LEX 56160
Decision and Statement of Reasons issued under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982
Decision and reason for decision of Ramona (Position Number 62336362), Assistant Director,
Information Access Unit, Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch, Department of Veterans’
Affairs
Applicant:
Mr Arthur Jordan
Date of primary decision:
10 February 2023
FOI reference number (Primary): LEX 55381
Internal review decision date:
20 March 2023
Internal review reference number: LEX 56160
Sent by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Jordan,
Freedom of Information Internal Review Request: LEX 56160
Decision
1. The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about your request for internal review of
the decision made on LEX 55381 under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (
FOI Act).
2. I have made a decision to affirm the original decision made by Sharmila (Position Number
62210944), Information Access Officer, Information Access Unit, Client Access Rehabilitation
Branch. That decision was to refuse access to the documents within the scope of your
request under section 24AA of the FOI Act.
Authority to make decision
3. I, Ramona (Position Number 62336362), Assistant Director, Information Access Unit, Client
Access Rehabilitation Branch, am an officer authorised by the Secretary of the Department
1
to make decisions about access to documents in the possession of the Department in
accordance with section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Summary
4. On 5 January 2023, you made a request for access to documents in the possession of the
Department. Your request sought access to:
‘…I request all inward facing documents on the combined library of information and
knowledge (CLIK)…’
5. On 6 January 2023, the Department acknowledged your request via email.
6. Following a practical refusal consultation period, a decision on your request was due by 13
February 2023.
Practical Refusal Consultation
7. On 25 January 2023, the Department wrote to you providing a notice of intention to refuse
your request under section 24AB(2) of the FOI Act as your request was too broad and
voluminous to process. You were given an opportunity to consult with the Department to
revise your request so as to remove the practical refusal reason.
8. On 25 January 2023, you responded to the formal section 24AB consultation notice
expressing your displeasure of not having any informal consultation as recommended in the
Department’s training procedures. An informal consultation is recommended as a way of
assisting an applicant to refine a request as a first step, however, a written consultation
notice is required under section 24AB(2) of the FOI Act and the Guidelines issued by the
Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (
FOI Guidelines).
9. In response to your email, the Department made contact with you on 31 January 2023 and
discussed the practical difficulties and limitations in processing your request. During this call,
you advised you would email a revised scope to be considered.
10. On 1 February 2023, you emailed your suggestions to remove the practical refusal reasons as
follows:
‘…I confirm the contents and make the fol owing suggestions so as to remove a
Practical Refusal issue raised by her.
2
I have raised the letters contents with various Veterans who live and breath Drupal
and know its inner workings and how to use it to its ful est. These are some
suggestions which should remove the Practical Refusal reasons.
1. In Reference to the PDF letter and its sections, responses are noted in quote
marks.
Sec 11 - The request requires exporting all internal contents to a common
acceptable format such as HTML. “The DVA has access via HTML (web base)”
It is assumed that the search wil encompass CLIK in its entirety. “This could be
limited to the DVA, and this should have been the assumed access as it was to the
DVA FOI business area not Services Australia.”
Sec 20 - A revised request may state “with no limitation on the evidence given at the
AAT by Luke Brown, and noting if all your assumptions are correct, a quick and easy
way is to set up a user profile so I have any time access to the inward facing CLIK.
This would be a username and password.”
2. Another option might be to modify the request to specify one document and one
document only; the database schema for CLIK.
This will provide us with a list of all tables that are on CLIK without providing the
documents.
Once we understand the format of the database, we can then request the contents
of a specific table. The table wil be the one which holds all the files that are
displayed.
From there we can then request the specific files.
If this option doesn’t work because it’s not hosted on a database, we simply request
a sitemap which includes the full details of every page, including those only
internally available.
The IT department wil be the custodians of this information.
The search should take no longer than 15 minutes.
3. A further way to resolve your issues raised is to seek a Table be produced in
accordance with Sec. 17 of the FOI Act, specifying the names and/or titles of ALL
inward facing documents in CLIK…’
3
Original Decision
11. On 10 February 2023, the Department made a decision to refuse access to your request
under the fol owing provisions of the FOI Act:
- Section 15 - Request for Access
- Section 24AB – Request Consultation Process
- Section 24AA – Practical Refusal Reasons
Internal Review
12. On 16 February 2023, you requested an internal review of the decision in the following
terms:
‘…I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans' Affairs's
handling of my FOI request 'Al inward facing documents on the combined library of
information and knowledge (CLIK).'.
