Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) team in Services
Australia (the Agency).

 
This email acknowledges your correspondence and provides some general
information in relation to FOI.
 
FOI – Extension of time request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) you have a right, with
limited exceptions, to access documents the Agency holds. The Agency has
30 days to process an FOI request. Please note this period may be extended
if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will advise
you if this happens.
We are currently experiencing a higher than usual volume of requests,
which has resulted in some delays in our review and response process. We
are seeking your agreement to extend the processing time by an additional
30 days. If you agree to this additional time, we would appreciate it if
you could reply to this email with ‘I agree’ at your earliest opportunity.
Administrative release of documents  
The Agency has administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements') for
the release of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI
request. If you agree to the release of documents under these
arrangements, we may provide you with documents under the arrangements,
where appropriate. 
                                                                 
Any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents being
released under the arrangements will be considered withdrawn. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties.
You will be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements.
 
Personal information of Agency staff
We consider staff details to be personal information of those staff
members. As part of the FOI application process, we will seek your consent
to exclude the following information from documents that may be captured
by your request: 
•names of Services Australia staff below the Senior Executive level
(junior staff)
•direct staff telephone numbers, signatures, logon identifiers and email
addresses.
 
If you consent to exclude this information, we will treat it as outside
the scope of your request and therefore irrelevant under Section 22 of the
FOI Act.
 
Charges
No charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information.
If you are requesting non-personal information the Agency will advise you
as soon as practicable if a charge is payable to process your request, and
the amount of any such charge.
 
How we will send documents to you
We typically use this email address to send documents related to your FOI
request unless you have specifically requested to receive them via post.
However, we might seek your consent to deliver the documents
electronically if it is deemed more suitable.
 
How long do I have to wait?
We are required to answer your request within 30 days unless the time
frame is extended under the FOI Act. 

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Dear Ben Fairless

I refer to your request, received by Services Australia (the Agency) for
access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to the following:

Can you please consider the release of the below document on the
Operational Information Portal:
- First Contact Service Offer (FCSO) workflow 106-03010000.

If it can’t be released on the portal, consider this a formal FOI request
for the document.

Documents available from the FOI Disclosure Log

Non-personal documents released under the FOI Act are published on our
Agency’s [1]FOI Disclosure Log. This allows members of the public to
request a copy of the same documents.

The Operational Blueprint you have requested ‘First Contact Service Offer
(FCSO) workflow 106-03010000’ was partially released in a previous FOI
request (LEX 80273) in August 2024.

Since then, only two very minor administrative updates have been made to
the document. Therefore, the document is substantially the same.

As such, we are seeking your consent to update your request, to receive a
copy of the document that was released under LEX 80273. If you agree, the
document will be provided to you within 7 days, rather than the 30-day
statutory timeframe.

Please note that the document was not considered appropriate for full
publishing on the operational information portal, as it contains sensitive
operational information.

Action

If you agree to the above proposal to receive this document via a
Disclosure Log request, please respond to this email stating ‘I agree’ by
19 June 2025.

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Cherie
Senior FOI Officer

FOI & Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division

[2]Visual brand element showing Services Australia progress symbol to left
with Services Australia wording to the right of the symbol. Underneath is
servicesaustralia.gov.au and icons representing our social media accounts.
To follow us on social media go to servicesaustralia.gov.au/socialmedia
Aligning the bottom of the signature block is the Services Australia
indigenous artwork strip consisting of cultural elements depicting our
agency’s progress story for First Nations people.

Services Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands we
live on. We pay our respects to all Elders, past and present, of all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/fre...

Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) team in Services
Australia (the Agency).

 
This email acknowledges your correspondence and provides some general
information in relation to FOI.
 
FOI – Extension of time request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) you have a right, with
limited exceptions, to access documents the Agency holds. The Agency has
30 days to process an FOI request. Please note this period may be extended
if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will advise
you if this happens.
We are currently experiencing a higher than usual volume of requests,
which has resulted in some delays in our review and response process. We
are seeking your agreement to extend the processing time by an additional
30 days. If you agree to this additional time, we would appreciate it if
you could reply to this email with ‘I agree’ at your earliest opportunity.
Administrative release of documents  
The Agency has administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements') for
the release of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI
request. If you agree to the release of documents under these
arrangements, we may provide you with documents under the arrangements,
where appropriate. 
                                                                 
Any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents being
released under the arrangements will be considered withdrawn. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties.
You will be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements.
 
Personal information of Agency staff
We consider staff details to be personal information of those staff
members. As part of the FOI application process, we will seek your consent
to exclude the following information from documents that may be captured
by your request: 
•names of Services Australia staff below the Senior Executive level
(junior staff)
•direct staff telephone numbers, signatures, logon identifiers and email
addresses.
 
If you consent to exclude this information, we will treat it as outside
the scope of your request and therefore irrelevant under Section 22 of the
FOI Act.
 
Charges
No charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information.
If you are requesting non-personal information the Agency will advise you
as soon as practicable if a charge is payable to process your request, and
the amount of any such charge.
 
How we will send documents to you
We typically use this email address to send documents related to your FOI
request unless you have specifically requested to receive them via post.
However, we might seek your consent to deliver the documents
electronically if it is deemed more suitable.
 
How long do I have to wait?
We are required to answer your request within 30 days unless the time
frame is extended under the FOI Act. 

show quoted sections