Conduct of the Personal Safety Survey, 2012

Mark R. Diamond made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Bureau of Statistics

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 partially successful.

Mark R. Diamond

Dear Australian Bureau of Statistics,

Prompted by having learnt of the very poor sampling approach used by the Australian Human Rights Commission in their conduct of the survey which resulted in their report “Change the course”, I am interested in obtaining further information about the conduct of the (unsurprisingly better!) “Personal Safety Survey” run by the ABS (4906.0 - Personal Safety, Australia, 2012) .

I seek any documents that add to the explanatory notes at;
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/...
In particular, I seek any document that details the instructions given to interviewers, including the words to be used by interviewers (i) in seeking information, for the purposes of enumeration, about household residents, (ii) in explaining the voluntary nature of the survey, and (iii) in ensuring that the interview was conducted in private with the interviewee, without the knowledge of other household residents. The documents would be of great benefit as educational/instructional material for anyone wanting to conduct a similarly sensitive survey in the future.

Additionally, if there are any documents that indicate how many times interviewers attempted to contact a person in the household for (i) the initial purpose of enumeration, and (ii) to interview the randomly selected potential interviewee, those documents would also be very helpful.

I'd be grateful if you would treat this as a request for administrative access. If it turns out that there are particular documents you cannot release except under FOI, please let me know. Then I can consider whether to ask you to treat this as a request under the Act.

Yours faithfully,

Mark R. Diamond

Danielle Gillett, Australian Bureau of Statistics

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Diamond

Thank you for your email of 6 August 2017 in which you sought documents
that add to the explanatory notes at
[1]http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/...

o any document that details the instructions given to interviewers,
including the words to be used by interviewers (i) in seeking
information, for the purposes of enumeration, about household
residents, (ii) in explaining the voluntary nature of the survey, and
(iii) in ensuring that the interview was conducted in private with the
interviewee, without the knowledge of other household residents; and
o any documents that indicate how many times interviewers attempted to
contact a person in the household for (i) the initial purpose of
enumeration, and (ii) to interview the randomly selected potential
interviewee.

For the documents you are seeking, the ABS would prefer you make a request
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Could you please
confirm via email if you wish to proceed with a formal FOI request so we
can being processing.

If you have any queries on this matter please contact the ABS FOI Contact
Officer, at [2][ABS request email] or on (02) 6252 7203.

Kind Regards

FOI Contact Officer 

Australian Bureau of Statistics 

(P) (02) 6252 7203 

(E) [3][ABS request email]   (W)  [4]www.abs.gov.au

[5]Inactive hide details for "Mark R. Diamond" ---06/08/2017 07:05:38
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Conduct of the Personal Safety Survey, 2012

Freedom of Information request - Conduct of the Personal Safety Survey,
2012

Policy & Legislation Section WDB "Mark R. Diamond"   06/08/2017 07:05 PM

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"Mark R. Diamond" 06/08/2017 07:05 PM
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Subject Freedom of Information request - Conduct of the Personal
Safety Survey, 2012

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Categories Freedom of Information\In tray

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Dear Australian Bureau of Statistics,

Prompted by having learnt of the very poor sampling approach used by the
Australian Human Rights Commission in their conduct of the survey which
resulted in their report “Change the course”, I am interested in obtaining
further information about the conduct of the (unsurprisingly better!)
“Personal Safety Survey” run by the ABS (4906.0 - Personal Safety,
Australia, 2012) .

I seek any documents that add to the explanatory notes at;
[6]http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/...
In particular, I seek any document that details the instructions given to
interviewers, including the words to be used by interviewers (i) in
seeking information, for the purposes of enumeration, about household
residents, (ii) in explaining the voluntary nature of the survey, and
(iii) in ensuring that the interview was conducted in private with the
interviewee, without the knowledge of other household residents. The
documents would be of great benefit as educational/instructional material
for anyone wanting to conduct a similarly sensitive survey in the future.

Additionally, if there are any documents that indicate how many times
interviewers attempted to contact a person in the household for (i) the
initial purpose of enumeration, and (ii) to interview the randomly
selected potential interviewee, those documents would also be very
helpful.

I'd be grateful if you would treat this as a request for administrative
access. If it turns out that there are particular documents you cannot
release except under FOI, please let me know.  Then I can consider whether
to ask you to treat this as a request under the Act.

Yours faithfully,

Mark R. Diamond

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #3769 email]

Is [ABS request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to Australian Bureau of Statistics? If so, please
contact us using this form:
[7]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
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If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
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References

Visible links
1. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/...
2. mailto:[ABS request email]
3. mailto:[ABS request email]
4. http://www.abs.gov.au/
6. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/...
7. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
8. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

Mark R. Diamond

Dear Ms Gillett,

Many thanks for your quick reply. In answer to your question, please treat my request as a formal application under the FOI Act.

