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This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Recruitment business case(s), requisition and selection methodology, job advertisement for APSjobs Advertised reference VN-0696391. SESB1 promotions in January 2023..'.


14 April 2023 
Anon 
BY EMAIL:  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx 
In reply please quote: 
FOI Request:  FA 23/01/00787 
File Number: 
FA23/01/00787  
Dear Anon, 
Freedom of Information (FOI) request – Access Decision 
On 13 January 2023, the Department of Home  Affairs (the Department) 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: 
From the Recruitment SESB1 promotions, APSjobs reference VN-0696391, I would 
like to view  the business case(s), requisition and selection methodology and job 
advertisement pertaining to and in the lead up to promotions advertised in APS 
Weekly Gazette,12 Jan 2023. 
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. 
3 
Relevant material  
In reaching my decision I referred to the following: 
• the terms of your request
• the FOI Act
• Guidelines published by the Office of the Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines).
808 Bourke Street, Docklands 3008 
• xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx  • www.homeaffairs.gov.au 

4 
Documents in scope of request 
The Department has identified two documents as falling within the scope of your request. These 
documents were in the possession of the Department on 13 January 2023 when your request 
was received. 
5 
Decision 
The decision in relation to the documents in the possession of the Department which fall within 
the scope of your request is as follows: 
• Release one document  in part with deletions
6 
Reasons for Decision 
My  findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemption provision applies to that 
information are set out below. 
6.1  Section 47E of the FOI Act – Operations of Agencies 
Section 47E(c) of the FOI  Act provides that documents are conditionally exempt if disclosure 
would, or could reasonably be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on the management 
or assessment of personnel by an agency. 
The Department operates in a  position of trust within  the border environment and as such the 
highest standard of conduct must be encouraged and maintained.   
The Department's Professional Standards Framework  promotes the  highest of  standards of 
professional conduct expected of the Department's workforce.  Contained within the professional 
standards framework, is the integrity framework which  includes measures designed to protect 
our workforce from criminal influence and to mitigate the potential for corruption risk.  Any 
adverse effect to the effectiveness of the Department's ability to manage its personnel within its 
integrity framework exposes the Department to potential integrity risk which would result in a 
substantial adverse effect on the operations of the Department. 
At times, the policy space that this Department operates in can be highly controversial and 
divisive and in some circles, an unpopular aspect of government policy. The Department also 
operates in a highly sensitive operational environment.  As such, affording protection to its staff, 
and prospective staff, is a high priority for the Department.  
Staff names, and those of people applying to join the Department, are not published outside the 
Department in order to protect staff against the risk of  inappropriate unsolicited approaches, 
personal attack and harassment.   
The disclosure of staff names and direct contact details outside the Department could expose 
those members of staff, or people seeking to join the Department, to unsolicited approaches by 
individuals with criminal affiliations and may result in serious risks to the security and integrity of 
the Department's lawful activities.  There have also been documented cases of members of staf  
of the Department being harassed and receiving personal threats to their safety. 
I  am  therefore satisfied that the likelihood of  a threat from unknown individuals to  members of 
staff is based not based on intangible or hypothetical threats.   
- 2 –

 
The Department has a primary duty of care to ensure, so far as is reasonably practical, the health 
and safety of its officers under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act).  The Department 
must ensure, as far as is  reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is 
also not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the Department.   
I  am of the view that the disclosure of the names of job applicants contained within the documents 
could impact on the ability of the Department to comply with its health and safety obligations 
under the  WHS  Act.  This this would, or could reasonably be expected to, have a substantial 
adverse effect on the management of personnel by the Department.  
I have decided that the documents are conditional y exempt under section 47E(c) of the FOI Act.  
Access to a conditionally exempt document 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, and have included my  reasoning in that regard at 
paragraph 6.3 below.  
6.2  Section 47F of the FOI Act – Personal Privacy 
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).  
Document 2 contains the names of people who have applied for a position with the Department 
of Home Affairs. I  consider that disclosure of the information marked 's47F' in the document 
would disclose personal information relating to third parties. The information within the document 
would reasonably identify a person, either through names, positions or descriptions of their role 
or employment circumstance. 
The FOI Act states that, when deciding whether the disclosure of the personal information would 
be ‘unreasonable’, I must have regard to the following four factors set out in s.47F(2) of the 
FOI Act: 
•  the extent to which the information is well  known; 
•  whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have 
been) associated with the matters dealt with in the document; 
•  the availability of the information from publicly available resources; 
•  any other matters that I consider relevant. 
I  have considered each of these factors below. 
The information relating to the third parties is not well known and would only be known to a limited 
group of people within the Department 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 matters discussed in the document. This information is not available from 
publicly accessible sources.  
 
