Communications between ASADA investigators and Journalists (2)

martin hardie made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was refused by Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

Dear Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority,

I seek all documents including emails, file notes and phone records (including personal mobile phones used by the investigators) relating to
communications to and from ASADA investigators (including but not limited to John Nolan, Sharon Kerrison, Matt Sheens and Aaron Walker) and journalists at The Daily Telegraph newspaper (including but not limited to Josh Massoud, James Hooper and Rebecca Wilson) between 1 February 2013 and the present time.

Yours faithfully,

Martin Hardie

Legal, Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

Dear Mr Hardie

I refer to your email dated 21 August 2014 in which you sought access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to:

“all documents including emails, file notes and phone records (including personal mobile phones used by the investigators) relating to communications to and from ASADA investigators (including but not limited to John Nolan, Sharon Kerrison, Matt Sheens and Aaron Walker) and journalists at The Daily Telegraph newspaper (including but not limited to Josh Massoud, James Hooper and Rebecca Wilson) between 1 February 2013 and the present time”.

A valid FOI request was received on 21 August 2014 and the statutory period for processing that request will commence from that date.

I will email you shortly advising whether charges will be imposed and provide you with a preliminary assessment of the charges for processing your request. If the estimated charges exceed $100, a deposit of 25% will be sought. For estimated charges less than $100, a deposit of $20 will be sought. You should note that work will not commence on your application until the deposit has been paid.

When the matter is finalised a decision letter and final account will be sent to you. This final account will be based on actual time spent on search and retrieval, vetting and decision making in relation to your request and is payable whether or not any documents are released.

I hope to be able to advise you of our decision on your request in the near future. Should you have any queries regarding the progress of your request, please contact Stephen White on (02) 62224 259 or at [ASADA request email].

Regards

Alexie Finucan
Lawyer
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

T +61 (0) 2 6222 4254
F +61 (0) 2 6222 4341
E [email address]

My days at work are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

W www.asada.gov.au
ASADA Hotline 13 000 ASADA (13 000 27232)
Please consider our environment before printing this email.

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Emily Fitton, Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

Dear Mr Hardie,

 

I refer to your email of 21 August 2014, in which you sought access, under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (‘FOI Act’) to the following:

 

“all documents including emails, file notes and phone records (including
personal mobile phones used by the investigators) relating to
communications to and from ASADA investigators (including but not limited
to John Nolan, Sharon Kerrison, Matt Sheens and Aaron Walker) and
journalists at The Daily Telegraph newspaper (including but not limited to
Josh Massoud, James Hooper and Rebecca Wilson) between 1 February 2013 and
the present time.”

 

In accordance with section 29 of the FOI Act, it has been determined that
you will be liable to pay a charge in relation to the processing of your
request.

 

The preliminary assessment of the charge is $761.10. This is based on a
preliminary search of documents which appear to be within the scope of
your request, which resulted in 33 documents (3011 pages) being
identified. The preliminary assessment of the charge comprises of:

 1. Four hours to search for and retrieve documents, at $15.00 per hour,
totalling $60.00;
 2. Five hours of decision-making time at no charge;
 3. Twenty hours of decision-making time at $20.00 per hour, totalling
$400.00; and
 4. The possible release of up to 33 documents (3011 pages) at 10 cents
per page, totalling $301.10.

 

As the estimated charge exceeds $100.00, it has been determined that a
deposit of 25% of the estimate is required in accordance with regulation
12 of the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 1982 (Cth). The
deposit required for your application is $190.27. A cheque or money order
should be made payable to the ‘Collector of Public Monies’ and forwarded
to the:

                Freedom of Information Co-ordinator

                Legal Services

                Australian Sports and Anti-Doping Authority

                PO Box 1744

                Fyshwick  ACT  2609

 

You may contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be
reduced, or not imposed. You should give full reasons for so contending.

 

In deciding whether or not to impose a charge, the decision-maker must,
amongst other matters, take into account whether payment of the charge, or
part of it, would cause you financial hardship and whether the giving of
access to the documents is in the general public interest.

 

You should note that you have 30 days from the receipt of this
correspondence to forward the deposit to ASADA, and that no further work
will be done on your request until the deposit is received. A final
account will then be sent based on the actual time spent on the search and
retrieval, vetting and decision-making in relation to your request, and
this may be payable whether or not any documents are released.

 

If you pay the deposit for processing your request, you accept liability
for paying the balance of the charges upon the completion of the
processing of your request. The balance of charges is a debt owed to the
Commonwealth, which will be handled in accordance with the Public
Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth).

 

If you fail to notify ASADA, within 30 days of receipt of this notice, of
your intention to: accept the charges; contend the charges; or withdraw
your request, it will be taken that you have withdrawn your request.

 

In accordance with section 31 of the FOI Act, the 30 day time limit for
processing your request is suspended from the day you receive this notice
and resumes on either the day you pay the deposit or the day on which
ASADA makes a decision not to impose a charge.

 

You may wish to revise the scope or wording of your request in order to
avoid paying for the search and decision-making time of documents that
will not be of value to you. If you would like to do so, please note that
all of the documents we have identified fall within the category of “phone
records (including personal mobile phones used by the investigators)
relating to communications to and from ASADA investigators (including but
not limited to John Nolan, Sharon Kerrison, Matt Sheens and Aaron
Walker)”, which we have taken to include the actual phone bills with
itemised phone numbers.  

 

If you require any further clarification, please do not hesitate to
contact either myself, or Stephen White on (02) 6222 4259 or
[1][ASADA request email].

 

Regards,

 

Emily Fitton

Lawyer

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

                        

T +61 (0) 2 6222 4241

F +61 (0) 2 6222 4391

 

E [2][email address]

W [3]www.asada.gov.au

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[ASADA request email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.asada.gov.au/
http://www.asada.gov.au/

Dear Emily Fitton,

I wish to lodge a contention that the charge should be reduced or not imposed on the basis that giving access to the documents is in the general public interest or in the interest of a substantial section of the public.

There is a clear public interest in the upholding of the law and to ensure that public authorities remain within the boundaries of their statutory power.

There is also clearly a public interest in maintaining the public confidence in and the independence of ASADA and in this regard you are no doubt aware of the public commentary on this, in particular the concern expressed by Mr John Fahey, former President
of WADA.

Given the clear public interest in these matters generally, which extend beyond the interest of the sporting public and thus touch upon matters that go to the heart of the rule of law I submit that
it would be appropriate for the Department to not impose any charge in respect of my application.

I note that my contention that fees should be waived is consistent with the law as decided on section
29(5) of the Act.



In this instance the waiver of fees would allow the release of the 
information to flow to the public given that I am an academic 
researcher writing scholarly articles and a book on the topic.



The release of the information would actually be something of
 benefit to the public in so far as the public would be better equipped to understand the process by which apparently confidential material made its way into the public domain.

In assessing these factors it is clear I will not and
 do not seek any commercial benefit that may outweigh the public 
interest and negate the need to waive fees.



Yours faithfully,



Martin Hardie

Legal, Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hardie

Please find attached correspondence from our office for your attention.

Regards

Stephen White
Senior Lawyer
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority
T +61 (0) 2 6222 4259
F +61 (0) 2 6222 4359
www.asada.gov.au

IMPORTANT

The information contained in this e-mail message and any attached files may be confidential information and may also be the subject of legal professional privilege. It remains the property of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA). If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this e-mail is unauthorised. If you have received this e-mail in error, you are requested to notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original. For the purposes of the SPAM Act 2003, this e-mail is authorised by ASADA.

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