Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.

Kind regards

FOI Coordinator

OFFICIAL

Dear O

Freedom of Information Request – FOI 25-26/087

Thank you for your email to the Department of Finance (Finance) requesting
access to the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act):

•       a copy of costing templates used for New Policy Proposals in Excel
format.

•       any documents that explain the Department of Finance’s estimated
cost per ASL for New Policy Proposals and any assumptions for overheads
and on-costs.

•       any documents that outline which Wage Cost Indices are used for
departments’ operating expenses and lists any departments that use a
different form of indexation for their operating expenses.

General FOI matters

Your request was received by Finance on 22 October 2025. The statutory
period for processing your request commences from the day after Finance
received your request and a decision is due on 21 November 2025.

The processing period may be extended if we need to consult third parties,
impose a charge or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.

Liability to pay a charge

You will be notified of any charges in relation to your request as soon as
possible, before we process any requested documents or impose a final
charge.

Publication

As required by the FOI Act, any documents provided to you under the FOI
Act will be published on our [1]disclosure log, unless an exception
applies. Documents will be published within the applicable statutory
timeframes set out by the FOI Act.

Policy to exclude junior officer contact details, signatures and mobile
phone numbers

Finance has adopted a policy to generally exclude from any documents
released under FOI, the names and contact details of junior staff (non-SES
officers) and staff employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act
1984 (senior adviser level and below). Finance has also adopted a policy
to exclude signatures and mobile phone numbers from any documents released
under FOI (unless publicly available). Finance’s preference is to reach
agreement with FOI applicants to exclude these details from the scope of
the request. Where there is no objection, the names and contact details of
junior officers, as well as any signatures and mobile phone numbers
appearing in identified documents, will be redacted under section 22 of
the FOI Act on the basis that these details are irrelevant to the request.

Please contact the FOI Team if you wish to discuss your request.

Kind regards,

FOI Team

FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch

Business Enabling Services

Department of Finance

A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

References

Visible links
1. https://www.finance.gov.au/about-us/free...

OFFICIAL

Dear O

Thank for agreeing to a 7-day extension of time for Finance to finalising
processing your FOI request, FOI25-26/086.

We are writing to notify you that Finance will not be in a position to
finalise a decision in relation to your other FOI request, FOI25-26/087,
by the current due date of 21 November 2025. This is because the area of
Finance responsible for actioning your request is currently preparing for
supplementary budget estimates and the 2025-26 Mid-Year Economic and
Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO). The team, and decision-maker, therefore has
limited capacity to finalise processing your FOI request at present.
Finance also anticipates we may need to consult another agency on the
release of documents which can take up to two weeks.

Section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 provides that an
applicant can consent to an extension of time up to 30 calendar days.

In the circumstances, Finance seeks your agreement to extend the
processing period by 30 days with a new due date 21 December 2025.

If you consent to the extension, Finance will notify the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) of the extension, which is part
of Finance’s reporting requirements.

We kindly ask that you reply by either:

 1. Consenting to an extension of time to 21 December 2025; or
 2. Consenting to an extension of time for a date less than that requested
by Finance; or
 3. Refusing to grant an extension of time.

We kindly seek your response no later than 5pm this Thursday, 20 November
2025.

If you would like to discuss this email, or your matter more generally,
please contact the FOI Team.

Kind regards

FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch

Business Enabling Services

Department of Finance

A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.

Kind regards

FOI Coordinator