- 3 – 

 
You have not indicated that you have third party consent of any of the applicants to access their 
personal information. This indicates that releasing their personal information to you would be 
unreasonable. 
It  has not been practical for the Department to consult with  the 34 candidates shortlisted for 
interview. In  absence of their express consent, I  consider that releasing the information to you 
would be unreasonable.  
On the basis of the information before me, 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 a conditionally exempt  document 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, and have included my reasoning in that 
regard at paragraph 6.3 below.  
6.3  The public interest – section 11A of the FOI Act 
As  I  have decided that parts of  the documents are conditionally exempt, I am now required to 
consider whether access to the conditional y exempt information would be contrary to the public 
interest (section 11A of the FOI Act).  
A part of a document which is conditionally exempt must also meet the public interest test in 
section 11A(5) before an exemption may be claimed in respect of that part.  
In  summary, the test is  whether access to the conditionally exempt part of the document would 
be, on balance, contrary to the public interest. 
In  applying this test, I  have noted the objects of the FOI  Act and the importance of the other 
factors listed in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act, being whether access to the document would do 
any of the following: 
(a)  promote the objects of this Act (including all the matters set out in sections 3 and 
3A) 
(b)  inform debate on a matter of public importance 
(c)  promote effective oversight of public expenditure 
(d)  allow a person to access his or her own personal information. 
Having regard to the above I am satisfied that: 
• 
Access to the documents would promote the objects of the FOI Act. 
• 
The subject matter of the documents does not seem to have a general characteristic of 
public importance. The matter has a limited scope and, in my view, would be of interest to 
a very narrow section of the public. 
• 
No insights into public expenditure wil  be provided through examination of the documents. 
• 
You  do not require access to the documents in order to access your own  personal 
information. 
- 4 – 

 
I  have also considered the following  factors that weigh  against the release of  the conditionally 
exempt information in the documents: 
• 
Disclosure of the conditionally exempt information under section 47E(c) could reasonably 
be expected to prejudice the ability of the Department to manage future recruitment 
exercises. I  consider that the disclosure of this  information may hinder the wil ingness of 
current and prospective staff to apply for positions within  the Department if they believed 
that their suitability assessment would be publically released. There is a real public interest 
in this Department being able to undertake effective recruitment exercises in the future. I 
consider that  any impediment to active applicant participation in recruitment exercises 
would be contrary to the public interest, and that this factor weighs  strongly against 
disclosure. 
• 
Disclosure of the personal information which is conditionally exempt under section 47F of 
the FOI Act could reasonably be expected to prejudice the protection of those individuals' 
right to privacy.  
• 
The Department is committed to complying with its obligations under the Privacy Act 1988, 
which  sets out standards and obligations that regulate how the Department must handle 
and manage personal information. It is firmly in the public interest that the Department 
uphold the rights of individuals to their own  privacy and meets its obligations under the 
Privacy Act. I  consider that non-compliance with the Department’s statutory obligations 
concerning the protection of personal information would be contrary to the public interest 
and that this factor weighs strongly against disclosure. 
I  have also had regard to section 11B(4) which sets out the factors which are irrelevant to my 
decision, which are: 
a) 
access to the document could result in embarrassment to the Commonwealth 
Government, or cause a loss of confidence in the Commonwealth Government 
b) 
access to the document could result in any person misinterpreting or 
misunderstanding the document 
c) 
the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to which the 
request for access to the document was made 
d) 
access to the document could result in confusion or unnecessary debate. 
I have confirm that I not taken into account any of those factors in this decision.  
Upon balancing all of the above relevant public interest considerations, I have concluded that the 
disclosure of the conditionally exempt information in the documents 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/.  
- 5 – 

 
9 
Making a Complaint 
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action taken by the 
Department in relation to your request. 
Your enquiries to the Australian Information Commissioner can be directed to: 
Phone 1300 363 992 (local call charge) 
Email  xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx 
There is no particular form required to make  a complaint to  the Australian Information 
Commissioner. 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 
Department of Home Affairs as the relevant agency. 
10  Contacting the FOI Section 
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Section at 
xxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. 
 
[signed electronically] 
 
Rheannon  
Position number 60102869 
Authorised Decision Maker 
Department of Home Affairs 
 
- 6 –