OFFICIAL

Freedom of Information (FOI) request
Notice of Decision
Reference: FOI/2022/217
To: Mr Francis Unmeopa
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Mr Unmeopa
I refer to your request to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), received on 14 August 2022.
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
Scope of request
You set out your request in the following terms:
Please refer to PMC’s FOI disclosure log and in particular FOI/2019/208.The documents released
describes the Job Description, Duties, Selection Criteria and related APS employment information
for the position of Assistant Secretary Culture & Awards Branch.
I respectful y seek access to and the disclosure of the same type of document that records the
Job Description, Duties, Selection Criteria specific to the position of Government First Assistant
Secretary , which is currently fil ed by a Mr John Reid.
Authorised decision-maker
I am authorised to make this decision in accordance with arrangements approved by the
Department’s Secretary under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Material taken into account
In reaching my decision I have had regard to the following:
•  the terms of your request;
•  searches and enquiries undertaken by the Department;
•  the FOI Act; and

Postal Address: PO Box 6500, CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: +61 2 6271 5849 Fax: +61 2 6271 5776 www.pmc.gov.au ABN:  18 108 001 191

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•  the FOI Guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner1 (the Guidelines).
Decision
I have decided to refuse your request under s 24A(1) of the FOI Act, on the grounds that the
Department has taken all reasonable steps to locate the document described in your request, and that
document does not exist.

Nevertheless, in order to assist you, I would like to draw your attention to documents recently
published in the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log (ref: FOI/2022/175) which include the job
description of First Assistant Secretary, Government Division, albeit in a different format than you
specified.
Reasons for decision
My findings of fact and reasons are set out below.

Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a)  al  reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b)  the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i) is in the agency’s or Minister’s possession but cannot be found; or
(i ) does not exist.

In determining what the FOI Act means with respect to ‘all reasonable steps’, I have had regard to the
Guidelines which discuss the meaning of ‘reasonable’ in s 24A(1)(a). It is not designed to go beyond
the limit assigned by reason, not to be extravagant or excessive, rather to be moderate and of such an
effort to be appropriate or suitable to the circumstances.2

The relevant line area within the Department has conducted a search for any relevant records that
would meet the exact terms of your request, that is, ‘the same type of document [released in
FOI/2019/208] that records the Job Description, Duties, Selection Criteria specific to the position of
Government First Assistant Secretary’. No documents were found as a result of those searches.

I am satisfied that the steps taken to locate your requested document are appropriate and suitable
given the circumstances. After taking all reasonable steps to find the document, no document relevant
to your request was identified. Accordingly, I am refusing your request for access as the document
does not exist.
Review rights
If you disagree with my decision, you may apply for internal review or Information Commissioner
review of the decision.

1 s 93A of the FOI Act
2 3.88 of the FOI Guidelines

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OFFICIAL
Internal review
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Department for an internal review of
my decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days after the date of this letter,
please attach the reasons why you disagree with the decision.

Applications for review should be sent to xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Information Commissioner review
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner to
review my decision. An application for review by the Information Commissioner must be made in
writing within 60 days after the date of this letter.

More information about Information Commissioner review is available here.3
FOI Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your FOI request, please let us know what we could
have done better. We may be able to rectify the problem. If you are not satisfied with our response,
you can make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner. A complaint to the
Information Commissioner must be made in writing. More information about complaints is available
here.4
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your requests, you can contact the FOI Section by email at
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.

Yours sincerely

Melinda Bopping
Chief People Officer
People Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
6 September 2022

3 https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/information-commissioner-review
4 https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/make-an-foi-complaint

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Document Outline