3 April 2023
Dan Monceaux
By em
ail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Dan Monceaux,
Your Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your request under the FOI Act received by ARPANSA on 2 February 2023 and your request
received by ANSTO on the 2 February 2023 (transferred on 20 February 2023 from ANSTO to
ARPANSA)
The terms of your request are:
“
Electronic copies of all photographs, email correspondence, written documentation
and reports pertaining to the radiation source that was lost between Newman and
Perth, Western Australia, as reported via various news media in January 2023.”
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the For FOI Act to make decisions with respect to
applications for access to documents under the FOI Act and this letter sets out my decision on your
request.
I note that the application was received on the 2 February 2023, that the initial decision-making period
was 60 days, inclusive of 30 days third party consultation and that the decision due take was 3 April 2023.
Decision
My reasons for making this decision are set out in Attachment A to this letter.
I have identified ten documents relevant to your request and have decided to release nine of the
documents to you in part and release one of the documents in full.
At Attachment B is a schedule of documents indicating where an exemption has been applied to a
document.
I have also enclosed at Attachment C to this letter extracts of the provisions of the FOI Act relevant to your
request and my decision.
You will note that deletions have been made in the documents released, in accordance with section 22 of
the FOI Act. Some material contained in the document has been edited from the document on the basis
that it is irrelevant to the scope of the terms of your request under section 22 of the FOI Act. Other
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie VIC 3085
38–40 Urunga Parade, Miranda NSW 2228
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
+61 3 9433 2211
PO Box 655, Miranda NSW 1490
arpansa.gov.au
+61 2 9541 8333
material has been deleted from the document under section 22 on the basis that it is exempt material
under sections 47F or 47G of the FOI Act. The ten documents have been forwarded to you by email.
Review Rights
You are entitled to seek review of this decision. Your rights in this regard are set out at Attachment D to
this letter.
You may also complain to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about the way your request has been handled
and Attachment D also sets out your rights of complaint and how to exercise them.
Publication of information in accessed documents.
ARPANSA must publish information that has been released in response to each freedom of information
access request, subject to certain exceptions, in what is known as a “disclosure log”.
The disclosure log requirement does not apply to personal information about any person if it would be
unreasonable to publish the information or to information about the business, commercial, financial or
professional affairs of any person if publication of that information would be unreasonable. ARPANSA is
not required to consult with you on any decision to publish information that is released to you and the
decision to publish information is not subject to internal review by ARPANSA or the Australian
Information Commissioner. Any person can however, make a complaint to the Australian Information
Commissioner about how an agency handles an FOI request.
I advise you that the document that will be placed on the ARPANSA disclosure log will be the same as the
document released to you.
ARPANSA’s disclosure log can be found at
http://www.arpansa.gov.au/AboutUs/disclosure.cfm.
Contacts
If you require clarification of any of the matters set out in this letter please contact John Templeton on 02
95418345 o
r xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
John Templeton
John Templeton
Legal Counsel
Privacy and FOI Officer
Office of the General Counsel
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency
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ATTACHMENT ‘A’ – REASONS FOR DECISION – Dan Monceaux – FOI request
•
Received by ARPANSA on 2/2/2023
•
Received by ANSTO on 2/2/2023 (ANSTO transferred to ARPANSA on 20/2/2023)
Material taken into account
In making my decision, I had regard to the following:
• The terms of the FOI request, mindful of a broad view of the terms of the request;
• The content of the documents to which you sought access;
• Advice from ARPANSA officers with responsibility for matters relating to the documents to which you
sought access;
• Consultation with third parties;
• Courtesy consultation with ANSTO and NEMA;
• The relevant provisions of the FOI Act; and
• Guidelines on FOI, available on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.
Findings of fact and reasons for decision
Where the schedule of documents indicates an exemption claim has been applied to a document or part
of document, my findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemption provision applies to that
document or part of document are set out below.
Section 22 of the FOI Act - deletion of exempt matter or irrelevant material
Section 22 of the FOI Act allows for the deletion of information which is either exempt or which is
irrelevant to the scope of the request
Section 22(1)(a) of the FOI Act – material which is exempt or irrelevant
Where a decision is made to refuse access to a document on the grounds that it is an exempt document
or that it contains irrelevant material, section 22 allows an agency to make an edited copy of the
document with the exempt or irrelevant material deleted. You have been provided with such edited
copies of documents. The schedule of documents identifies the relevant section of the Act under which
the material has been deleted.
