Creation of SES Band 1 Regulatory Action Division
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
I am seeking all information exchanged internally and externally since 1 April 2025 relating the creation of the new SES Band 1 Regulatory Action Division. This should include all:
* emails, teams chats and any other type of correspondence including meeting notes, that relate to this process whether it explicitly mentions the role or only implicitly
* discussions around the decision to obtain additional funding and the authorisation to exceed the SES cap
* discussions regarding the direct appointment of a candidate and the decision to not undertake an advertised merit based process
* any other correspondence relating to this matter nor categorised above
Yours faithfully,
Seeking accountability
Your email has been received by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC). Important: Please note the OAIC is not a central
repository and does not hold documents of other Commonwealth agencies or
State or Territory Departments.
FOI requests to the OAIC
Important: This email address is only for making requests to obtain access
to document(s) held by the OAIC, pursuant to the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). We will only action and respond to emails making
FOI requests to the OAIC.
For information on how to make an FOI request to the OAIC, and to ensure
that your request complies with the requirements of the FOI Act, please
refer to the FOI page on the OAIC website at:
[1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
Once your request has been assessed by the OAIC, and registered, an
acknowledgement email will be sent to you with an FOI reference number.
Statistics
The OAIC publishes an Australian Government FOI statistics dashboard which
provides key freedom of information (FOI) data over the last 5 years, as
reported by Australian Government agencies and ministers to the OAIC under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982. This dashboard is updated quarterly
and available on our website at [2]Australian Government freedom of
information statistics | OAIC
The OAIC does not hold documents of other Commonwealth agencies, nor for
other state agencies, or private organisations. The OAIC does not hold
Police Records or State Government Records. Further information on how to
access these types of records is here [3]Freedom of information requests
to the OAIC
Accordingly:
1) if you are seeking to access documents of a particular
Commonwealth agency, you will need to make your request directly to the
relevant agency. For example, if you are requesting a copy of your visa
records, please make an FOI request and send it to the Department of Home
Affairs. Further details and information is below.
2) if you are seeking to access documents of a state or local
government agency, each Australian state and territory have separate FOI
legislation which governs information held by state government agencies.
Please contact the relevant agency as to how to make an application to
access the documents. For example, if you are seeking access to police
reports from the NSW Police Force, this agency is governed by the
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act); you will
need to contact NSW Police to find out how to make a GIPA application for
a police report.
3) if you are seeking to access documents of a private organisation,
which the FOI Act does not apply to, please contact the organisation
directly to find out how to access the documents you are seeking. For
example, if you are seeking to access hospital records or your medical
records, please contact these organisations directly.
4) You can request copies of documents directly from other
Commonwealth agencies, such as:
Australian Federal Police
[4]Freedom of Information access requests - AFP
Department of Home Affairs
[5]Freedom of information (homeaffairs.gov.au)- external site
Services Australia
[6]Freedom of information - Services Australia- external site
Department of Veterans Affairs
[7]Freedom of information | Department of Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au)-
external site
Australian Taxation Office
[8]Freedom of information (FOI) request – individuals and businesses |
Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au)- external site
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (passports)
[9]Freedom of information | Australian Government Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade (dfat.gov.au)- external site
5) For other Commonwealth or State agencies, please visit the
relevant agency's website and search 'freedom of information' or 'FOI
request'.
Enquiries and other matters
If your email relates to any of the following, please use the OAIC's
online forms at [10]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
- Enquiry
- Privacy Complaint
- Notifiable Data Breach
- Consumer Data Right Complaint
- FOI Complaint
- Freedom of Information (IC) Review
- Agency FOI Extension of Time Requests
- Speech requests.
Kind regards
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Notice:
The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-the-OAIC/a...
4. https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/governan...
5. https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/access-an...
6. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/fre...
7. https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview...
8. https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instruc...
9. https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/corpora...
10. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
Our reference: FOIREQ25/00245
Dear Seeking Accountability
Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request for access to documents made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
Your FOI request was received by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) on 26 May 2025. This means that a decision on your FOI
request will be due on Wednesday 25 June 2025.
