Our ref: 71319
Mr Mitchel Bradley
By email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Bradley
Freedom of Information Act 1982 – Notice of Decision
I refer to your correspondence, received by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources
(
the department) on 22 June 2022, for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act) as
follows:
Unpublished (not presently available to the public) derivatives of AS/NZS 1547:2012.
The document(s) I'm looking for may be a draft intended as a future standard, an amended version
of AS/NZS 1547:2012, or the like.
The document may be in your records as part of ABCB involvement with a Joint Technical Committee
to develop or comment on the development of a new standard.
Background
On 24 June 2022, the department advised the documents you are seeking belong to Standards Australia,
which are publically available for purchase from their website. You were provided a link to their website
and invited to withdraw your FOI request.
On 4 July 2022, you confirmed you did not wish to withdraw your FOI request.
Decision
I am an authorised decision maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.
The department has undertaken extensive searches of all relevant electronic databases, files and
corporate file lists for the documents you have requested, however has been unable to locate any existing
documents that contain the information you are seeking.
On the basis of these searches, I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to locate any
documents relevant to your request, but no such documents exist.
The documents being sought are a draft or early version of a Joint Australian New Zealand Standard, which
was developed by Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand.
industry.gov.au
Industry House - 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
1
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN: 74 599 608 295
LEX 71319
The final version of the standards was made publically available for purchase in 2012:
https://store.standards.org.au/product/as-nzs-1547-2012
While the ABCB participated in the Joint Technical Committee, the ABCB did not retain a copy of draft
standards, as they don’t belong to the ABCB (all rights to the standard are reserved by the publisher).
As such, requests for previous versions of the standard (including drafts, derivatives, or the superseded
version AS/NZS 1547-2000) would need to be directed to Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand.
Therefore, I have decided to refuse your request in accordance with section 24A of the FOI Act on the
grounds that the documents you have requested do not exist.
If you are dissatisfied with any part of my decision, your review rights are set out in
Attachment A.
Please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team at xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx if you require any further
clarification.
Yours sincerely
Gary Rake
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Building Codes Board
13 July 2022
Enclosures
Attachment A – Review Rights
industry.gov.au
Industry House - 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
2
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN: 74 599 608 295
LEX 71319
ATTACHMENT A
REVIEW RIGHTS
Application for Internal Review
Section 54 of the FOI Act gives you the option to apply for a departmental internal review of my decision. If
you make an application for internal review it will be conducted by an officer of the department (other than
me) appointed by the Secretary of the department to conduct a review and make a completely fresh
decision on the merits of the case.
Application for a review of the decision must be made within 30 days after the day of receipt of this letter,
or within 15 days of receipt of the documents to which this decision relates (whichever is the longer
period). You do not have to pay any fees or processing charges for an internal review, except for charges
relating to the provision of any additional relevant material located as a result of the review (for example
photocopying). While a specific form is not required, it would assist the decision maker if your application
specifies the grounds on which you consider the decision should be reviewed.
Application for a review of a decision should be addressed to:
FOI Coordinator
Department of Industry, Science and Resources
GPO Box 2013
CANBERRA ACT 2601
or by e-mail to: xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Review by the Australian Information Commissioner
If any decision on internal review were not satisfactory to you, section 54L of the FOI Act gives you the right
to apply for review of my decision by the Information Commissioner.
An application for review by the Information Commissioner may be made regardless of whether the
decision was the subject of a departmental internal review. An application for review by the Information
Commissioner must be made within 60 days of receipt of this notice. There is no fee for review by the
Information Commissioner.
You must apply in writing and you can lodge your application in one of the following ways:
Online: www.oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Email: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
An application form is available on the website at www.oaic.gov.au. Your application should include a copy
of this notice and your contact details. You should also set out why you are objecting to the decision.
Complaints to the Australian Information Commissioner
You may complain to the Australian 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. The Australian Information Commissioner will make a completely independent investigation of
your complaint. A complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner must be made in writing and can
be lodged online using the Information Commissioner Complaint Application form on the Australian
Information Commissioner’s website at www.oaic.gov.au.
industry.gov.au
Industry House - 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
3
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN: 74 599 608 295
