieval process
To identify documents for your request, I arranged for relevant staff likely to be able identify
documents to undertake a comprehensive search of the relevant electronic holdings used by the
AEC.
Relevant Documents
With regard to the Relevant Document I have decided:
a) to grant access to an edited copy from which exempt matter has been deleted under section
47E of the FOI Act.
Material taken into account
I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:
a) the content of the documents that fall within the scope of your FOI Request;
b) the FOI Act, specifically section 47E;
c) the guidelines (‘FOI Guidelines’) issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under
section 93A of the FOI Act;
d) the FOI Guidance Notes, July 2011 issued by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet;
and
e) the
Privacy Act 1988.
For the reasons set out below, I have decided that the following exemption applies to the Relevant
Document: section 47E.
Section 47E – Certain operations of agencies
Section 47E of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document if its disclosure would reasonably be
expected to affect certain operations of agencies on one or more of the following grounds:
a) prejudice to the effectiveness of procedures or methods for the conduct of tests, examinations
or audits;
b) prejudice to the attainment of the objects of particular tests, examinations or audits;
c) a substantial adverse effect on the management or assessment of personnel; or
d) a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of operations.
10 Mort Street, Canberra ACT 2601 P 02 6271 4411 F 02 6293 7601
www.aec.gov.au
Section 47E(d) provides that a document is conditionally exempt if disclosure would, or could
reasonably be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of
the operations of an agency.
The functions of the AEC include the conduct of elections, requiring the AEC to maintain an impartial
and independent electoral system and conduct audits into the electoral system processes and
procedures.
The AEC engaged IV&V Australia to undertake a number of tests and examinations to assess the
algorithm changes to EasyCount and provide assurances following the integrations of ECS with the
Ballot Paper Reconciliation System.
The AEC experienced increased disinformation regarding the electoral system following the 2019
and 2022 federal election. Having the information to which the conditional exemption has been
applied widely available, may result in people misunderstanding (willingly or otherwise) process
undertaken by the AEC in reviewing the integrity of electoral operations, including Senate counting
procedures. As such, disclosing information contained in certain parts of the Relevant Document
could reasonably be expected to have a detrimental effect on the conduct of future elections.
Upon balancing all of the above relevant public interest considerations, I have concluded that the
disclosure of the conditionally exempt information in the document would be contrary to the public
interest, and it is therefore exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act.
I find that the document to which this conditional exemption is applied, is conditionally exempt in part
under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act.
10 Mort Street, Canberra ACT 2601 P 02 6271 4411 F 02 6293 7601
www.aec.gov.au