Exemptions
The schedule of documents identifies the relevant sections of the Act under which exemptions have
been asserted in respect of the document. My reasons for finding exemptions are set out below.
Section 47F – Public interest conditional exemption - Personal privacy
Section 47F conditionally exempts a document if its disclosure would involve the
unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie VIC 3085
38–40 Urunga Parade, Miranda NSW 2228
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
+61 3 9433 2211
PO Box 655, Miranda NSW 1490
arpansa.gov.au
+61 2 9541 8333
person).
Personal information
Personal information is defined in section 4 of the FOI Act as:
• Information or an opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not,
about an individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
The elements of ‘personal information’ are:
i. it relates only to a natural person (not, for example, a company);
ii. it says something about the individual;
iii. it may be in the form of an opinion, it may be true or untrue; and
iv. Is information about an individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
For documents in the attached Schedule of Documents where section 47F is claimed, I have found that
some of the information in the documents is personal information as it discloses the names of certain
individuals together with other information that says something about the individual.
Disclosure unreasonable
If information is personal information, it will be exempt if disclosure would be
‘unreasonable’. There are a range of factors in deciding whether or not disclosure would be
unreasonable, including:
i. the nature of the information, i.e. it should not be bland or common place;
ii. the circumstances in which the information was obtained;
iii. the current relevance of the information;
iv. the stated object of the legislation in section 3 of the Act being to facilitate and
promote the disclosure of information;
v. the extent to which the person is a public figure;
vi. the extent to which the information is already a matter of public knowledge;
vii. whether there was any expectation of confidentiality; and
viii. whether the information would shed light on the workings of government.
I find that disclosure of the documents conditionaly exempted under section 47F would
involve unreasonable disclosure of personal information. Release of the personal
information would be unreasonable because the information to be disclosed would provide
a means to facilitate unwanted and unwelcome contact from strangers and, taken together,
the information may allow attempts at identity theft or fraud.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the documents are exempt under section 47F.
I have considered public interest factors below.
Public interest
Access must generally be given to a conditionally exempt document unless it would be
contrary to the public interest (see section 11A). In considering this issue, I have taken into
account the following public interest factors in favour of and against disclosure:
Factors in favour of disclosure
Factors favouring access to the document in the public interest include whether access to
2 of 5
the document would do any of the fol owing:
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; and
d. allow a person to access his or her own personal information.
I have also taken into consideration any guidelines issued by the Australian Information
Commissioner issued under section 11B(5) of the FOI Act. In this case, I have not identified any
public interest grounds other than those listed in section 11B of the FOI Act.
The document does not reveal any information about the Government’s operations, in particular
the policies, rules, guidelines, practices and codes of conduct fol owed by the Government in its
dealings with members of the community or reveal the reason for a government decision or any
background or contextual information that informed the decision. Disclosure of the document
wil not enhance the scrutiny of government decision making, albeit contributing to open and
transparent government to some degree. For these reasons I do not consider that any significant
weight should be given to the public interest in promoting the objects of the FOI Act.
While some members of the public may have an interest in the subject matter of the document, it
is not apparent that it describes a matter of public importance and, therefore, I do not consider that
any significant weight should be given to the public interest in informing debate on a matter of
public importance.
It is unlikely that disclosure of the document would contribute to promoting effective
oversight of government expenditure and, so, this public interest holds only nominal weight.
Factors against disclosure
a. the interest in preserving the efficient and proper functioning of government;
b. the person’s personal information is not publicly known;
c. the person to whom the information relates is not known to be associated with the
matters dealt with in the document;
d. the interest in preserving the security of secure Commonwealth sites;
e. the interest in minimising the risks to the safety of the public from persons with
malicious intent from accessing dangerous materials;
f. the information is not available from public sources;
g. the interest in allowing third parties to interact with government without
risking loss of commercially sensitive information; and
h. disclosure could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of a third party going
about their lawful business.
