Canberra Office
Locked Bag 10
ABS House
Belconnen ACT 2616
45 Benjamin Way

Belconnen ACT 2617
www.abs.gov.au

Phone 1300 135 070
ABN 26 331 428 522

FOI Ref: 202223/10

e-mail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Finn,
RE: YOUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST [FOI202223/10]
I refer to your request received by the ABS on 04 October 2022 in which you seek:

Please provide statistics from the 2021/2022 financial year on the percentage of house planning
permits which were accepted in each suburb or area.

A copy of your full request can be found in Attachment A.
Response to Your Request
I am an authorised decision maker under section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). I have
reviewed your request and determined that much of the information you are seeking, if held by the ABS,
would have been collected under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905 (C&S Act). Information
collected under the C&S Act is exempt from the FOI Act under Schedule 2, Part II, Division 2. Therefore, I am
refusing access to any such documents we may hold on the basis that they are exempt.
Alternative access arrangements
The information you are seeking may be obtained on the ABS website or by emailing
xxxxxx.xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
The ABS publishes the numbers of building permits approved by small area – SA2 and LGA – on our website,
each month. From this, users can see the numbers of dwellings approved each month and the value of those
approvals, by building type. We only seek information on “approved” permits, and therefore do not have
access to the permits that are not approved.
Please see the following link for information released on the ABS website.
Building Approvals, Australia methodology, August 2022 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)
Decision and Reasons for Decision
I have taken the following into account in making my decision:
•  Email correspondence between yourself and the FOI team.
•  The relevant provisions of the FOI Act, specifically Schedule 2, Part II, Division 2.
•  The guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under S93A of the FOI Act.
Charges
There are no charges for this request.

Internal Review of the Decision
Section 54 of the FOI Act gives you the right to apply for an internal review of the decision by the ABS.
Additionally, you may request a review of this decision by the Information Commissioner. Details of both
procedures involved in an application to review a decision are set out at Attachment B.
If you have any queries on this matter please contact the ABS FOI Contact Officer at
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,

Michael Meagher
Program Manager
Parliamentary, Policy & Planning Branch
Australian Bureau of Statistics
11/10/2022

ATTACHMENT A
    Basics
"Finn"
04/10/2022 03:33 PM
<foi+request-9432-b28ad750@righttokn
ow.org.au>
Send
To "FOI requests at ABS" <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx>
cc
bcc
Freedom of Information request - House planning permit approval %, by suburb [SEC=OFFICIAL]
Subject
Protective Mark
OFFICIAL
Information
    Caveat

management
Personal privacy
Legal privilege
Legislative secrecy
NATIONAL-CABINET
markers
Categories
Freedom of Information\Requests\Valid\2022/23
FULL HEADER
[VER=2018.1,NS=gov.au,SEC=OFFICIAL,ORIGIN=xxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx]
******************************************************************************
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   CAUTION:  External email.  Do not click links or open attachments unless
you recognise the sender
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Dear Australian Bureau of Statistics,
Please provide statistics from the 2021/2022 financial year on the percentage
of house planning permits which were accepted in each surburb or area.
Yours faithfully,
Finn
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to Australian Bureau of Statistics? If so, please contact
us using this form:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_request/new?body=abs
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message
and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More
information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/officers
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be
delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager
to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

ATTACHMENT B
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW

1.    INTERNAL REVIEW OF DECISION
If you disagree with our decision you have the right to apply for an internal review under section
54 of the FOI Act.
Application for a review of the decision must be made within 30 days of receipt of this letter.
No particular form is required but it would assist the decision-maker if you set out in the
application the grounds on which you consider that the decision should be reviewed.
Application for an internal review of the decision should be e-mailed to
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx or posted to:
ABS FOI Contact Officer
Policy  and  Legislation  Section
Australian Bureau of  Statistics
Locked Bag 10
BELCONNEN ACT 2617

2.    AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION COMMISSIONER REVIEW OF DECISION
Section 54L of the Act gives you the right to seek a review of the decision from the Information
Commissioner.  An application for review must be made within 60 days of receiving the decision.
Application for an Information Commissioner review of the decision should be e-mailed to
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or posted to:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY  NSW  2001

3.    COMPLAINTS TO THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
Section 70 of the Act provides that a person may complain to the Information Commissioner
about action taken by an agency in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions
under the Act.
A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be in writing and identify the agency the
complaint is about.  It should be e-mailed to xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or posted to:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY  NSW  2001
The Information Commissioner may decline to investigate the complaint in a number of
circumstances, including that you did not exercise your right to ask the agency, the
Information Commissioner, a court or tribunal to review the decision.

Document Outline