FOI reference: 23-070
Blue Mangoes
By Email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Blue Mangoes
FOI 23-070 - NOTICE OF DECISION UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
I refer to your request to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development,
Communications and the Arts (
the Department) received on 2 November 2022 for access to
documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
the FOI Act).
You requested the following:
“Freedom of Information request to Classification Board - Only for the 2018 movie LADIES IN
BLACK, all Classification Documents relating to the systemic failure by the Classification Board
to correctly provide the consumer advice NUDITY plus full Classification History that also
includes why the Classification Board eventually corrected the inaccuracy of their original
consumer advice.”
I have interpreted the scope of your request to be for all documents containing the deliberations and
Classification History specifically on the decision for the classification NUDITY regarding the 2018 film
‘LADIES IN BLACK’.
Extension of Time
On 8 November 2022, the Department commenced a consultation process pursuant to section 24AB
of the FOI Act providing you with an opportunity to revise the scope of your request so that reasons
for practical refusal were removed. On 16 November 2022, you agreed to revise your request in
favour of a scope that adequately removed reasons for practical refusal.
As was advised to you in the Department’s 8 November 2022 correspondence, the time taken to
consult with you is not taken into account for the purposes of the timeframe for processing your
request. Therefore, the new due date to provide you with a decision on access is 10 December 2022.
Authority
I am an officer authorised by the Secretary to make decisions about access to documents in the
possession of the Department in accordance with subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Decision
I have identified 11 documents falling in scope of your request.
As there are four or more documents a Schedule of Documents is at Attachment A.
I have decided to:
grant access to 2 documents in full; and
grant access to 9 documents in part.
GPO Box 594, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
telephone +61 (0)2 6271 1000 website
s infrastructure.gov.au | communications.gov.au | arts.gov.au
Material considered
In making my decision, I had regard to:
a. the terms of the request;
b. the content of the identified documents in issue;
c. relevant provisions in the FOI Act;
d. the Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner under
section 93A of the FOI Act (the Guidelines); and
e. officers within the department from the Classifications Board.
Reason for Decision
Section 47F (Personal privacy)
Section 47F of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure would
involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased
person).
Paragraph 6.129 of the FOI Guidelines provides that personal information is:
information about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable
says something about a person
may be opinion
may be true or untrue
may be recorded in material form or not.
The documents listed as partially exempt under this provision in the schedule of documents contain
information relating to non-SES level public servants’ names and contact details, as well as the
personal information of third parties, which is not otherwise publicly available.
Under section 47F(2) of the FOI Act, in determining whether the disclosure of the documents would
involve unreasonable disclosure of personal information, regard must be had to:
a. the extent to which the information is well known;
b. whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have been)
associated with the matters dealt with in the document;
c. the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources; and
d. any other matters that the agency considers relevant.
Guidance issued by the OAIC states that:
A public servant’s name, and information about where they work and how they can be
contacted, is personal information. It is information about an identified individual, or an
individual who is reasonably identifiable (see section 6 of the Privacy Act 1988).
Against these criteria, I consider that:
a. it is apparent from the information that an individual is identifiable; and
b. the information referred to above is not readily available from publicly accessible sources.
I have also had regard to the key factors for determining whether disclose is unreasonable, in line
with Paragraph 6.142 of the FOI Guidelines and I am of the view that:
a. Documents 1 to 3, 5 to 9 and 11 contain personal information of non-SES level public
servants and third parties;
b. release of the relevant material in Documents 1 to 3, 5 to 9 and 11 would cause stress on the
relevant non-SES level public servants and third parties, as there would be a reasonable
expectation that these details could be subject to misuse; and
c. no public purpose would be achieved through release.
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With reference to the assessments above, I have decided that the release of the information in the
documents listed would be considered unreasonable disclosure of personal information, and is,
therefore, conditionally exempt under section 47F of the FOI Act. My considerations of the public
interest test are set out below.
Application of the public interest test Subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act provides that an agency 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 would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.
I have not considered any of the irrelevant factors as set out under section 11B(4) of the FOI Act in
making this decision.