I consider that there is a strong public interest in protecting the security and safety of Commonwealth
staff and the Australian people. ANSTO as part of courtesy consultation held the view that redactions to
Document 9 are proposed on the basis of Section 47G(1) of the Act, in so far as the disclosure of these
parts of the documents would disclose personal information concerning a person in respect of his or her
professional affairs concerning the business, commercial or financial affairs of ANSTO, and the disclosure
of the information would not be in the public interest in so far as it
a. would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that person adversely in respect
of his or her or professional affairs with ANSTO and
b. could reasonably be expected to prejudice the future supply of information ANSTO in its the
administration of the ANSTO Act or the administration of matters administered by ANSTO.
In my view, in relation to the documents, the factors against disclosure outweigh the factors
in favour of disclosure as disclosure of the conditionally exempt material would not
promote the objectives of the FOI Act, would add nothing to any ongoing debate of public
3 of 5
importance, and would make no contribution to governmental accountability.
Taking these matters into account, I find that it would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest to
release the documents in ful . The documents are therefore exempt under section 47F.
I have also found that the exempt material can be deleted from the documents and an edited copy of
them provided to you.
Section 47G - Business
Relevantly, section 47G conditionally exempts documents where disclosure would disclose information
concerning the business, commercial or financial affairs of an organisation or undertaking, where the
disclosure of the information would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that
organisation or undertaking in respect of its lawful business, commercial or financial affairs.
ANSTO as part of courtesy consultation held the view that redactions to Document 9 are proposed on
the basis of Section 47G(1) of the Act, in so far as the disclosure of these parts of the documents would
disclose personal information concerning a person in respect of his or her professional affairs
concerning the business, commercial or financial affairs of ANSTO, and the disclosure of the information
would not be in the public interest in so far as it
c. would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that person adversely in respect
of his or her or professional affairs with ANSTO and
d. could reasonably be expected to prejudice the future supply of information ANSTO in its the
administration of the ANSTO Act or the administration of matters administered by ANSTO.
I have considered the content of the documents and consider that the release of personal information
would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that person adversely in respect of his
or her or professional affairs with ANSTO documents
Section 47G is intended to protect the interests of third parties dealing with the government.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the documents are partially exempt under section 47G.
Public interest
Access must general y be given to a conditional y exempt document unless it would be contrary to the
public interest (see section 11A). In considering this issue, I have taken into account the fol owing public
interest factors in favour of and against disclosure:
Factors in favour of disclosure
Factors favouring access to the document in the public interest include whether access to the document
would do any of the fol owing:
a. promote the objects of this Act (including al 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; and
d. allow a person to access his or her own information.
Disclosure of the document would not promote the objectives of the FOI Act, would add nothing to any
ongoing debate of public importance, and would make no contribution to governmental accountability.
I have also taken into consideration any guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner
issued under section 11B (5) of the FOI Act. In this case, I have not identified any public interest grounds
other than those listed in section 11B of the FOI Act.
4 of 5
Factors against disclosure
a. the interest in preserving the efficient and proper functioning of government;
b. the subject of the business information activity is not publicly known;
c. the information is not available from public sources; and
d. disclosure could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of a third-party business.
I consider that there is a strong public interest both in government being able to engage with third-party
businesses in the performance of government functions where such engagement wil involve the sharing
of business information not available from public sources and in third parties being able to deal with
government without their legitimate interests and lawful business being damaged by the mere fact of
that dealing.
In my view, in relation to the document, the factors against disclosure outweigh the factors in favour of
disclosure as disclosure of the conditionally exempt material would not promote the objectives of the
FOI Act, would add nothing to any ongoing debate of public importance, and would make no
contribution to governmental accountability, whereas disclosure would prejudice the proper and
efficient functioning of government and damage the interests of innocent third parties merely because
they lawful y engaged with government in an enterprise.
In my view, in relation to the redacted parts of the document, the factors against disclosure outweigh
the factors in favour of disclosure.
Taking these matters into account, I find that it would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest to
release the documents in ful . Parts of the document are therefore exempt under section 47G.
