17 November 2022
Luke Shaw
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
nbn ref: FOI2223020.003
Dear Luke
Request for Information
I am writing in relation to your correspondence to
nbn’s FOI Officer email address on 5 November 2022 in the
following terms:
“I have noticed significant deterioration of the road surfaces in my area in the years following the NBN
roll-out.
In many areas across the country roads have been penetrated to access conduits below for installation of
the network.
When new roads are constructed much of the construction time is consumed by the process of
compaction of the substrate. This important step provides a solid foundation for the road and its users.
When NBN penetrated the road for works they were usually back filled and new asphalt laid within a day
or two.
My questions are as follows:
1 What was the documented work procedure for this?
2 What soil density testing was done prior to asphalting?
3 Does NBN Co reimburse councils for all repair works done on sinking works?
4 How long after completion of works were they re-inspected for quality control purposes and what %
failed?”
The
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (
FOI Act) provides that members of the public have a general right of
access to specific documents, subject to certain exemptions. Under section 15(2) of the FOI Act, a valid FOI
request must state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provide such information
concerning the requested documents as is reasonably necessary to enable
nbn to identify them, among other
things.
nbn’s Commercial Activities Carve-out I refer you to
nbn’s commercial activities carve-out (
CAC) or carve-out from the application of the FOI Act and
refer you to section 7(3A) and Part II of Schedule 2 of the FOI Act. Please be aware that documents that are in
relation to
nbn’s “commercial activities” are not subject to the operation of the FOI Act and would be exempt
from release. The following link summarises and provides general background information concerning
nbn’s
commercial activities carve-out. That background document references two reviews by the Australian Information
Commissioner that considered
nbn’s CAC: the Internode Decision (in January 2012) and the Battersby Decision (in
July 2013).
While I am not making a formal decision and have not reviewed any documents, I note that there is a distinct
possibility that documents falling within the terms of this request may be subject to the CAC, among other
exemptions from release.
Scope of Request
Your request seeks various pieces of information in relation to the subject matter set out at the beginning of your
email, being deterioration of the roads in your area. However, you have not indicated what area this is. To
enable
nbn staff to locate documents or information within scope of your request, could you please clarify the
area or the “many areas across the country” that your request relates to. Are there particular road repairs that
your request relates to? If so, could you please specify which, marking this on a map would assist.
In addition, the subject timeframe in respect of which these documents may have been generated is not defined.
Are you seeking the information as at a specific time, or a date range?
As currently drafted, the terms of your request are not sufficiently clear and the particular documents that fall
within the parameters of the request are therefore not reasonably identifiable. Accordingly, your FOI request, in
its current form, is invalid. Until you clarify those terms,
nbn will not formally acknowledge your request, and the
statutory period for completing this request will not commence. In that regard, please inform me if there is a
specific document, or set of documents, which you are seeking – at least to the extent that you can identify them.
FOI Processing Period and Charges
The statutory period for processing an FOI application is 30 days, subject to any suspension of the processing
period or extension of the time for deciding the application. Please also note that
nbn may impose processing
charges in relation to FOI requests. You will be advised of any charges in relation to your request.
For your reference, processing charges for FOI applications are set by regulation and may be found at
nbn’s
website – and, in particular
, its FOI page. The following hyperlink outlines
nbn’s approach to processing charges:
Submission to the Office of the Australian Information Commission
er Charges Review. In particular,
nbn supports
– and will generally apply – Recommendation 24 in th
e Hawke Review into FOI Legislation, (
the Hawke Review) as
a benchmark in reviewing FOI applications. For your reference, Recommendation 24 suggests a 40-hour ceiling for
all FOI processing charges. More information about charges under the FOI Act is available on the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner’s (
OAIC) website and in part 4 of the OAIC
FOI Guidelines.
Disclosure Log
In accordance with the FOI Act,
nbn is required to publish documents provided to FOI applicants within 10
working days after release. The information you seek may be published in full (as released to you) or with some
additional redactions as per section 11C of the FOI Act. For further information and other details, please visit our
Disclosure Log on
nbn’s website.
Please feel free to contact me on (02) 9031 3022 if you have any questions, or if you would like to discuss your
request.
Yours sincerely
Rohan Singh
Freedom of Information Officer
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