General Ledger (Last 5 Financial Years)

Trent Morrison-Francis made this Freedom of Information request to Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee as part of a batch sent to 40 authorities

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

This request has been withdrawn by the person who made it. There may be an explanation in the correspondence below.

Trent Morrison-Francis

Dear Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee,

Please provide a dollar figure for the last 5 financial years general ledger for the department.

We are not asking for the details being the GL just the expenditure by line item for the department for the 5 years

Yours faithfully,

Melissa Jones

FOI, Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee

Thank you for your email.

 

You have contacted the Freedom of Information (FOI) team of the Department
of Social Services (the department).

 

If your email relates to a Freedom of Information application made under
the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), the department
will respond to you as soon as practicable.

 

Further information about FOI is available on our website at:
[1]https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-departm...

 

This email address is for applications under the FOI Act only. The
department is unable to respond to non-FOI related enquiries sent to this
email address. Any correspondence received that is not an information
access request will not be responded to or forwarded. Should you have a
query unrelated to FOI, please complete our [2]online feedback, enquiry or
compliment form on our website or direct your email to
[3][email address].  Alternatively you can contact the department by
calling 1800 634 035.

 

With regards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Freedom of Information

Government and Executive Services

Department of Social Services
E: [4][ABA Advisory Committee request email]

 

The Department of Social Services acknowledges the traditional owners of
country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land,
water and community.

We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders both past
and present.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-departm...
2. https://www.dss.gov.au/contact/feedback-...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[ABA Advisory Committee request email]

FOI, Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee

Dear Melissa,

 

I refer to your attached correspondence received by the Department of
Social Services (the department) on 11 June 2021, in which you requested
access under the Commonwealth Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 1982 to:

 

“Dear Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee,

 

Please provide a dollar figure for the last 5 financial years general
ledger for the department.

 

We are not asking for the details being the GL just the expenditure by
line item for the department for the 5 years”.

 

The subject matter of your request closely relates to the functions of the
National Indigenous Australians Agency. Accordingly, your request has been
transferred under the provisions of section 16 of the FOI Act.

 

The National Indigenous Australians Agency has agreed to accept the
transfer and will contact you directly in relation to this matter.

 

With regards,

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Freedom of Information Team

Government and Executive Services Branch

Department of Social Services
E: [1][ABA Advisory Committee request email]

 

The Department of Social Services acknowledges the traditional owners of
country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land,
water and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and
to Elders both past and present.

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[ABA Advisory Committee request email]

FOI NIAA,

OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/030
 
Dear Ms Jones,
 
Thank you for your email of 11 June 2021 in which you made a request under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) for access to the
following:
 
“Dear Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee, Please provide a
dollar figure for the last 5 financial years general ledger for the
department. We are not asking for the details being the GL just the
expenditure by line item for the department for the 5 years.”
 
Information to help us process your request
We have taken your reference to ‘department’ in your FOI request to be for
the Aboriginals Benefit Account. However if this not correct please
clarify this via return email.
 
Transfer
The FOI Act provides a mechanism to transfer requests to another agency
where the subject-matter of the request is more closely connected with the
functions of that agency. This ensures that a decision on the request is
made by the most appropriate agency. As the subject-matter of your request
is more closely connected with the functions of the National Indigenous
Australians Agency (NIAA), the Department of Social Services transferred
your request to the NIAA, in accordance with section 16(1)(b) of the FOI
Act on 16 June 2021.
 
Timeframe
Your request was received on 11 June 2021 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 12 July 2021. Note: The last
day for notifying a decision falls on a Sunday (11 July 2021), but in
accordance with the Office of the Information Commissioner FOI guidelines,
the timeframe expires on the next business day (Monday 12 July 2021).
 
The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third parties,
with your agreement or for other reasons. We will advise you if this
happens.
 
Charges
Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the decision maker decides that
you are liable to pay a charge, a preliminary assessment of the charge
will be provided to you as soon as possible.
 
Publication
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our Disclosure Log, subject to certain exceptions. If
you think you might wish to raise any objections to the publication of any
of the information which may be released to you, please contact us by
email at [1][email address]. If you wish to object to the publication of
information, you will need to provide supporting reasons.
 
Information out of scope
The NIAA treats the names and contact details of Commonwealth staff not in
the Senior Executive Service (SES), such as Australian Public Service
(APS) officers, and other personal details of all Commonwealth staff (such
as signatures and direct contact information) as not relevant to the scope
of a request. Information that is irrelevant to your request will be
excluded from any documents which may be released to you. 
 
Please note, the NIAA routinely excludes the following from documents
released in response to FOI requests:
•       duplicate documents
•       duplicate email chains
•       publicly available documents, and
•       draft or interim documents where a later version is included.
 
If you consider this information is relevant to the scope of your request,
please contact us by email at [2][email address].
 
Information that may assist you with accessing information
The information you have requested may already be publically available in
the NIAA Annual Report, available on the NIAA website.
 
For the 2019-20 financial year, please refer to page 153 of the NIAA
Annual Report for a breakdown of expenses for the Aboriginals Benefit
Account. A copy is located here:
[3]https://www.niaa.gov.au/resource-centre/....
 