5 of 5
ATTACHMENT B – SCHEDULE OF RELEVANT DOCUMENTS
Doc
No. Document Title
Pages
Released
Section
1
EMA-Form-22-Request (1)-for-AGPA 27
January 2023 (Incident 606248).pdf
3
Part
s22
ADD2023 448896 COMDISPLAN -
2
Radiological Incident Western Australia
Task Request #001 ARPANSA _ Support to
2
Part
s22
Search for missing C.pdf
RE COMDISPLAN - Radiological Incident
3
Western Australia Task Request #001 -
2
Part
s22
Support to Search for missing capsule.pdf
ARPANSA Update on missing radiation
4
source in Western Australia - 28 January
2
Part
s22
2022 SECOFFICIAL.pdf
5
ARPANSA SitRep - 300123 - 16.30.pdf
2
Part
s22
6
ARPANSA SitRep - 310123 - 16.45.pdf
3
Part
s22
7
USIE event description - 31 Jan 2023.pdf
1
Part
s22
8
Image of source.pdf
1
Ful
NA
9
20230201_1243 ANSTO SITREP WA source
search.pdf
2
Part
s22, s47G, s47F
10 Missing Source Dose Assessment V1.2.pdf
6
Part
s22
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie VIC 3085
38–40 Urunga Parade, Miranda NSW 2228
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
+61 3 9433 2211
PO Box 655, Miranda NSW 1490
arpansa.gov.au
+61 2 9541 8333
2 of 2
ATTACHMENT C – RELEVANT FOI ACT PROVISIONS
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).
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
conditional y 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:
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie VIC 3085
38–40 Urunga Parade, Miranda NSW 2228
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
+61 3 9433 2211
PO Box 655, Miranda NSW 1490
arpansa.gov.au
+61 2 9541 8333
(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).
11C Publication of information in accessed documents
Scope
(1) This section applies to information if an agency or Minister gives a person access to a
document under section 11A containing the information, except in the case of any of the
following:
(a) personal information about any person, if it would be unreasonable to
publish the information;
(b) information about the business, commercial, financial or professional affairs of
any person, if it would be unreasonable to publish the information;
(c) other information of a kind determined by the Information Commissioner
under subsection (2), if it would be unreasonable to publish the
information;
(d) any information, if it is not reasonably practicable to publish the information
under this section because of the extent of any modifications to a document (or
documents) necessary to delete information mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c).
(2) The Information Commissioner may, by legislative instrument, make a determination
for the purposes of paragraph (1)(c).
Publication
(3) The agency, or the Minister, must publish the information to members of the public
generally on a website by:
(a) making the information available for downloading from the website; or
(b) publishing on the website a link to another website, from which the information
can be downloaded; or
(c) publishing on the website other details of how the information may be obtained.
22 Access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted
Scope
(1) This section applies if:
a. an agency or Minister decides:
(i)
to refuse to give access to an exempt document; or
(ii)
that to give access to a document would disclose information that
would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request for
access; and
b. it is possible for the agency or Minister to prepare a copy (an
edited copy) of the
document, modified by deletions, ensuring that:
(i)
access to the edited copy would be required to be given under section
11A (access to documents on request); and
(ii)
the edited copy would not disclose any information that would
reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request; and
2 of 6
c. it is reasonably practicable for the agency or Minister to prepare the edited copy,
having regard to:
(i)
the nature and extent of the modification; and
(ii)
the resources available to modify the document; and
d. it is not apparent (from the request or from consultation with the applicant) that the
applicant would decline access to the edited copy.
Access to edited copy
(2) The agency or Minister must:
a. prepare the edited copy as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b); and
b. give the applicant access to the edited copy.
Notice to applicant
(3) The agency or Minister must give the applicant notice in writing:
a. that the edited copy has been prepared; and
b. of the grounds for the deletions; and
c. if any matter deleted is exempt matter-that the matter deleted is exempt matter
because of a specified provision of this Act.
(4) Section 26 (reasons for decision) does not apply to the decision to refuse access to the
whole document unless the applicant requests the agency or Minister to give the
applicant a notice in writing in accordance with that section.
31B Exempt documents for the purposes of this Part
A document is
exempt for the purposes of this Part if:
a. it is an exempt document under Division 2; or
b. it is conditionally exempt under Division 3, and access to the document would, on
balance, be contrary to the public interest for the purposes of subsection 11A(5).