I considered the factors which favour disclosure and I believe that disclosure would promote the
objects of the FOI Act, allow a person to access their personal information and may assist to inform
debate on a matter of public importance. However, I do not consider that the redacted information
would provide oversight of public expenditure.
I also considered the following factors which do not favour disclosure:
disclosure of the information would not contribute to the publication of information of
sufficient public interest to justify the likely harm caused by release;
disclosure of the information would not enhance Australia’s representative democracy in the
ways described in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act;
disclosure of the information would not inform any debate on a matter of public importance
or promote oversight of public expenditure.
While there is limited public interest in the disclosure of information conditionally exempt under
section 47F of the FOI Act, the harm that would result from disclosure is that it could reasonably be
expected to affect an individual’s right to privacy by having their personal information in the public
domain.
In summary, I am satisfied that the factors against disclosure of the information outweigh the factors
in favour of disclosure and that, on balance, it would be contrary to the public interest to release this
information to you. Accordingly, I have decided that the relevant information in the listed documents
is exempt under section 47F of the FOI Act.
Your Review Rights
Information regarding your review rights is set out in
ATTACHMENT B.
Additional Information
Please note that Document 10 is a screenshot of the amended Classification Matrix following a
submitted complaint. The Classification of Nudity was initially marked as ‘None’, however was then
altered to ‘G’ to reflect the amended decision. Similarly, Document 11 displays the date and time the
Classification amendment was made, i.e., when the document was unlocked to do so.
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Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI
Team on
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely
Fiona Jolly
Authorised Decision Maker
Director, Classification Board
2 December 2022
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ATTACHMENT A.
Schedule of Documents – FOI 23-070
Document
Document description or title
Date
Decision
Exemptions
No.
1
Decision Report: LADIES IN BLACK
11 July 2018
Partial access
s47F
2
Classification Certificate: LADIES IN BLACK
11 July 2018
Partial access
s47F
Application for Classification of a Film for Public
09 July 2018
3
Exhibition: LADIES IN BLACK
Partial access
s47F
4
Synopsis: LADIES IN BLACK
Not dated
Full access
5
Classifier Blues 1: LADIES IN BLACK
11 July 2018
Partial access
s47F
6
Classifier Blues 2: LADIES IN BLACK
11 July 2018
Partial access
s47F
7
Classifier Blues 3: LADIES IN BLACK
11 July 2018
Partial access
s47F
8
Email: COB Enquiry Response
27 November 2018
Partial access
s47F
9
Email: Ladies in Black – URGENT – purchase
25 June 2019
Partial access
s47F
10
Classification Matrix: LADIES IN BLACK
11 July 2018
(Amended)
Full access
11
Date/Time of Classification Matrix amendment:
26 July 2019
LADIES IN BLACK
Partial access
s47F
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ATTACHMENT B.
YOUR REVIEW RIGHTS
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for a review of it.
Internal review
You can request an internal review within 30 days of receiving this decision. An internal review will be
conducted by a different departmental officer from the original decision-maker.
No particular form is required to apply for review although it will assist the Department if you are able
to set out the grounds on which you believe that the original decision should be changed.
Applications for internal review can be sent to
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
If you choose to seek an internal review, you will also have a right to apply for Information
Commissioner review (IC review) of the internal review decision once it has been provided to you if
you remain dissatisfied with the decision.
Information Commissioner review or complaint
You have the right to seek a review by the Information Commissioner of this decision.
An application for IC review must be made in writing to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner within 60 days of the decision.
If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your FOI request, you can lodge a complaint with
the OAIC. However, the OAIC suggests that complaints are made to the agency in the first instance.
While there is no particular form required to make a complaint to the OAIC, the complaint should be
in writing and set out the reasons for why you are dissatisfied with the way your request was
processed. It should also identify the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development,
Communications and the Arts as the agency about which you are complaining.
You can make an IC review application or make an FOI complaint in one of the following ways:
online at www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/
via email to xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
by mail to GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001, or
by fax to 02 9284 9666.
More information about the Information Commissioner reviews and complaints is available on the
OAIC website here: www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-review-process.
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Document Outline