1. The person (Sharmila) who originally handled my FOI request did NOT fol ow all
procedures set out by the DVA (see correspondence herewith) which she admitted
to.
2. I set out several suggestions which would assist in removing the refusal issues.
One suggestion was NOT even addressed by the person, Sharmila (that relating to
evidence, on oath, given to an AAT hearing by Luke Brown of DVA regarding his
views of "hiding" documents from Veterans and the public via an "Inward Facing
CLIK" and the helpful procedures he would fol ow if faced with a request such as
this. One suggestion was addressed by way of making a conclusion only and NOT
listing the evidence or facts to support that conclusion (S. 17 table).
3. The other 2 suggestions were dismissed because of information allegedly
provided by an unknown "expert". I had supplied "technical" suggestions of my own
which were NOT taken into account. The veracity of ALL the evidence allegedly
considered by Sharmila was NOT weighed and reasons given as to why one
"experts" evidence was preferred over anothers…’
13. As your application was made within 30 days of the original decision being made, the
internal review decision is valid.
14. As no extension of time has been applied to process this internal review, a decision on your
internal review application is due on 20 March 2023.
4
Material taken into account
15. 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 partial access to the document fol ows.
16. I have taken the following material into account in making my decision.
• the terms of your original request made on 5 January 2023 and the original decision
made on 10 February 2023;
• the terms of your internal review request made on 16 February 2023;
• advice from the relevant business area and Services Australia;
• the nature and content of CLIK/Drupal;
• 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 have also considered the following provisions of the FOI Act
relevant to my decision:
- Section 15 - Request for Access
- Section 24AB – Request Consultation Process
- Section 24AA – Practical Refusal Reasons
- Section 54C Internal review – decision on internal review
• the FOI Guidelines.
17. A full extract of all FOI Act provisions used to make my decision are provided in
Schedule 2.
Reasons for decision
18. I have decided to affirm the original decision made on 10 February 2023 to refuse access to
the documents within the scope of your request under section 24AA of the FOI Act.
Practical refusal (section 24AA)
19. Section 24AA(1)(A)(i) of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal reason exists in relation
to a FOI request if the work involved in processing the request would substantial y and
unreasonably divert the resources of the Department from its other operations.
5
20. Having reviewed the original decision and advice received from the relevant business area
and Services Australia, I affirm that the practical refusal reason applicable to your request is
that processing your request, as best the Department can understand the terms, is likely to
result in a substantial and unreasonable diversion of the Department’s resources from its
other operations (section 24AA(1)(a) of the FOI Act).
Request is substantial
21. Under section 24AA(2) of the FOI Act, the Department must have regard to the resources
that would have to be used for:
• identifying, locating or col ating the documents within the filing system of the
agency;
• deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document to which the
request relates, or to grant access to an edited copy of such a document (including
resources that would have to be used for examining the document or consulting
with any person or body in relation to the request);
• making a copy or an edited copy, of the document; and
• notifying any interim or final decision on the request.
22. As outlined in paragraph 3.117 of the FOI Guidelines, other matters may be relevant in
deciding if a practical refusal reason exists, such as the staffing resources available to an
agency for FOI processing, whether the processing can only be undertaken by one or more
specialist officers in an agency who have competing responsibilities, the impact that
processing may have on other work in an agency including FOI processing, and whether
there is a significant public interest in the documents requested.
23. The information you have requested, under either suggested option, requires retrieval from
the Department’s Consolidated Library of Information and Knowledge (CLIK)/Drupal, which
contains legislative, policy and reference material used internally by Departmental staff in
providing service to its clients. It is a web-based platform arranged into a number of libraries
each containing information specific to that library, covering a wide range of topics across
the Department’s portfolio. It therefore contains a significant amount of information.
