If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
5 May 2015
Mr Ben Fairless
Our reference: LEX 12159
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Mr Fairless
Your Freedom of Information Request - Decision
1. I refer to your request, dated 30 January 2015 and received by the Department of
Human Services (the
department) on the same date, for access under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) to the following documents:
‘…a copy of all current policies and guidelines issued regarding the use of
SecureMail.
…
a copy of any guide issued by the Department to its officers in the use of SecureMail.’
2. I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Background
3. On 24 February 2015, you were notified that you were liable to pay a charge of $16.05
for processing your request.
4. On 25 February 2015, you contended that the charge had been incorrectly assessed
and should not be imposed.
5. On 16 March 2015, you were notified of the department’s decision not to reduce the
amount of the charge.
6. On the same date, you requested an internal review of the department’s decision not to
reduce the charge (Reference 12814).
7. On 15 April 2015, you were notified that the department had decided to affirm the
decision to impose a charge.
8. On 20 April 2015, the department notified you of its decision to waive the charge.
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Decision and Documents
9. The department has identified three documents (totalling 18 pages) as falling within the
scope of your freedom of information (
FOI) request. A schedule of the documents is set
out at
Attachment B (the
Schedule).
10. Having considered these documents, I have decided to:
grant access, in full, to documents two and three; and
grant access, in part, to document one.
11. I have decided that a certain page contains material that is conditionally exempt under
section 47E(d) of the FOI Act because the release of this material would have a
substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the operations of an
agency and, pursuant to section 11A(5) of the FOI Act, is not required to be disclosed
because disclosure at this time would be, on balance, contrary to the public interest.
12. Please note that some information has been deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act as
the information was irrelevant to the scope of your request.
Information Considered
13. In reaching my decision, I have considered:
the terms of your request, dated 30 January 2015;
documents falling within the scope of your request;
the FOI Act;
factors relevant to my assessment of whether or not disclosure of certain pages
would be in the public interest;
consultations with departmental officers about:
o the nature of the documents;
o the department’s operating environment and functions; and
guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (
the Guidelines).
Reasons for Decision
14. As set out above, a certain part of document one is exempt under the FOI Act. My
findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemption applies to that document are
discussed below.
15. On 3 February 2015, the department acknowledged the receipt of your FOI request and
indicated that staff names, direct contact details and personal log-on identifiers would be
considered out of the scope of your request. You did not provide any further submissions
to the department in relation to this point.
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Department of Human Services
Section 47E(d) of the FOI Act
16. Section 47E(d) of the FOI Act provides that:
‘A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would, or could
reasonably be expected to have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and
efficient conduct of the operations of an agency.’
Application of section 47E(d) of the FOI Act to the documents
17. I have applied section 47E(d) of the FOI Act to document one. Document one contains an
internal positional email address.
18. The department receives a large amount of correspondence from members of the public
on a daily basis. To manage this correspondence, the department has an established
range of methods in which members of the public can contact the department. These
include a dedicated telephone number, mailing address and facsimile number. These
methods of contact for members of the public have been established to ensure that
correspondence is directed to the correct areas and actioned accordingly.
19. Disclosing these positional email addresses could reasonably be expected to have a
substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the operations of the
department as it may direct members of the public away from the correct avenues for
corresponding with the department. In addition, given the dedicated points of contact
currently available to members of the public, there may be confusion if other contact
details became available to the public. This could reduce efficiencies and cause delays. It
could also prejudice the ability of the staff members who monitor these inboxes to
effectively manage correspondence.
20. For the reasons set out above, I am satisfied that a part of document one is exempt
under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act, as identified in the Schedule.
Public interest considerations
21. Section 11A(5) of the FOI Act provides the following:
‘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.’
22. When weighing up the public interest for and against disclosure under section 11A(5) of
the FOI Act, I have taken into account relevant factors in favour of disclosure.
In particular, I have considered the extent to which disclosure would promote the objects
of the FOI Act.
23. I have also considered the relevant factors indicating that access would be contrary to the
public interest. In particular, I have considered the extent to which disclosure could
reasonably be expected to prejudice the ability of the department to manage
correspondence from members of the public.
