FOI Request - Monitoring Decision
Dear Services Australia,
I hope this message finds you well.
I am submitting a FOI request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act, to gain insight into the decision-making process regarding the monitoring of staff breaks within the organization.
I am specifically seeking access to any correspondence, interactions, reports, briefs, or documents related to the decision to implement a system for monitoring staff breaks.
Moreover, I am interested in understanding the communication and involvement of the CEO and general management in this decision-making process.
Additionally, I am requesting information about how staff are notified and warned about the monitoring of their breaks, as well as the procedures in place for performance management related to this matter.
Please provide any relevant documents, policies, or communication materials pertaining to staff warnings and performance management in connection with breaks.
Thank you for your attention to this request.
Sincerely,
B
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.
Charges
The Agency will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request
and the amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is
payable for providing a person with their own personal information.
Your address
The FOI Act requires you to provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. We will send correspondence and notices to your email address.
Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish correspondence to be sent
to another address or if your email address changes.
Administrative release of documents
The Agency has administrative access arrangements in place for the release
of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI request. These
arrangements do not extend to information or material of third parties.
Exclusion of staff details
The Agency is working towards ensuring all staff have a choice about
whether they provide their full name, personal logon identifiers and
direct contact details in response to FOI requests. Where such details are
included in documents they will be redacted. If you request staff details
as part of your FOI application, this may add to processing time and
applicable charges as it will be necessary to consider whether these
details are exempt under the FOI Act.
Dear B,
Please find attached a letter relating to your request for access to
documents held by Services Australia, under the Freedom of Information Act
1982.
If you are unable to open the attachments please contact me by replying to
this email.
Kind Regards,
Elizabeth
FOI Officer
FOI and Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division
[1]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.
References
Visible links
Dear Elizabeth,
My apologies. I would like to clarify my request.
My revised request is "to gain insight into the decision-making process regarding the monitoring of staff breaks within the Services Australia organization, seeking access to any correspondence, interactions, reports, briefs, or documents related to the decision to implement a system for monitoring staff breaks by the CEO and executive team".
Yours sincerely,
B
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.
Charges
The Agency will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request
and the amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is
payable for providing a person with their own personal information.
Your address
The FOI Act requires you to provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. We will send correspondence and notices to your email address.
Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish correspondence to be sent
to another address or if your email address changes.
Administrative release of documents
The Agency has administrative access arrangements in place for the release
of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI request. These
arrangements do not extend to information or material of third parties.
Exclusion of staff details
The Agency is working towards ensuring all staff have a choice about
whether they provide their full name, personal logon identifiers and
direct contact details in response to FOI requests. Where such details are
included in documents they will be redacted. If you request staff details
as part of your FOI application, this may add to processing time and
applicable charges as it will be necessary to consider whether these
details are exempt under the FOI Act.
Dear B
Please find attached a letter relating to your request for access to
documents held by Services Australia (the Agency), under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982.
Summary
As it stands, your request is still too unclear for the Agency to process.
Consider removing generic terms such as “documents”, “interactions” and
“communication”.
We also seek clarification on what is meant by your reference to
“communication”, and whether this is intended to encompass internal
emails. If it is, please provide a sender and/or recipient, a subject
matter and a time frame. Noting that this still may be too voluminous for
the Agency to process.
Proposed scope
In the letter I have proposed the following scope:
o Reports, briefs, and letters between the CEO and the Senior Executive
Staff from 2021-2024, regarding the workforce management system.
o Please advise if: Communication to include emails between the CEO’s
positional mailbox and the Senior Executive Staff divisional
positional mailboxes with the following keywords:
o “workforce” + “management” + “system”
o “monitor” + “staff” + “breaks”
o “implement”
o Noting the component for emails may be too voluminous for the Agency
to process
Action
A response is expected by 19 February 2024, so we may continue processing
your request.
Kind Regards,
Elizabeth
FOI Officer
FOI and Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division
[1]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.
References
Visible links
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.
Charges
The Agency will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request
and the amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is
payable for providing a person with their own personal information.
Your address
The FOI Act requires you to provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. We will send correspondence and notices to your email address.
Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish correspondence to be sent
to another address or if your email address changes.
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. Unless you advise us otherwise, in processing your request we may
provide you with documents under these arrangements where appropriate and
any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents released
under the arrangements will be considered to be 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.
Exclusion of staff details
The Agency is working towards ensuring all staff have a choice about
whether they provide their full name, personal logon identifiers and
direct contact details in response to FOI requests. Where such details are
included in documents they will be redacted. If you request staff details
as part of your FOI application, this may add to processing time and
applicable charges as it will be necessary to consider whether these
details are exempt under the FOI Act.
On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume these details
are out of scope of your request and they will be redacted under section
22 of the FOI Act.
Dear B,
Please find attached a letter relating to your request for access to
documents held by Services Australia, under the Freedom of Information Act
1982.
Summary
As it stands your request is too voluminous for the Agency to process,
specifically relating to your request for internal emails.
To assist, we have provided detailed information within the attached
letter. Based on further consultations with the relevant business areas,
we have also suggested a revised scope on page 4 for your consideration.
Action
A response is expected by 22 February 2024.
Kind Regards,
Elizabeth
FOI Officer
FOI and Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division
[1]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.
References
Visible links
Dear FREEDOMOFINFORMATION,
Hello
I do not want to revise my request. I will deem this as a refusal.
Yours sincerely,
B
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.
Charges
The Agency will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request
and the amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No charge is
payable for providing a person with their own personal information.
Your address
The FOI Act requires you to provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. We will send correspondence and notices to your email address.
Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish correspondence to be sent
to another address or if your email address changes.
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. Unless you advise us otherwise, in processing your request we may
provide you with documents under these arrangements where appropriate and
any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents released
under the arrangements will be considered to be 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.
Exclusion of staff details
The Agency is working towards ensuring all staff have a choice about
whether they provide their full name, personal logon identifiers and
direct contact details in response to FOI requests. Where such details are
included in documents they will be redacted. If you request staff details
as part of your FOI application, this may add to processing time and
applicable charges as it will be necessary to consider whether these
details are exempt under the FOI Act.
On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume these details
are out of scope of your request and they will be redacted under section
22 of the FOI Act.
Dear B,
Please find attached the decision letter relating to your request for
access to documents held by Services Australia, under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982.
If you are unable to open the attachments please contact me by replying to
this email.
Kind Regards,
Elizabeth
FOI Officer
FOI and Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division
[1]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.
References
Visible links