24. In your revised scope, you referred to information being provided by ‘unknown experts’. As
previously advised, under a shared services arrangement, Services Australia provides
technical support to the Department for CLIK. Therefore, the relevant business area within
the Department (Shared Services & Technology Branch) reached out to Services Australia
regarding the request. As such, the advice relied on in determining whether processing the
request would be manageable, came from the relevant business areas within the
6
Department and Services Australia, having the required background knowledge and
management of use of CLIK within the Department.
25. Under your revised scope, you suggested four options to refine the scope of your request. I
have addressed each option in turn below.
Option 1 – User Profile
26. The first suggested option is to set up a user profile so that you have access to the inward-
facing CLIK. As advised in the decision letter dated 10 February 2023, setting up a user
profile for access to CLIK is done through the Department’s Human Resources (HR) system
under an existing profile, e.g. current staff members of the Department have an existing
profile in the HR system and can therefore get a CLIK user profile set up and gain access to
CLIK. The department is not able to add an external party on to the Department’s HR system.
I agree with the original advice that this option is not feasible or appropriate.
27. Under the first suggested option, you also noted that “…
it is assumed that the search wil
encompass CLIK in its entirety. ‘This could be limited to the DVA, and this should have been
the assumed access as it was to the DVA FOI business area not Services Australia’...” The
inward-facing CLIK in scope of your request relates to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
content. However, as previously advised, Services Australia provides technical support to the
Department for CLIK – this is why they have been consulted in relation to this request as
your request involves extracting the information out of the system.
Option 2 – Database Schema
28. The second suggested option is to modify the request to specify one document – the
database schema for CLIK. The relevant business area advised that extracting and creating a
list of “tables” from CLIK attracts similar practical difficulties and limitations as creating and
extracting all documents/information out of the inward-facing CLIK system. As advised, there
are currently no tools available to Services Australia to identify and extract the requested
information. Therefore, Services Australia would still need to explore extra modules for
Drupal 7 to experiment with the export function, test it, and implement it in Prod, which
would take a significant amount of time. Further, content verification processes and access
control issues wil need to be considered and addressed, and business areas who drafted or
contributed to content wil be required to validate the extracted information and provide
approvals before consideration of release of any list of tables.
Option 3 - Sitemap
29. In terms of providing a sitemap which includes the full details of every page including those
only internally available, the business area advised that the search for the sitemap would
7
take longer than the suggested 15 minutes as the Department currently does not have
visibility and use of a tool within CLIK that could perform this task. It will also take time to
investigate what information could be included in a sitemap, and it is difficult to estimate
how long it would take to set-up or generate a sitemap.
Option 4 – Section 17 Table
30. The final suggested option is to produce a table in accordance with section 17 of the FOI Act,
specifying the names and/or titles of al inward facing documents in CLIK. Subject to section
17(1)(c)(i) of the FOI Act, the original decision-maker held that the Department was not in a
position to create a written document, via the use of a computer or other equipment that is
ordinarily available to the Department for the purposes of retrieving or col ating stored
information. Furthermore, subject to section 17(2) of the FOI Act, the decision-maker
decided that to do so would substantial y and unreasonably divert the resources of the
Department from its other operations.
31. I have considered and affirm the decision that the Department is not able to produce the
table to provide the information you are seeking, considering the issues raised previously,
including the time required to investigate options to generate the table, extract the relevant
information to create the table, and have it reviewed for consideration of release.
Conclusion regarding options
32. Services Australia advised that they would require a minimum of 3-4 weeks to conduct an
analysis to prepare a report to see if any of the suggested options can be facilitated and how
long the process would take. They advised there are costs associated with researching,
developing and implementing an extraction tool for CLIK, and to conduct an analysis to
prepare a sitemap or a table with the requested details if either of those options were to be
pursued.
33. If the requested database schema, table or sitemap could be extracted and documents
created, subsequent tasks for the Department may include (depending on the option):
• Col ating and converting the documents into pdf format for potential
redactions;
• Examining and consulting with relevant business areas within the
Department on sensitivities within the documents;
• Redacting exempt material from the documents as, considering that CLIK is
for use by Departmental staff, it is likely the documents contain material
that may be considered to be exempt from release under the FOI Act (for
example, documents affecting certain operations of agencies under section
47E of the FOI Act, etc.);
8
• Deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access; and
• Preparing and notifying a decision/statement of reasons to you.
