LEX3110
Morgan Bennett
By
email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Morgan Bennett
Your FOI Request LEX3110
Thank you for your email dated 12 September 2022 requesting an internal review of my FOI
decision reference LEX3110.
Your request
I have considered the matters you have raised. I agree that the reasons I provided with my
letter to you dated 9 September 2022 do not adequately deal with the public interest test limb
of the exemption applied to the Relevant Document under s 47E of the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the ‘FOI Act’).
As you have identified, the reasons provided refer to an irrelevant consideration – the
potential for the document (and/or the exempt sections) to be misunderstood.
Simply put, I misspoke. The word ‘misunderstanding’ should not have been used in the
reasons. Rather my intention was to capture that:
‘Having the information… widely available, may result in people
misusing it when
reviewing the integrity of electoral operations, including Senate counting procedures.’
I acknowledge that this is a rather subtle distinction, and that the decision document would
have benefitted from public interest test being explicitly addressed.
To this end, I have re-made my decision. The re-made decision is set out in Attachment A.
You will note that in addition to providing a more precise articulation of the application of
s 47E of the FOI Act to the Relevant Document in my reasons in Attachment B, I have also
provided additional reasons for providing a copy of that document with certain redactions
under s 22 of the FOI Act.
10 Mort Street, Canberra ACT 2601 P 02 6271 4411 F 02 6215 9999
www.aec.gov.au
Next steps
The FOI Act does not explicitly provide for a decision to be remade nor does it explicitly
forbid this. I believe that it is appropriate to do so in the circumstances.
To assist with the process, I request that you withdraw your section 55 internal review
request.
This will
not preclude you from making a further review request if you are not satisfied with
the reasons provided in Attachment B. Attachment C explains those review rights.
If you would like to discuss this matter, please conta
ct xxx@xxx.xxx.xx with appropriate
contact details and I will get in touch.
Kind regards
Will Mueller
Manager, Corporate and Information Law
Legal Services Branch
16 September 2022.
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