Freedom of Information Logs - FOI Request
Dear Australian Public Service Commission,
I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a complete copy of the departments' Freedom of Information (FOI) logs for the period 2013-2023, including any secondary departments controlled by the agency.
I request that this is provided as a document and not a simple redirect to the agency website as I am of the view that your online disclosure logs do not actively reflect your FOI requests that you have received in this period.
I would appreciate it if you could provide me with this information in an electronic format, such as a PDF or spreadsheet, if possible.
If there are any fees associated with fulfilling this request, please let me know in advance so that I can consider my options.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
Watson Norwood
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Norwood
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 for access to documents held by the Commission.
The timeframe for responding to your request is 30 days from the date of receipt. This timeframe may be extended in certain circumstances. You will be notified if these circumstances arise and the timeframe is extended.
We understand your request to be for a register which records all Freedom of Information (FOI) requests received by the Commission (including the Merit Protection Commissioner). We note that if such a document exists, it will likely contain a very large amount of personal and/or business information about third parties who have previously made FOI requests to the Commission. If you are interested in the number of requests received by the Commission, we note that statistical information of this kind for all Australian Government agencies is available at the following website: https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/freedom....
Kind Regards,
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3720 w: www.apsc.gov.au
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or attachments to a third party.
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Norwood,
Our Reference: FOI Request 559
Thank you for your request, under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act), for access to a complete copy of the Australian Public Service Commission’s (the Commission) Freedom of Information (FOI) logs for the period 2013-2023.
We are currently in the process of identifying and reviewing documents falling within the scope of your request. The Commission is writing to seek your agreement to:
• extend the time to process your request, and
• revise the scope of your request to exclude third party personal information and business information and staff names.
Our reasons for these requests are set out below.
Revising the scope of your request
As any FOI logs falling within the scope of your request are likely to contain third party personal and business information, as well as the names of the Commission staff who handled the request, the Commission decision maker will need to consider whether this information can be released or is exempt under the FOI Act. In some cases, it may be necessary for the Commission to consider consulting with third parties under sections 27 and 27A of the FOI Act.
To facilitate more timely access to the information you have requested, we seek your agreement to exclude third party personal information, business information (e.g. business names) and staff names from the scope of your request. Removing such information from scope means that the Commission would not be required to consider undertaking third party consultations under the FOI Act and could proceed to make a decision on your request.
If, after receiving any documents released to you with our decision, you wish to know the information that has been removed from the documents as outside of scope, then at that time it would be open to you to make a fresh FOI request for access to that information.
Extension of time
In addition, we seek your agreement under section 15AA of the FOI Act to extend the timeframe to process your request by 25 calendar days to Friday 30 June 2023.
Over the past three weeks, as a result of an unexpected shortfall in FOI staffing, knowledge and expertise at the Commission, we have experienced a near-complete disruption in our usual FOI processes. All FOI requests received by the Commission are currently being processed by two individuals who are also responsible for undertaking their business-as-usual work. Steps have been taken by the Commission to address this shortfall; for instance, the Commission is currently implementing a decentralised FOI structure rather than having one team process FOI. In addition, we expect the Commission’s resourcing situation to improve in June, with the arrival of a new Legal General Counsel and Assistant Director.
Ultimately, it will take some time in the near future before these changes to the FOI system have full effect. Until then, we are considerably short on resources and respectfully seek additional time to process and decide on your request.
Requested action
We would be grateful if you could advise, by COB Thursday 1 June 2023, whether you agree to the Commission’s request for:
1. an extension of time until 30 June 2023 to process your request, and
2. the exclusion of staff names and third party personal and business information from the scope of your request.
Please contact me if you have any questions in relation to these requests.
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3720 w: www.apsc.gov.au
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or attachments to a third party.
OAIC reference number: RQ23/03254
Agency reference number: LEX 559
Mr Watson Norwood
By email: [FOI #10246 email]
Decision to grant an extension of time under s 15AB of the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act)
Dear Mr Norwood
Please find attached an extension of time decision relating to your FOI
request. A copy of this decision has been provided to the APSC today.
Yours sincerely
[1][IMG] Noah Harris
Assistant Review Adviser
Freedom of Information Regulatory Group
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
P 1300 363 992 E [2][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.
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OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Norwood,
Please see attached a decision notice and collection of documents in response to your request.
Kind Regards,
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3720 w: www.apsc.gov.au
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or attachments to a third party.
OFFICIAL
Dear Watson Norwood,
I am writing to advise you about a freedom of information (FOI) request
the Australian Public Service Commission (Commission) has received
containing your information.
The applicant requests access to:
I request access to all freedom of information decisions made by officials
in the Australian Public Service Commission between 1 April 2023 to 30
June 2023.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), where an
Australian Government agency receives a request for access to documents
containing another person’s personal information and the agency believes
that the other person may object to the release of the documents, the
agency is required to consult that person before making a decision to
grant access.
Please advise the Commission if you object to the release of the
information contained in the attached documents by Monday 11 September
2023. If a response is not received by this date, the relevant FOI
decision maker within the Commission will assume you do not object to the
release of the documents.
Guidance to third party:
o Section 27A of the FOI Act requires an agency to consult a person
before deciding to grant access to a document containing their
personal information, if the person may wish to contend that the
document is conditionally exempt under s 47F (personal privacy) and
giving access would on balance be contrary to the public interest. A
third party consulted under s 27A of the FOI Act can contend only that
access should be refused under s 47F (personal privacy) of the FOI
Act.
o Further information can be found on the OAIC’s FOI Guidelines:
o [1]Exemptions and Conditional Exemptions under the FOI Act
o [2]Conditional exemptions
o [3]Personal and business information – third-party review rights
Kind Regards,
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3813 w: [4]www.apsc.gov.au
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