34. Considering this, and the various limitations discussed, it was concluded that a significant
amount of time and resources would be required to process this request for both the
Department and Services Australia. I agree with that view and affirm that the request is
substantial.
Request is unreasonable
35. I have considered whether the substantial resource burden would be unreasonable
considering that the anticipated significant number of hours and resources required to
complete the tasks under either option is, at face value, an unreasonable burden for a single
FOI request. This is also taking into account the need to process multiple requests at any
given time, and the impact such a burden would have on responding to other FOI applicants
and for the relevant business area and officers of Services Australia to undertake their
designated duties. I have considered the public interest in providing access to information,
but conclude that this is outweighed by the competing public interest in both departments
performing their ordinary functions, including the processing of other FOI requests.
36. Taking the above considerations into account, I am of the view that the request as it
currently stands is also unreasonable.
Summary of Decision
37. After reviewing the original decision, the advice provided by the relevant business area
within the Department and Services Australia, I have decided to affirm the original decision
to refuse to process your request under section 24 of the FOI Act on the basis that the work
involved in processing your request would substantial y and unreasonably divert the
resources of this agency and that a practical refusal reason therefore exists under section 24
of the FOI Act.
Your rights of review
38. If you are dissatisfied with my decision you may apply for Information Commissioner Review
of the decision through the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (
OAIC).
9
OAIC review
39. 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 fol owing 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
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
40. 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
41. 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,
Ramona (Position Number 62336362)
Assistant Director
Information Access Unit
Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
20 March 2023
10
LEX 56160
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 fol owing:
(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 fol owing:
(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).
11
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 conditional y exempt.
Note 2: A conditional y 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 conditional y 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 o
f subsection 15(2) to an
agency;
12
(b)
It appears from the
request that the desire of th
e applicant is for information that
is not available in discrete form in writte
n documents of the
agency; and
(ba)
it does not appear from th
e request that th
e applicant wishes to be provided with
a computer tape or computer disk on which the information is recorded; and
(c)
th
e 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 th
e agency;
th
e 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 th
e agency had such
a document in its possession.
(2)
An
agency is not required to comply wit
h 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.
24
Power to refuse request--diversion of resources etc.
(1)
If an agency or Minister is satisfied, when dealing with a request for a document, that a
practical refusal reason exists in relation to the request (see section 24AA), the agency or
Minister:
(a)
must undertake a request consultation process (see section 24AB); and
(b)
if, after the request consultation process, the agency or Minister is satisfied that
the practical refusal reason still exists--the agency or Minister may refuse to give
access to the document in accordance with the request.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, the agency or Minister may treat 2 or more requests as a
single request if the agency or Minister is satisfied that:
(a)
the requests relate to the same document or documents; or
(b)
the requests relate to documents, the subject matter of which is substantial y the
same.
24AA When does a practical refusal reason exist?
(1)
For the purposes of section 24, a practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request for a
document if either (or both) of the fol owing applies:
(a)
the work involved in processing the request:
(i)
in the case of an agency--would substantial y and unreasonably divert the
resources of the agency from its other operations; or
(ii) in the case of a Minister--would substantially and unreasonably interfere
with the performance of the Minister's functions;
(b)
the request does not satisfy the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b) (identification
of documents).
13
(2)
Subject to subsection (3), but without limiting the matters to which the agency or Minister
may have regard, in deciding whether a practical refusal reason exists, the agency or
Minister must have regard to the resources that would have to be used for the following:
(a)
identifying, locating or collating the documents within the filing system of the
agency, or the office of the Minister;
(b)
deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document to which the
request relates, or to grant access to an edited copy of such a document, including
resources that would have to be used for:
(i)
examining the document; or
(ii)
consulting with any person or body in relation to the request;
(c)
making a copy, or an edited copy, of the document;
(d)
notifying any interim or final decision on the request.
(3)
In deciding whether a practical refusal reason exists, an agency or Minister must not have
regard to:
(a)
any reasons that the applicant gives for requesting access; or
(b)
the agency's or Minister's belief as to what the applicant's reasons are for
requesting access; or
(c)
any maximum amount, specified in the regulations, payable as a charge for
processing a request of that kind.