Scope of your request
Your FOI request was made in the following terms:
I am seeking all information exchanged internally and externally since 1
April 2025 relating the creation of the new SES Band 1 Regulatory Action
Division. This should include all:
• emails, teams chats and any other type of correspondence
including meeting notes, that relate to this process whether it explicitly
mentions the role or only implicitly
• discussions around the decision to obtain additional
funding and the authorisation to exceed the SES cap
• discussions regarding the direct appointment of a candidate
and the decision to not undertake an advertised merit based process
• any other correspondence relating to this matter nor
categorised above.
In order to process your request as efficiently as possible, I will
exclude duplicate emails and early parts of email streams which may be
captured in later email streams from the scope of your request, unless you
advise me otherwise. The OAIC will generally excludes any mobile phone
numbers of OAIC staff, as irrelevant to the scope of your request –
section s 22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act.
We will not identify you as the FOI applicant during any consultation
process, unless we seek your permission. However, documents that are
within the scope of your request that we may need to consult third parties
about, may contain your personal information.
Timeframes for dealing with your request
Section 15 of the FOI Act requires the OAIC to process your request no
later than 30 days after the day we receive it. However, section 15(6) of
the FOI Act allows us a further 30 days in situations where we need to
consult with third parties about certain information, such as business
documents or documents affecting their personal privacy.
The current decision due date for your request is 25 June 2025. We will
advise you if this timeframe is otherwise extended.
Disclosure Log
Documents released under the FOI Act may be published online on our FOI
disclosure log, unless they contain personal or business information which
would be unreasonable to publish.
If you would like to discuss your FOI request, please contact me on my
contact details set out below.
Yours sincerely
Kind regards
Karen
Governance, Risk and Compliance (FOI)
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001 | oaic.gov.au
E: [1][email address]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia
and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay
our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Request for s 15AA Extension of time Email Template
Our reference: FOIREQ25/00245
Dear Seeking Accountability
I refer to your freedom of information request (FOI request) received by
the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (the OAIC) on 26 May
2025.
Request for an extension of time
At this stage, the due date for you to be notified regarding your FOI
request is 25 June 2025.
We have commenced searching and collation of documents relevant to your
request, however more work is required to review the documents, assess the
relevance and consult with internal stakeholders. The OAIC are also
currently managing a large number of FOI requests.
Accordingly, I am writing to you to seek your agreement to an extension of
time under [1]s 15AA of the FOI Act, of a further 30 days to assist in
processing your request. If agreed, this will extend the time for the OAIC
to process your request by 30 days until 25 July 2025.
I understand you may have been hoping to be notified of a decision prior
to this date, however we will endeavour to finalise the decision prior to
this date where possible.
We ask that you please reply to this email, confirming if you agree to an
extension of time request, by no later than 16 June 2025.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me
via the details below.
Kind regards
[2]O A I C logo Karen Tulloch | Assistant Director
Governance, Risk and Compliance (FOI)
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001 | [3]oaic.gov.au
E: [4][email address]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia
and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay
our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Notice:
The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
3. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
4. mailto:[email address]
OAIC Ref: FOIREQ25/00245
Dear Seeking Accountability
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request lodged
with the OAIC on 26 May 2025.
As the documents are still being prepared for release, they will follow at
the earliest opportunity.
Kind regards
[1][IMG] FOI administration
Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner
E: [2][OAIC request email]
[3][IMG] | [4][IMG] | [5][IMG] | [6]Subscribe to Information
Matters
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia
and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay
our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Notice:
The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
4. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
5. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
6. https://www.oaic.gov.au/media-and-speech...
Dear OAIC - FOI,
Thank you for the decision although I note the absence of the actual release of documents. As the FOI regulator, I expected a best practice response and to not release the documents with the decision is questionable.
My review right timeframe has commenced without the documents to enable a proper decision. Can you please advise as to the meaning of the timeframe of 'at the earliest opportunity'. Having been provided with the decision I, not unreasonably, expected the documents to be released at the same time so as to understand the application of the decision. I am not sure I can consider this a valid decision on that basis. Furthermore, is this a response that is consistent with your FOI guidelines that regulated agencies need to follow and is it a response that OAIC as the regulator of FOI would accept from an agency you regulate?
