If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
17 March 2023
Our reference: LEX 71589
Me (Right to Know)
Only by email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Me
Decision on your Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your revised request, received by Services Australia (the
Agency) on
31 January 2023 for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) to the
following documents:
There are amendments to s 67CC(2) of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance)
(Administration) Act 1999, contained in the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment
(Cheaper Childcare) Act 2022. In particular, the amendment that adds ‘claimant’ to s
67CC(2).
For that amendment, please produce:
1. The earliest in time document in Services Australia’s possession that relates
directly to the above amendment
2. The latest in time document, but on or before 26 September 2022, in Services
Australia’s possession that relates directly to the above amendment
3. A document in Services Australia’s possession that describes the origin of the
idea to pursue the amendment.
My decision
The Agency holds 3 documents (totalling 15 pages) that relate to your request.
I have decided to:
grant you
full access to 1 document (Document 3), and
grant you
part access to 2 documents (Documents 1 and 2) with some of the content
removed.
I have decided that parts of documents you have requested are exempt under the FOI Act as
the documents include:
personal information of third parties, the disclosure of which would be unreasonable
and contrary to the public interest (section 47F(1) conditional exemption), and
information that, if released, could be expected to have a substantial adverse effect on
the proper and efficient conduct of the operations of the Agency (section 47E(d)).
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Please see the schedule at
Attachment A to this letter for a detailed list of the documents and
the reasons for my decision, including the relevant sections of the FOI Act.
How we will send your documents to you
The documents are attached.
You can ask for a review of our decision
If you disagree with any part of the decision you can ask for a review. There are two ways you
can do this. You can ask for an internal review from within the Agency, or an external review
by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. See
Attachment B for more
information about how to request a review.
Further assistance
If you have any questions please email
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Kylie
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
Freedom of Information Team
Freedom of Information and Ombudsman Branch | Legal Services Division
Services Australia
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If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
REASONS FOR DECISION
What you requested
There are amendments to s 67CC(2) of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance)
(Administration) Act 1999, contained in the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment
(Cheaper Childcare) Act 2022. In particular, the amendment that adds ‘claimant’ to s
67CC(2).
For that amendment, please produce:
1. The earliest in time document in Services Australia’s possession that relates, directly
or indirectly, to the above amendment 2. The latest in time document, but on or before
26 September 2022, in Services Australia’s possession that relates, directly or
indirectly, to the above amendment 3. The one document in Service Australia’s
possession that best describes what prompted Service Australia to pursue this
amendment (to clarify: not the purpose of the amendment itself. Rather, why Services
Australia had the idea to do it).
On 31 January 2023, I wrote to you about your original request. You revised your request and
this was confirmed by email on the same date. Your revised request was:
There are amendments to s 67CC(2) of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance)
(Administration) Act 1999, contained in the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment
(Cheaper Childcare) Act 2022. In particular, the amendment that adds ‘claimant’ to s
67CC(2).
For that amendment, please produce:
1. The earliest in time document in Services Australia’s possession that relates
directly to the above amendment
2. The latest in time document, but on or before 26 September 2022, in Services
Australia’s possession that relates directly to the above amendment
3. A document in Services Australia’s possession that describes the origin of the
idea to pursue the amendment.
On 1 February 2023, the Agency acknowledged your revised request and advised you that we
would not include personal details about our staff (such as their names). You did not contact
the Agency again about this. Agency staff details have therefore been redacted in accordance
with section 22(1) of the FOI Act.
What I took into account
In reaching my decision I took into account:
your original request dated 25 January 2023 and your revised request on
31 January 2023
the documents that fall within the scope of your request
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consultation with Department of Education about documents which contain information
concerning them
whether the release of material is in the public interest
consultations with Agency officers about:
o the nature of the documents
o the Agency's operating environment and functions
guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the
FOI Act (the
Guidelines); and
the FOI Act.
Reasons for my decision
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
I have decided that parts of documents you requested are exempt under the FOI Act. My
findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemption applies to those documents are
discussed below.
Operations of the Agency
I have applied the exemption in section 47E(d) of the FOI Act to parts of Document 1 and 2.
This section of the FOI Act allows the Agency to redact material from a document if its
disclosure would have a serious or significant effect on the Agency’s ability to conduct its
operations efficiently and properly.
Documents 1 and 2 contain an internal Agency positional mailbox address.
The Agency’s purpose is to provide high quality government services and payments to
Australians. It is a large, public facing government organisation with many points of contact
designed to facilitate its purpose. The Agency has established channels of communication for
customer and members of the public, which have been put in place to ensure the effective
management of the significant volume of communication received. Such channels include
dedicated and externally published positional mailboxes of different business areas within the
Agency. These have been established to ensure correspondence is directed to the correct
area and actioned accordingly.
If internal positional mailbox details were to be made publicly available, correspondence
received and directed could be mishandled, lost, duplicated or double-handled on account of
it not being directed to the most appropriate teams through the publicly available
communication channels.