Yours sincerely,

Mark R. Diamond

Danielle Gillett, Australian Bureau of Statistics

Dear Mr Diamond

I refer to your application in which you seek access to documents under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (ABS reference FOI 201718/01) that add
to the explanatory notes at
[1]http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/...

o any document that details the instructions given to interviewers,
including the words to be used by interviewers (i) in seeking
information, for the purposes of enumeration, about household
residents, (ii) in explaining the voluntary nature of the survey, and
(iii) in ensuring that the interview was conducted in private with the
interviewee, without the knowledge of other household residents; and
o any documents that indicate how many times interviewers attempted to
contact a person in the household for (i) the initial purpose of
enumeration, and (ii) to interview the randomly selected potential
interviewee.

Your request was received by the ABS on the 6 August 2017 and the 30 days
statutory period for processing your request commenced from that date. If
this request will take longer than 30 days to process, we will contact you
to negotiate an extension of time.

You will be notified of any charges in accordance with the Freedom of
Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations, should they apply, in relation
to your request as soon as practicable.

Kind Regards

FOI Contact Officer 

Australian Bureau of Statistics 

(P) (02) 6252 7203 

(E) [2][ABS request email]   (W)  [3]www.abs.gov.au

The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS handles any personal
information that you provide to us.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/...
2. mailto:[ABS request email]
3. http://www.abs.gov.au/

Mark R. Diamond

Dear FOI contact officer,

Thank you for your reply. On rereading my request, I realise that there is a point of ambiguity regardng my request for information about " ... how many times interviewers attempted to contact a person ...". I am NOT seeking detailed information about average number of contacts, actual number of contacts, or anything like that. I meant only that it would be helpful to have access to a document that indicated how often interviewers should try to make contact with an interviewee. For example, there might be a document that instructs interviewers who are unable to contact a particular household, or particular potential interviewee to make "at least X attempts". I hope that this is of some assistance in reducing the unintendedly broad scope of the last part of my request!

Yours sincerely,

Mark R. Diamond

Danielle Gillett, Australian Bureau of Statistics

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Diamond

Thank you for your email, I have forwarded it on to the relevant subject
matter area for consideration.

Kind Regards

FOI Contact Officer 

Australian Bureau of Statistics 

(P) (02) 6252 7203 

(E) [2][ABS request email]   (W)  [3]www.abs.gov.au

The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS handles any personal
information that you provide to us.

[1]Inactive hide details for "Mark R. Diamond" ---09/08/2017 04:48:16
PM---Dear FOI contact officer, Thank you for your reply. On"Mark R.
Diamond" ---09/08/2017 04:48:16 PM---Dear FOI contact officer, Thank you
for your reply. On rereading my request, I realise that there is

From: "Mark R. Diamond" <[FOI #3769 email]>
To: Danielle Gillett <[email address]>,
Date: 09/08/2017 04:48 PM
Subject: Re: FOI 201718/01 Acknowledgement of Request

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear FOI contact officer,

Thank you for your reply. On rereading my request, I realise that there is
a point of ambiguity regardng my request for information about " ... how
many times interviewers attempted to contact a person ...". I am NOT
seeking detailed information about average number of contacts, actual
number of contacts, or anything like that. I meant only that it would be
helpful to have access to a document that indicated how often interviewers
should try to make contact with an interviewee. For example, there might
be a document that instructs interviewers who are unable to contact a
particular household, or particular potential interviewee to make "at
least X attempts". I hope that this is of some assistance in reducing the
unintendedly broad scope of the last part of my request!

Yours sincerely,

Mark R. Diamond

show quoted sections

Danielle Gillett, Australian Bureau of Statistics

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Diamond

In response to your Freedom of Information request received on 6 August
2017, please find attached the formal response from the ABS.

(See attached file: FOI 201718-01 Response.pdf)

Should you have any questions regarding this please feel free to contact
the ABS FOI Contact Officer by telephoning (02) 6252 7203 or emailing
[1][ABS request email]

Kind Regards

FOI Contact Officer 

Australian Bureau of Statistics 

(P) (02) 6252 7203 

(E) [2][ABS request email]   (W)  [3]www.abs.gov.au

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[ABS request email]
2. mailto:[ABS request email]
3. http://www.abs.gov.au/

Dear Ms Gillett,

Many thanks to you and your team for your comprehensive response to my recent FOI request for information about the conduct of the Personal Safety Survey 2012.

Yours sincerely,

Mark R. Diamond