24. Based on these factors, I have decided that in the circumstances of this particular matter,
the public interest in disclosing the information in document one is outweighed by the
public interest against disclosure.
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Department of Human Services
25. I have not taken into account any of the irrelevant factors set out in section 11B(4) of the
FOI Act in making this decision.
26. In summary, I am satisfied that part of document one, as set out in the Schedule, is
conditionally exempt under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act. Furthermore, I have decided
that on balance it would be contrary to the public interest to release this information.
Accordingly, I have decided not to release this document, in full, to you.
27. As identified in the Schedule, I have deleted the exempt information this document and
released the remaining material in accordance with section 22(1) of the FOI Act.
Release of documents
28. Documents for release are attached to this email.
Rights of review
29. I have enclosed information about your rights of review under the FOI Act at
Attachment
A.
30. Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please email
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
FOI Delegate
FOI and Information Release Branch
Department of Human Services
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Department of Human Services
Attachment A
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
Application for review of decision
The
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives you the right to apply for a review of
this decision. Under sections 54 and 54L of the FOI Act, you can apply for a review of this
decision by:
(i)
an internal review officer in the Department of Human Services; or
(ii)
the Information Commissioner.
Internal Review
If you apply for internal review, it will be carried out by a different decision-maker who will
make a fresh decision on your application. An application for review must be:
• made in writing;
• made within 30 days of receiving this letter; and
• sent to the address at the head of this letter.
No particular form is required, but it is desirable to set out in the application the grounds upon
which you consider the decision should be reviewed.
If the internal review officer decides not to grant you access to all of the documents to which
you have requested access, you have the right to seek a review of that decision by the
Information Commissioner. You will be further notified of your rights of review at the time you
are notified of the internal review decision.
Please note that if you apply for an internal review and a decision is not made by an internal
review officer within 30 days of receiving the application, you have the right to seek review by
the Information Commissioner for a review of the original FOI decision on the basis of a
‘deemed refusal’ decision, An application for Information Commissioner review in this
situation must be made within 60 days of the date when the internal review decision should
have been made (provided an extension of time has not been granted or agreed).
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Department of Human Services
Information Commissioner review
You must apply in writing within 60 days of the receipt of the decision letter and you can
lodge your application in one of the following ways:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au Post: GPO Box 2999, Canberra ACT
2601
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
If a person has sought an internal review and no result of that review is provided within 30
days, then the applicant may apply to the Information Commissioner to review the matter.
An application form is available on the website at www.oaic.gov.au. Your application should
include a copy of the notice of the decision that you are objecting to (if one was provided),
and your contact details. You should also set out why you are objecting to the decision.
Complaints to the Commonwealth Ombudsman and Information Commissioner
Commonwealth Ombudsman
You may complain to the Ombudsman concerning action taken by an agency in the exercise
of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act. There is no fee for making a
complaint. A complaint to the Ombudsman may be made in person, by telephone or in
writing. The Ombudsman’s contact details are:
Phone:
1300 362 072
Website:
www.ombudsman.gov.au
The Commonwealth Ombudsman generally prefers applicants to seek review before
complaining about a decision.
Information Commissioner
You may also complain to the Information Commissioner concerning action taken by an
agency in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act, There is
no fee for making a complaint. A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be made
in writing. The Information Commissioner’s contact details are:
Telephone:
1300 363 992
Website:
www.oaic.gov.au
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is disbanding
Please note: The Australian Government announced as part of the 2014–15 Budget that the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) will be disbanded. The OAIC
remains operational until further notice.
For further information on how the OAIC will deal with IC reviews and FOI complaints please
visit their website at
www.oaic.gov.au
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Department of Human Services
If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
ATTACHMENT B
SCHEDULE OF DOCUMENTS
LEX 12159 – Fairless
Doc
Pages
Date
Description
Decision
Exemption
Comments
No.
Positional email address on page 4
1.
1 – 4
5/09/2013
Attachment A
Access granted in
S 47E(d)
part
2.
5 – 8
Undated
Instructions for prisons (sic.)
Access granted in
Irrelevant material deleted under section 22
registering, receiving and
full
sending encryption email to
the Department of Human
Services
3.
9 – 18
Undated
User Guide for the PGP
Access granted in
secure mail solution
full
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