LEX 55100
Decision and Statement of reasons issued under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982
Decision and reasons for decision of Natalie (Position Number 622110220),
Senior Information Access Officer, Information Access Unit, Client Access and Rehabilitation
Branch, Department of Veterans' Affairs
Applicant:
Mr Alan Ashmore
Decision date:
6 January 2023
FOI reference number:
LEX 55100
Sent by Email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Ashmore,
Freedom of Information Request: LEX 55100
Decision
1.
The Department of Veterans' Affairs (
Department) has undertaken a reasonable search of its
records and in accordance with section 17 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (
FOI
Act), I have made a decision to create and grant access in full to one (1) document relevant
to your request.
2.
The document that I have chosen to grant access to is set out in
Schedule 1.
Authority to make decision
3.
I, Natalie (Position Number 62211022), Senior Information Access Officer, Information
Access Unit, Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch, am an officer authorised by the
Secretary of the Department to make decisions about access to documents in the possession
of the Department in accordance with section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
1
Summary
4.
On 11 December 2022, you made a request for access to a document in the possession of
the Department. Your request sought access to:
'...I recently received a completed FOI that in part listed the top three issues
regarding complaints to Open Arms for each of the last 4 financial years. In 21/22
one of the top three issues was 'staff atttude.'
Information I am seeking:
The number of complaints to Open Arms for each of the last 4 financial years citing
staff attitude...’
5.
On 13 December 2022, the Department acknowledged your request via email.
6.
As no extensions of time have been applied to process your request, a decision on your
request is due by 10 Jan 2023.
7.
I have decided not to impose a charge in relation to this request, in accordance with
Regulation 8 of the
Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019.
Material taken into account
8.
In accordance with section 26(1)(a) of the FOI Act, my findings on any material question of
fact, the material on which those findings were based and the reasons for my decision to
grant access to the document follow.
9.
I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:
the terms of your request on 11 December 2022;
the types of information and documents that are in the Department's possession;
the content of the document that falls within the scope of your request;
Sections 3, 11 and 11A of the FOI Act which give the Australian community a legally
enforceable right to obtain access to information held by the Government of the
Commonwealth. I also considered the following provisions of the FOI Act relevant to
2
my decision:
- Section 15 Request for Access
- Section 17 Request involving use of computer etc (e.g. request for the
Department to create a document);
the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (
FOI Guidelines);
10. A full extract of all FOI Act provisions used to make my decision are provided in
Schedule 2.
Reasons for decision
11. I have decided to
grant full access to the document within the scope of your request.
Creation of a document in response to your FOI request (section 17)
12. After consultation with Open Arms it was determined that information relevant to your
request was not entirely held by the Department in a discrete document form.
13. In order to provide you access to all relevant information regarding your request, it was
requested that the Open Arms branch extract the data listed in the Department’s wider
database to create a document.
14. This document is comprised of the following data for the financial years 2019/2020,
2020/2021, 2021/2022.
Open Arms Feedback – Complaints siting Staff attitude
15. This document is listed in
Schedule 1 and was created in accordance with section 17 of the
FOI Act.
Access to documents
16. The document released to you in accordance with the FOI Act is enclosed.
Information Publication Scheme
17. The Information Publication Scheme requires the Department to publish information
released in response to individual requests made under the FOI Act, except in specified
circumstances.
3
18. I am of the view that details of your request should be made available on the Department's
FOI Disclosure Log. As such, details of your request will be published on the Department's
FOI Disclosure Log which can be acc
essed at http://www.dva.gov.au/about-dva/freedom-
information/foi-disclosure-log. Please note that the Department does not publish details of
FOI applicants, it only publishes details of the FOI request and the documents released in
response to the request.
Your rights of review
19. If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or request the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (
OAIC) review my decision. We
encourage you to seek internal review as a first step to resolve any concerns you may have.
Internal review
20. Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Department for an Internal
Review of my decision. The Internal Review application must be made within 30 days of the
date of this letter. Where possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the
decision is necessary. The internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30
days.
21. You can make your application for Internal Review in one of the following ways:
Post:
Information Access Unit,
Department of Veterans' Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
OAIC review
22. Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the OAIC to review my decision. An
application for review by OAIC must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this
letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Facsimile:
(02) 9284 9666
Phone:
1300 363 992
4
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
23. More information about your review rights under the FOI Act is available in Fact Sheet 12
published by the OAIC:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-
complaints/information-commissioner-review/
Contact us
24. If you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the Information Access
Unit using the following details:
Online:
https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview/reporting/freedom-
information/access-information
Post:
Information Access Unit
Department of Veterans' Affairs
GPO Box 9998, Brisbane QLD 4001
Phone:
1800 838 372
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Natalie (Position Number 62211022)
Senior Information Access Officer
Information Access Unit
Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans' Affairs
6 January 2023
5
LEX 55100
Schedule 1
Schedule of documents
Applicant:
Mr Alan Ashmore
Decision date:
6 January 2023
FOI reference number:
LEX 55100
Document
Date of
Document description
Page
Decision
Exemption
reference
document
number
provision
1
N/A
Open Arms - Complaint Specific data
1
Full access
s 17
6
LEX 55100
Schedule 2
Schedule of relevant provisions in the FOI Act
3
Objects - general
(1)
The objects of this Act are to give the Australian community access to information held by
the Government of the Commonwealth or the Government of Norfolk Island, by:
(a)
requiring agencies to publish the information; and
(b)
providing for a right of access to documents.
