OFFICE OF THE HON ANDREW GILES MP
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP AND
MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS
Mr Oliver Smith
Email to
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request: MO 22/12/00001
File Number:
ADF2022/384330
Dear Mr Smith
Freedom of Information (FOI) request – Access Decision
On 30 November 2022, the Hon Andrew Giles, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship
and Multicultural Affairs, received a request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access
under the FOI Act.
1
Scope of request
You have requested access to the following documents:
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), I am seeking access to
correspondence between the office of Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and
Multicultural Affairs and/or the Department of Home Affairs and City of Darebin
council and/or people making representations on behalf of City of Darebin council in
regards to the issue of the City of Darebin council's right to hold citizenship
ceremonies or lack thereof.
The documents I am seeking are from the period 22 May 2022 to the date this FOI is
actioned.
2
Authority to make decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in
respect of requests to access documents or to amend or annotate records.
Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7860 Facsimile: (02) 6273 4144
2
3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
the terms of your request
the documents relevant to the request
the FOI Act
Guidelines published by the Office of the Information Commissioner under
section 93A of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines).
4
Documents in scope of request
I identified one document falling within the scope of your request. These documents
were in the possession of the Minister’s Office on 30 November 2022 when your
request was received.
5
Decision
The decision in relation to the document is as follows:
Release one document with exemptions and deletions
6
Reasons for Decision
Detailed reasons for my decision, as well as my findings of fact and reasons for
deciding that the exemption provision applies to that information, are set out below.
Irrelevant to request - Section 22 of the FOI Act
Section 22 of the FOI Act provides that if giving access to a document would disclose
information that would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request, it is
possible for an agency to prepare an edited copy of the document, modified by
deletions, ensuring that the edited copy would not disclose any information that would
reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request.
The document includes the names of administrative staff of the Minister’s Office who
extracted the document in scope for assessment.
I have decided that parts of documents marked ‘s22(1)(a)(ii)’ would disclose
information that could reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to your request. I have
prepared an edited copy of the documents, with the irrelevant material deleted
pursuant to section 22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act.
Personal Privacy - Section 47F of the FOI Act
Section 47F of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its
disclosure under the FOI Act would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal
information of any person. ‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion
about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether
the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is
recorded in a material form or not (see section 4 of the FOI Act and section 6 of the
Privacy Act 1988).
The document contains the personal phone number and non-public facing email
address of the Mayor of Darebin City Council.
I consider that disclosure of the information marked 's47F' in the document would
disclose personal information relating to this individual.
When deciding whether the disclosure of the personal information would be
‘unreasonable’, I considered:
- The information relating to the third parties is not well known and would only be
known to a limited group of people with a business need to know. As this
information is only known to a limited group of people, the individuals concerned
are not generally known to be associated with the specific personal and private
submissions discussed in the document. This information is also not available
from publicly accessible sources.
- You have not provided any evidence to indicate that you have the consent of
the individuals to access their personal information. It is not possible for the
Minister’s Office to consult with these individuals as to whether they consent for
their personal information to be released to you and the world at large. I
consider that any release of the personal information without express consent
would be contrary to the
Privacy Act 1988, and would therefore be an
unreasonable disclosure of their personal information.
For the reasons set out above, I am satisfied that the disclosure of the information
within the document would involve an unreasonable disclosure of personal information
about a number of individuals.
I have decided that the information referred to above is conditionally exempt under
section 47F of the FOI Act. Access to conditionally exempt documents must generally
be given unless it would be contrary to the public interest to do so. I have turned my
mind to whether disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest.
The public interest – section 11A of the FOI Act
Having regard to the objects of the FOI Act and the other factors listed in section
11B(3) of the FOI Act, I am satisfied that:
Access to the documents would promote the objects of the FOI Act.
The subject matter of the document does have the character of public
importance and that there may be broad public interest in the document.
No insights into public expenditure will be provided through examination of
the document.
You do not require access to the document in order to access your own
personal information.
I have also considered the following factors that weigh against the release of the
conditionally exempt information in the document:
The Minister is committed to complying with his obligations under the
Privacy
Act 1988, which sets out standards and obligations that regulate how
Ministers and Australian government agencies must handle and manage
personal information. It is in the public interest that the Minister uphold the
rights of individuals to privacy.
4
Upon balancing all of the above relevant public interest considerations, I have
concluded that the disclosure of the conditionally exempt information in the document
would be contrary to the public interest and it is therefore exempt from disclosure under
the FOI Act.
7
Legislation
A copy of the FOI Act is available at
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562. If you are unable to access the
legislation through this website, please contact our office for a copy.
8
Your Review Rights
You may apply directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) for a review of this decision. You must apply in writing within 60 days of this
notice. For further information about review rights and how to submit a request for a
review to the OAIC, please see
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/reviews-and-complaints/information-commissioner-review/.
9
Making a Complaint
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner:
Phone
- 1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Email
-
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
The request should be in writing and should set out the grounds on which it is
considered that the action taken in relation to the request should be investigated and
identify the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs as the
relevant agency.
10 Contacting the Minister’s Office
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the
Minister’s Office via xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
[Electronically signed]
Authorised Decision Maker
Office of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs
23 Feburary 2023