Note 1: A document is an
exempt document for the purposes of this Act (see subsection 4(1) if:
a. it is exempt under this section; or
b. it is exempt because of section 7 (exemption of certain persons and bodies); or
c. it is an official document of a Minister that contains matters not relating to the affairs
of an agency or a Department of State.
Note 2: Access must general y be given to a conditional y exempt document unless it would be
contrary to the public interest (see section 11A).
33 Documents affecting national security, defence or international relations
A document is an exempt document if disclosure of the document under this Act:
(a) would, or could reasonably be expected to, cause damage to:
(i) the security of the Commonwealth;
(ii) the defence of the Commonwealth; or
(iii) the international relations of the Commonwealth; or
(b) would divulge any information or matter communicated in confidence by or on behalf of a
foreign government, an authority of a foreign government or an international organization
3 of 6
to the Government of the Commonwealth, to an authority of the Commonwealth or to a
person receiving the communication on behalf of the Commonwealth or of an authority of
the Commonwealth.
47E Public interest conditional exemptions—certain operations of agencies
A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would, or could
reasonably be expected to, do any of the fol owing:
(a) prejudice the effectiveness of procedures or methods for the conduct of
tests, examinations or audits by an agency;
(b) prejudice the attainment of the objects of particular tests, examinations or
audits conducted or to be conducted by an agency;
(c) have a substantial adverse effect on the management or assessment of personnel
by the Commonwealth, by Norfolk Island or by an agency;
(d) have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the
operations of an agency.
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).
47F Public interest conditional exemptions-personal privacy
General rule
(1) A document is conditional y exempt if its disclosure under this Act would involve the
unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased
person).
(2) In determining whether the disclosure of the document would involve the
unreasonable disclosure of personal information, an agency or Minister must have
regard to the following matters:
a. the extent to which the information is well known;
b. 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;
c. the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources;
d. any other matters that the agency or Minister considers relevant.
(3) Subject to subsection (5), subsection (I) does not have effect in relation to a request by a
person for access to a document by reason only of the inclusion in the document of
matter relating to that person.
Access given to qualified person instead
(4) Subsection (5) applies if:
a. a request is made to an agency or Minister for access to a document of the agency, or
an official document of the Minister, that contains information concerning the
applicant, being information that was provided by a qualified person acting in his or
her capacity as a qualified person; and
b. it appears to the principal officer of the agency or to the Minister (as the case may
be) that the disclosure of the information to the applicant might be detrimental to
the applicant's physical or mental health, or well-being.
(5) The principal officer or Minister may, if access to the document would otherwise be given
4 of 6
to the applicant, direct that access to the document, so far as it contains that information,
is not to be given to the applicant but is to be given instead to a qualified person who:
a. carries on the same occupation, of a kind mentioned in the definition of qualified
person in subsection (7), as the first-mentioned qualified person; and
b. is to be nominated by the applicant.
(6) The powers and functions of the principal officer of an agency under this section may be
exercised by an officer of the agency acting within his or her scope of authority in
accordance with arrangements referred to in section 23.
(7) In this section:
qualified person means a person who carries on, and is entitled to carry on, an occupation that
involves the provision of care for the physical or mental health of people or for their well-being,
and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes any of the following:
a. a medical practitioner;
b. a psychiatrist;
c. a psychologist;
d. a counsellor;
e. a social worker.
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)
47G Public interest conditional exemptions—business
(1) A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would disclose information
concerning a person in respect of his or her business or professional affairs or concerning the
business, commercial or financial affairs of an organisation or undertaking, in a case in which
the disclosure of the information:
(a) would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that person adversely in
respect of his or her lawful business or professional affairs or that organisation or
undertaking in respect of its lawful business, commercial or financial affairs; or
(b) could reasonably be expected to prejudice the future supply of information to the
Commonwealth, Norfolk Island or an agency for the purpose of the administration of a
law of the Commonwealth or of a Territory or the administration of matters
administered by an agency.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to trade secrets or other information to which section 47
applies.
