Enterprise bargaining - what information is provided to department about employees' votes?

James Smith made this Freedom of Information request to Services Australia as part of a batch sent to 17 authorities

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Dear Department of Human Services,

This is request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

I request all documents wherein the outcome of any enterprise bargaining ballots were communicated to the department by the entity who undertook the ballots.

This shall include the YES/NO vote amounts or percentages as well as any additional information related to the vote. For example, a breakdown of the vote by employee location, or APS level.

The scope of this request covers any such documents that were received as a result of EBA offers made to staff under:

Workplace Bargaining Policy 2015
or
Australian Government Public Sector Workplace Bargaining Policy 2014

I thank you in advance for processing this request.

Yours faithfully,

James Smith

FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

 

3 March 2017

 

 

Our reference:  LEX 27827

Mr James Smith

Right to Know

 

 

By email: [1][FOI #3160 email]

 

 

Dear Mr Smith

 

Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Request

 

I refer to your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). I have taken your request to be for:

'I request all documents wherein the outcome of any enterprise bargaining
ballots were communicated to the department by the entity who undertook
the ballots.

This shall include the YES/NO vote amounts or percentages as well as any
additional information related to the vote. For example, a breakdown of
the vote by employee location, or APS level.

The scope of this request covers any such documents that were received as
a result of EBA offers made to staff under:

Workplace Bargaining Policy 2015

or

Australian Government Public Sector Workplace Bargaining Policy 2014

I thank you in advance for processing this request'.

Your request was received by the department on 26 February 2017 and the 30
day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day
after that date. You should therefore expect a decision from us by 28
March 2017.The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult
third parties or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.

 

The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your
request and the amount of any such charge as soon as practicable.

 

Your Address

 

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[2][FOI #3160 email]. We will send all notices
and correspondence to this address. Please advise us as soon as possible
if you wish correspondence to be sent to another address or if your
address changes. If you do not advise us of changes to your address,
correspondence and notices will continue to be sent to the address
specified above.

 

Administrative Release of Documents

A number of the documents you are seeking may be generally available to
you without the need for a formal FOI request and can be released through
the department's administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements').
Unless you advise us otherwise, in processing your request we may provide
you with documents under these arrangements where appropriate. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties.
Where documents are released to you under the arrangements we will advise
you in our decision letter.

Disclosure Log

 

Please note that information released under FOI Act may be published in a
disclosure log on the department's website. Section 11C of the FOI Act
requires this publication, however it is subject to certain exceptions,
including where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

 

Exclusion of junior department employee details

 

The department is working towards ensuring that all employees have a
choice about whether they provide their full name, personal logon
identifiers and direct contact details in response to public enquiries.
Where such details are included in the scope of a request, this may add to
processing time and applicable charges as it may be necessary to consider
whether the details are exempt under the FOI Act. On this basis, unless
you tell us otherwise, we will assume that these details are out of scope
of your request and they will be redacted under section 22 of the FOI Act.

 

Further assistance

If you have any questions please email
[3][email address].

 

Yours sincerely

 

FOI Registration Officer

Freedom of Information Team

FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division

Department of Human Services

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #3160 email]
2. mailto:[FOI #3160 email]
3. mailto:[email address]

FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Smith

 

Please see attached correspondence in relation to your Freedom of
Information request.

 

Kind regards,

 

FOI Legal Team

FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
Email: [1][email address]

[2]cid:image001.png@01D286D9.F238A730

This email and any attachments may contain information subject to legal
professional privilege or information that is otherwise sensitive or
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are
prohibited from using or disseminating this communication. If you have
received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately
and permanently delete this email.

 

 

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References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

Thank you for your email.

I contend the charges should not be applied on public interest grounds. The department of human services has been mentioned in the media on this topic and the integrity of your employees' private data and of the integrity of the EA ballot process is in the public interest.

Here is a link to the media article. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national...

Please provide me with the request information without charge.

Yours sincerely,

James Smith

FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Smith,

 

Please find attached correspondence regarding your FOI request.

 

Kind regards,

 

Freedom of Information Team
FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services

Email: [1][email address]

[2]cid:image002.png@01CE578F.EEB98AC0

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References

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1. mailto:[email address]