(2)
The Parliament intends, by these objects, to promote Australia's representative democracy
by contributing towards the following:
(a)
increasing public participation in Government processes, with a view to promoting
better informed decision-making;
(b)
increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government's
activities.
(3)
The Parliament also intends, by these objects, to increase recognition that information held
by the Government is to be managed for public purposes, and is a national resource.
(4)
The Parliament also intends that functions and powers given by this Act are to be
performed and exercised, as far as possible, to facilitate and promote public access to
information, promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost.
11
Right of access
(1)
Subject to this Act, every person has a legally enforceable right to obtain access in
accordance with this Act to:
(a)
a document of an agency, other than an exempt document; or
(b)
an official document of a Minister, other than an exempt document.
(2)
Subject to this Act, a person's right of access is not affected by:
(a)
any reasons the person gives for seeking access; or
(b)
the agency's or Minister's belief as to what are his or her reasons for seeking
access.
11A Access to documents on request
Scope
(1)
This section applies if:
(a)
a request is made by a person, in accordance with subsection 15(2), to an agency or
Minister for access to:
(i)
a document of the agency; or
(ii)
an official document of the Minister; and
(b)
any charge that, under the regulations, is required to be paid before access is given
has been paid.
(2)
This section applies subject to this Act.
Note:
Other provisions of this Act are relevant to decisions about access to documents, for example the following:
(a)
section 12 (documents otherwise available);
(b)
section 13 (documents in national institutions);
(c)
section 15A (personnel records);
(d)
section 22 (access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted).
7
Mandatory access - general rule
(3)
The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document in accordance with
this Act, subject to this section.
Exemptions and conditional exemptions
(4)
The agency or Minister is not required by this Act to give the person access to the
document at a particular time if, at that time, the document is an exempt document.
Note:
Access may be given to an exempt document apart from under this Act, whether or not in response to a request
(see section 3A (objects - information or documents otherwise accessible)).
(5)
The agency or Minister 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 at that
time would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.
Note 1: Division 3 of Part IV provides for when a document is conditionally exempt.
Note 2: A conditionally exempt document is an exempt document if access to the document would, on balance, be
contrary to the public interest (see section 31B (exempt documents for the purposes of Part IV)).
Note 3: Section 11B deals with when it is contrary to the public interest to give a person access to the document.
(6)
Despite subsection (5), the agency or Minister is not required to give access to the
document at a particular time if, at that time, the document is both:
(a)
a conditionally exempt document; and
(b)
an exempt document:
(i)
under Division 2 of Part IV (exemptions); or
(ii)
within the meaning of paragraph (b) or (c) of the definition of exempt
document in subsection 4(1).
15
Requests for access (as related to the requirements for requests)
Persons may request access
(1)
Subject to section 15A, a person who wishes to obtain access to a document of an agency
or an official document of a Minister may request access to the document.
Requirements for request
(2)
The request must:
(a)
be in writing; and
(aa)
state that the request is an application for the purposes of this Act; and
(b)
provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably necessary to
enable a responsible officer of the agency, or the Minister, to identify it; and
(c)
give details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the applicant (for
example, by providing an electronic address to which notices may be sent by
electronic communication).
(2A) The request must be sent to the agency or Minister. The request may be sent in any of the
following ways:
(a)
delivery to an officer of the agency, or a member of the staff of the Minister, at the
address of any central or regional office of the agency or Minister specified in a
current telephone directory;
(b)
postage by pre-paid post to an address mentioned in paragraph (a);
(c)
sending by electronic communication to an electronic address specified by the
agency or Minister.
17
Requests involving use of computers etc
(1)
Where:
(a)
a request (including a request in relation to which a practical refusal reason exists) is
made in accordance with the requirements of subsection 15(2) to an agency;
8
(b)
It appears from the request that the desire of the applicant is for information that is
not available in discrete form in written documents of the agency; and
(ba)
it does not appear from the request that the applicant wishes to be provided with a
computer tape or computer disk on which the information is recorded; and
(c)
the agency could produce a written document containing the information in discrete
form by:
(i)
the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the agency
for retrieving or collating stored information; or
(ii)
the making of a transcript from a sound recording held in the agency;
the agency shall deal with the request as if it were a request for access to a written document
so produced and containing that information and, for that purpose, this Act applies
as if the agency had such a document in its possession.
(2)
An agency is not required to comply with subsection (1) if compliance would substantially
and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations.
23
Decisions to be made by authorised persons
(1)
Subject to subsection (2), a decision in respect of a request made to an agency may be
made, on behalf of the agency, by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of the
agency or, subject to the regulations, by an officer of the agency acting within the scope of
authority exercisable by him or her in accordance with arrangements approved by the
responsible Minister or the principal officer of the agency.
(2)
A decision in respect of a request made to a court, or made to a tribunal, authority or body
that is specified in Schedule 1, may be made on behalf of that court, tribunal, authority or
body by the principal officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body or, subject to the
regulations, by an officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body acting within the scope
of authority exercisable by him or her in accordance with arrangements approved by the
principal officer of that court, tribunal, authority or body.
9