24AB What is a request consultation process?
Scope
(1)
This section sets out what is a request consultation process for the purposes of section 24.
Requirement to notify
(2)
The agency or Minister must give the applicant a written notice stating the following:
(a)
an intention to refuse access to a document in accordance with a request;
(b)
the practical refusal reason;
(c)
the name of an officer of the agency or member of staff of the Minister (the
contact person ) with whom the applicant may consult during a period;
(d)
details of how the applicant may contact the contact person;
(e)
that the period (the consultation period ) during which the applicant may consult
with the contact person is 14 days after the day the applicant is given the notice.
Assistance to revise request
(3)
If the applicant contacts the contact person during the consultation period in accordance
with the notice, the agency or Minister must take reasonable steps to assist the applicant
to revise the request so that the practical refusal reason no longer exists.
(4)
For the purposes of subsection (3), reasonable steps includes the fol owing:
(a)
giving the applicant a reasonable opportunity to consult with the contact person;
(b)
providing the applicant with any information that would assist the applicant to
revise the request.
Extension of consultation period
(5)
The contact person may, with the applicant's agreement, extend the consultation period by
written notice to the applicant.
Outcome of request consultation process
(6)
The applicant must, before the end of the consultation period, do one of the fol owing, by
written notice to the agency or Minister:
(a)
withdraw the request;
(b)
make a revised request;
(c)
indicate that the applicant does not wish to revise the request.
14
(7)
The request is taken to have been withdrawn under subsection (6) at the end of the
consultation period if:
(a)
the applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with the notice; or
(b)
the applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection (6) before the
end of the consultation period.
Consultation period to be disregarded in calculating processing period
(8)
The period starting on the day an applicant is given a notice under subsection (2) and
ending on the day the applicant does one of the things mentioned in paragraph (6)(b) or (c)
is to be disregarded in working out the 30 day period mentioned in paragraph 15(5)(b).
Note: Paragraph 15(5)(b) requires that an agency or Minister take al reasonable steps to notify an applicant of a
decision on the applicant's request within 30 days after the request is made.
No more than one request consultation process required (9)
To avoid doubt, this section only obliges the agency or Minister to undertake a request
consultation process once for any particular request.
26
Reasons and other particulars of decisions to be given
(1)
Where, in relation to a request, a decision is made relating to a refusal to grant access to a
document in accordance with the request or deferring provision of access to a document,
the decision-maker shall cause the applicant to be given notice in writing of the decision,
and the notice shal :
(a)
state the findings on any material questions of fact, referring to the material on
which those findings were based, and state the reasons for the decision; and
(aa)
in the case of a decision to refuse to give access to a conditionally exempt
document—include in those reasons the public interest factors taken into account
in making the decision; and
Note:
Access must general y be given to a conditional y exempt document unless it would be contrary to the public
interest (see section 11A).
(b)
where the decision relates to a document of an agency, state the name and
designation of the person giving the decision; and
(c)
give to the applicant appropriate information concerning:
(i)
his or her rights with respect to review of the decision;
(ii)
his or her rights to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
relation to the decision; and
(iii)
the procedure for the exercise of the rights referred to in subparagraphs (i)
and (ii); including (where applicable) particulars of the manner in which an
application for internal review (Part VI) and IC review (Part VII) may be
made.
(1A)
Section 13 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 does not apply to a
decision referred to in subsection (1).
(2)
A notice under this section is not required to contain any matter that is of such a nature
that its inclusion in a document of an agency would cause that document to be an exempt
document.
(see section 11A).
54C
Internal Review – decision on internal review
Scope
(1) This section applies if an application fo
r internal review o
f an access refusal decision or an
access grant
decision (the original decision ) is made in accordance with this Part.
Decision
(2) The
agency must, as soon as practicable, arrange for a person (other than the person who made
the original decision) to review the decision.
15
(3) The person must make a fresh decision on behalf of th
e agency within 30 days after the day on
which the application was received by, or on behalf of, th
e agency.
Notice of decision
(4)
Section 26 extends to a decision made under this section.
16
Document Outline