Public interest considerations
Access to conditionally exempt material must be given unless I am satisfied it would not be in
the public interest to do so.
I consider the disclosure of the material would generally promote the objects of the FOI Act,
which is in the public interest. However, I also consider the disclosure of the Agency’s
positional mailbox would prejudice the Agency’s ability to effectively and efficiently manage
contact with the public.
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As such, I have decided in this instance, the public interest in disclosing the information in the
above-mentioned documents is outweighed by the public interest against disclosure.
For the reasons set out above, I am satisfied parts of Documents 1 and 2 are conditionally
exempt under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act.
Unreasonable disclosure of personal information
I have applied the conditional exemption in section 47F(1) to parts of Documents 1 and 2.
This section of the FOI Act allows the Agency to redact material from a document if its
disclosure would result in the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about another
person.
Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual
who is reasonably identifiable. It can include a person’s name, address and telephone number.
I am satisfied Document 1 and 2 contain personal information about other people, namely the
names and contact information of Department of Education staff.
I am satisfied that the disclosure of the third party personal information would be unreasonable
as you do not have the consent of these individuals for the release of their personal information,
the information is private and not publicly available, and the identity of the individuals
concerned is readily apparent.
Public interest considerations
Access to conditionally exempt material must be given unless I am satisfied it would not be in
the public interest to do so.
I consider the disclosure of the material would generally promote the objects of the FOI Act,
which is in the public interest. However, I also consider disclosure would prejudice the
individual’s right to privacy, adversely affect or harm the individual’s interests and prejudice the
Agency’s ability to interact with staff in other government agencies and departments.
As such, I find the public interest in disclosing the material is outweighed by the public interest
against disclosure.
I have not taken into account any of the irrelevant factors set out in section 11B(4) of the FOI
Act in making this decision.
As identified in the Schedule, I have redacted the exempt information in the documents and
released the remaining material in accordance with section 22(1) of the FOI Act.
Summary of my decision
In conclusion, I have decided to:
grant you full access to 1 document, and
grant you part access to 2 documents
I have decided that:
Documents 1 and 2 are conditionally exempt, in part, under sections 47E(d) and 47F(1)
of the FOI Act, and disclosure would be contrary to the public interest for the purposes
of section 11A(5).
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If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
Attachment B
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
Asking for a full explanation of a Freedom of Information (FOI) decision
Before you ask for a formal review of a FOI decision, you can contact us to discuss your
request. We will explain the decision to you. This gives you a chance to correct
misunderstandings.
Asking for a formal review of a FOI decision
If you still believe a decision is incorrect, the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act)
gives you the right to apply for a review of the decision. Under sections 54 and 54L of the
FOI Act, you can apply for a review of an FOI decision by:
1. an Internal Review Officer in Services Australia (the A
gency); and/or
2. the Australian Information Commissioner.
Applying for an internal review by an Internal Review Officer
If you apply for internal review, a different decision maker to the Agency delegate who made
the original decision will carry out the review. The Internal Review Officer will consider all
aspects of the original decision and decide whether it should change. An application for
internal review must be:
made in writing
made within 30 days of receiving this letter
sent to the address at the top of the first page of this letter.
Note 1: You do not need to fill in a form. However, it is a good idea to set out any relevant
submissions you would like the Internal Review Officer to further consider, and your reasons
for disagreeing with the decision.
Applying for external review by the Australian Information Commissioner
If you do not agree with the original decision or the internal review decision, you can ask the
Australian Information Commissioner to review the decision.
If you do not receive a decision from an Internal Review Officer in the Agency within 30 days
of applying, you can ask the Australian Information Commissioner for a review of the original
FOI decision.
You will have 60 days to apply in writing for a review by the Australian Information
Commissioner.
You can
lodge your application:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
Australian Information Commissioner
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GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Note 2: The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner generally prefers FOI
applicants to seek internal review before applying for external review by the Australian
Information Commissioner.
Important:
If you are applying online, the application form the 'Merits Review Form' is available
at
www.oaic.gov.au.
If you have one, you should include with your application a copy of the Services
Australia decision on your FOI request
Include your contact details
Set out your reasons for objecting to the Agency's decision.
Complaints to the Australian Information Commissioner and Commonwealth
Ombudsman
Australian Information Commissioner
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner concerning action taken by
an Agency in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act,
There is no fee for making a complaint. A complaint to the Australian Information
Commissioner must be made in writing. The Australian Information Commissioner's contact
details are:
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Website:
www.oaic.gov.au Commonwealth Ombudsman
You may also complain to the Commonwealth Ombudsman concerning action taken by an
Agency in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act. There is
no fee for making a complaint. A complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman may be
made in person, by telephone or in writing. The Commonwealth Ombudsman's contact
details are:
Phone: 1300 362 072
Website:
www.ombudsman.gov.au
The Commonwealth Ombudsman generally prefers applicants to seek review before
complaining about a decision.
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