Attachment A – Reasons – Internal Review:
Freedom of Information Request No. LEX3489
Authority
As a Senior Government Lawyer, I am an authorised decision-maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Retrieval process To identify documents for your request, I arranged for relevant staff likely to be able identify
documents to undertake a comprehensive search of the relevant electronic holdings used by the
AEC.
Relevant Documents
With regard to the Relevant Document identified in the retrieval process, I have decided to grant
access to an edited copy of the Relevant Document from which exempt matter and irrelevant
information has been deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act:
Material taken into account I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:
a) the content of the documents that fall within the scope of your FOI Request;
b) the FOI Act, specifically section 47F;
c) the guidelines (‘FOI Guidelines’) issued by the Australian Information Commissioner
under section 93A of the FOI Act;
d) the FOI Guidance Notes, July 2011 issued by the Department of Prime Minister and
Cabinet; and
e) the
Privacy Act 1988.
Detailed Reasons My reasons for refusing or granting access are given below.
Section 47F – personal privacy (Documents 1-7)
Section 47F of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document if its disclosure under the FOI Act
would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (with
certain exceptions regarding the disclosure to a person of their own personal information).
This requires the decision-maker to balance the public interest factors in s 11B of the FOI Act
with the potential harm of releasing the personal information of an individual in accordance with s
47F of the FOI Act.
I consider that the public interest in releasing the contact details of these individuals is extremely
low. I have considered the relevant factors in s 11B of the FOI Act, and the release of this
information would not aid the public in scrutinising, commenting or reviewing the activities of the
10 Mort Street, Canberra ACT 2601 P 02 6271 4411 F 02 6215 9999
www.aec.gov.au
AEC, nor would it further inform any public debate on a matter of importance (s11B(3)(b)). While
there is a public interest in ensuring that the APS is apolitical, efficient and effective, it is difficult
to consider how the disclosure of individuals names promotes this purpose, particularly in these
circumstances (see Warren; Chief Executive Of icer, Services Australia and (Freedom of
Information) [2020] AATA 2557).
I have also balanced this public interest with the consideration of whether this disclosure of
personal information would be unreasonable. The disclosure of this information could reasonably
be considered to prejudice the relevant individuals’ right to privacy.
Therefore, having regard to the above considerations and the factors set out in sections 11 and
47F of the FOI Act, I have decided that the balancing of considerations weighs in favour of not
releasing the personal information in the released documents. I am satisfied that the redacted
parts of the Relevant Document is exempt from disclosure under s 47 of the FOI Act.
However, with consideration of s 22 of the FOI Act, I have prepared an edited version of the
Relevant Document that redacts the sections that refer to the personal information of individuals
and are therefore conditionally exempt under s 47F of the FOI Act.
10 Mort Street, Canberra ACT 2601 P 02 6271 4411 F 02 6215 9999
www.aec.gov.au
Document Outline