(3) Subsection (1) does not have effect in relation to a request by a person for access to a
document:
(a) by reason only of the inclusion in the document of information concerning that person in
respect of his or her business or professional affairs; or
(b) by reason only of the inclusion in the document of information concerning the business,
commercial or financial affairs of an undertaking where the person making the request is
the proprietor of the undertaking or a person acting on behalf of the proprietor; or
(c) by reason only of the inclusion in the document of information concerning the business,
commercial or financial affairs of an organisation where the person making the request is
the organisation or a person acting on behalf of the organisation.
5 of 6
(4) A reference in this section to an undertaking includes a reference to an undertaking that is
carried on by, or by an authority of, the Commonwealth, Norfolk Island or a State or by a local
government authority.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (1), information is not taken to concern a person in respect of
the person’s professional affairs merely because it is information concerning the person’s
status as a member of a profession.
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).
55G Procedure in IC review—revocation or variation of access refusal decision
(1) An agency or Minister may vary (or set aside and substitute) an access refusal decision
(the original decision) in relation to a request or an application under section 48 at any
time during an IC review of the access refusal decision if the variation or substitution (the
revised decision) would have an effect of:
(a) giving access to a document in accordance with the request; or
(b) relieving the IC review applicant from liability to pay a charge; or
(c) requiring a record of personal information to be amended or annotated in
accordance with the application.
Note:
When making the revised decision, a consultation requirement under section 26A (documents
affecting Commonwealth-State relations etc.), 27 (business documents) or 27A (documents
affecting personal privacy) may apply.
(2) If an agency or Minister varies (or sets aside and substitutes) an access refusal decision
under subsection (1):
(a) the agency or Minister must, in writing, notify the Information Commissioner as
soon as practicable after the agency or Minister makes the variation or substitution;
and
(b) the Information Commissioner must deal with the IC review application for review
of the original decision as if it were an IC review application for the review of the
varied or substituted decision, subject otherwise to this Part.
6 of 6
ATTACHMENT D - INTERNAL REVIEW OF DECISION BY ARPANSA
You have the right to apply for an internal review of this decision in accordance with Part VI of the
Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). If you make an application for review, the CEO of ARPANSA will appoint
an officer of ARPANSA to conduct a review and make a completely fresh decision on the merits of the case.
If you wish to exercise this review right, you must apply in writing for a review of the decision within 30
days of receipt of this letter. You do not have to pay any fees or proceeding charges for the internal review.
No particular form is required to apply for review although it is desirable to set out in the application the
grounds on which you consider that the decision should be changed.
The application for review of the decision should be sent to
xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx or:
FOI & Privacy Officer
ARPANSA
619 Lower Plenty Road
YALLAMBIE VIC 3085
If you make an application for internal review and a decision is not made by us within 30 days of receiving
the application, the original decision will be deemed to be affirmed in accordance with section 54D of the
FOI Act and you will be entitled to make an application to the Information Commissioner in accordance
with sections 54L and 54M of the FOI Act. Similarly, if you are dissatisfied with ARPANSA’s decision on
internal review, you may also apply for review of this decision to the Information Commissioner.
Review of Decision by the Australian Information Commissioner (AIC)
You do not have to seek an internal review of the decision directly from ARPANSA. You may wish to seek a
review of the decision from the AIC. If so, you must apply in writing and you can lodge your application in a
number of ways. More information is available on the AIC’s website at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-
of-information/foi-review-process.
Complaints to the AIC or the Commonwealth Ombudsman
You may complain to the Commonwealth Ombudsman or the AIC concerning action taken by an agency in
the exercise of the powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act. There is no fee for making a
complaint. The Ombudsman or the AIC wil conduct a completely independent investigation of your
complaint.
You may complain to the Ombudsman either oral y, in person, on-line or in writing and to the AIC in writing
or by completing the on-line form. Relevant addresses are:
Commonwealth Ombudsman
The Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 442
GPO Box 2999
OR GPO Box 5218
CANBERRA ACT 2601.
Canberra ACT 2601 Sydney NSW 2001
Web
: www.ombudsman.gov.au
Web:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/foi-complaints
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yal ambie VIC 3085
38–40 Urunga Parade, Miranda NSW 2228
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
+61 3 9433 2211
PO Box 655, Miranda NSW 1490
arpansa.gov.au
+61 2 9541 8333
Document Outline