Yours sincerely,
Seeking Accountability
Your email has been received by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC). Important: Please note the OAIC is not a central
repository and does not hold documents of other Commonwealth agencies, nor
documents of State or Territory Departments.
FOI requests to the OAIC
Important: This email address is only for making requests to obtain access
to document(s) held by the OAIC, pursuant to the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). We will only action and respond to emails making
FOI requests to the OAIC.
For information on how to make an FOI request to the OAIC, and to ensure
that your request complies with the requirements of the FOI Act, please
refer to the FOI page on the OAIC website at:
[1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
Once your request has been assessed by the OAIC, and registered, an
acknowledgement email will be sent to you with an FOI reference number.
Statistics
The OAIC publishes an Australian Government FOI statistics dashboard which
provides key freedom of information (FOI) data over the last 5 years, as
reported by Australian Government agencies and ministers to the OAIC under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982. This dashboard is updated quarterly
and available on our website at [2]Australian Government freedom of
information statistics | OAIC
The OAIC does not hold documents of other Commonwealth agencies, nor for
other state agencies, or private organisations. The OAIC does not hold
Police Records or State Government Records. Further information on how to
access these types of records is here [3]Freedom of information requests
to the OAIC
Accordingly:
1) if you are seeking to access documents of a particular
Commonwealth agency, you will need to make your request directly to the
relevant agency. For example, if you are requesting a copy of your visa
records, please make an FOI request and send it to the Department of Home
Affairs. Further details and information is below.
2) if you are seeking to access documents of a state or local
government agency, each Australian state and territory have separate FOI
legislation which governs information held by state government agencies.
Please contact the relevant agency as to how to make an application to
access the documents. For example, if you are seeking access to police
reports from the NSW Police Force, this agency is governed by the
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act); you will
need to contact NSW Police to find out how to make a GIPA application for
a police report.
3) if you are seeking to access documents of a private organisation,
which the FOI Act does not apply to, please contact the organisation
directly to find out how to access the documents you are seeking. For
example, if you are seeking to access hospital records or your medical
records, please contact these organisations directly.
4) You can request copies of documents directly from other
Commonwealth agencies, such as:
Australian Federal Police
[4]Freedom of Information access requests - AFP
Department of Home Affairs
[5]Freedom of information (homeaffairs.gov.au)- external site
Services Australia
[6]Freedom of information - Services Australia- external site
Department of Veterans Affairs
[7]Freedom of information | Department of Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au)-
external site
Australian Taxation Office
[8]Freedom of information (FOI) request – individuals and businesses |
Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au)- external site
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (passports)
[9]Freedom of information | Australian Government Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade (dfat.gov.au)- external site
5) For other Commonwealth or State agencies, please visit the
relevant agency's website and search 'freedom of information' or 'FOI
request'.
Enquiries and other matters
If your email relates to any of the following, please use the OAIC's
online forms at [10]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
- Enquiry
- Privacy Complaint
- Notifiable Data Breach
- Consumer Data Right Complaint
- FOI Complaint
- Freedom of Information (IC) Review
- Agency FOI Extension of Time Requests
- Speech requests.
Kind regards
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Notice:
The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-the-OAIC/a...
4. https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/governan...
5. https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/access-an...
6. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/fre...
7. https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview...
8. https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instruc...
9. https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/corpora...
10. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
OAIC Ref: FOIREQ25/00245
Dear Seeking Accountability
As mentioned below, please find attached the documents and schedule of
documents in relation to your FOI request lodged with the OAIC on 26 May
2025.
With regard to the concerns you raised below, I refer you to the following
parts of the FOI Act and Guidelines:
Section 15 of the FOI Act:
Timeframes for dealing with request
(5) On receiving a request, the agency or Minister must:
……
(b) as soon as practicable but in any case not later than the end of the
period of 30 days after the day on which the request is received by or on
behalf of the agency or Minister, take all reasonable steps to enable the
applicant to be notified of a decision on the request ……
Paragraph 3.194 of the FOI Guidelines:
Where a decision has been made to give an applicant access to a requested
document, that access should be given as soon as practicable……
Regards
[1][IMG] FOI administration
Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner
E: [2][OAIC request email]
[3][IMG] | [4][IMG] | [5][IMG] | [6]Subscribe to Information
Matters
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia
and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay
our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.