For previous financial years, information about expenses for the
Aboriginals Benefit Account is available in the Department of Prime
Minister and Cabinets Annual Reports, located here:
[4]https://pmc.gov.au/who-we-are/accountabi....
 
Option to withdraw your request
Noting that information regarding expenses for the Aboriginals Benefit
Account is publicly available, it is open to you to write to us and
withdraw your request under the FOI Act.
 
Next steps
Please write to us by reply email to [5][email address] by Friday 25 June
2021 and tell us:

* if we have made a mistake in understanding your reference to
‘department’ in your FOI request, or
* if you would like to withdraw your FOI request.

 
If you do not withdraw your request in writing, the NIAA must continue to
process your request and provide you with a decision on access.
 
If you have any questions, please contact me at [6][email address].
 
Kind regards,
 
Therese
FOI Coordinator
Corporate Group 
National Indigenous Australians Agency
Charles Perkins House 16 Bowes Place Phillip ACT 2606 |GPO Box 2191
Canberra ACT 2601
w. niaa.gov.au  w. indigenous.gov.au
 

show quoted sections

FOI NIAA,

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    Picture Device Independent Bitmap 5.jpg

    0K Download

OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/030
 
Dear Ms Jones,
 
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) which was received by the National Indigenous Australians Agency
(NIAA) on 11 June 2021 (by transfer), seeking access to documents relating
to the Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee.
 
We are writing to seek clarification regarding the scope of your request.
 
Preliminary inquiry results and clarification
 
To assist us in identifying the documents you seek access to, we would be
grateful if you could you please specify details in relation to this
request, and the information sought. For example, are you seeking
financial information related to the Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory
Committee or the Aboriginals Benefit Account?
 
To further assist you with clarifying your request, we note that financial
statements for the Aboriginals Benefit Account are available in documents
which are published annually, such as the NIAA Annual Report.
 
We would be grateful for your response by COB Monday 5 July 2021 to allow
the NIAA to process your request within the legislative timeframes.
 
If you have any questions, please contact me at [1][email address].
 
Kind regards,
 
NIAA FOI Coordinator
Corporate Group 
National Indigenous Australians Agency
[2][email address]
Charles Perkins House 16 Bowes Place Phillip ACT 2606 |GPO Box 2191
Canberra ACT 2601
w. niaa.gov.au  w. indigenous.gov.au
 

The National Indigenous Australians Agency acknowledges the traditional
owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges
their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our
respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and
emerging.

[3][IMG]      [4][IMG]       [5][IMG]       [6][IMG]

Note: This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally
privileged information (and neither are waived or lost if this email has
been sent to you by mistake).  If you are not the intended recipient, you
must not use, disclose, copy or retain it.  If you have received it in
error, please let me know by reply email and then delete this email from
your system and do not retain any copy.  Recipients within the Agency
should seek assistance from Legal Services Branch before disseminating
this email to third parties.
 
_____________________________________________
From: FOI NIAA <[email address]>
Sent: Tuesday, 22 June 2021 5:29 PM
To: '[FOI #7419 email]'
<[FOI #7419 email]>
Cc: FOI NIAA <[email address]>
Subject: Your Freedom of Information Request – Acknowledgement –
FOI/2021/030 [SEC=OFFICIAL]
 
 
OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/030
 
Dear Ms Jones,
 
Thank you for your email of 11 June 2021 in which you made a request under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) for access to the
following:
 
“Dear Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee, Please provide a
dollar figure for the last 5 financial years general ledger for the
department. We are not asking for the details being the GL just the
expenditure by line item for the department for the 5 years.”
 
Information to help us process your request
We have taken your reference to ‘department’ in your FOI request to be for
the Aboriginals Benefit Account. However if this not correct please
clarify this via return email.
 
Transfer
The FOI Act provides a mechanism to transfer requests to another agency
where the subject-matter of the request is more closely connected with the
functions of that agency. This ensures that a decision on the request is
made by the most appropriate agency. As the subject-matter of your request
is more closely connected with the functions of the National Indigenous
Australians Agency (NIAA), the Department of Social Services transferred
your request to the NIAA, in accordance with section 16(1)(b) of the FOI
Act on 16 June 2021.
 
Timeframe
Your request was received on 11 June 2021 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 12 July 2021. Note: The last
day for notifying a decision falls on a Sunday (11 July 2021), but in
accordance with the Office of the Information Commissioner FOI guidelines,
the timeframe expires on the next business day (Monday 12 July 2021).
 
The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third parties,
with your agreement or for other reasons. We will advise you if this
happens.
 
Charges
Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the decision maker decides that
you are liable to pay a charge, a preliminary assessment of the charge
will be provided to you as soon as possible.
 
Publication
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our Disclosure Log, subject to certain exceptions. If
you think you might wish to raise any objections to the publication of any
of the information which may be released to you, please contact us by
email at [7][email address]. If you wish to object to the publication of
information, you will need to provide supporting reasons.
 
Information out of scope
The NIAA treats the names and contact details of Commonwealth staff not in
the Senior Executive Service (SES), such as Australian Public Service
(APS) officers, and other personal details of all Commonwealth staff (such
as signatures and direct contact information) as not relevant to the scope
of a request. Information that is irrelevant to your request will be
excluded from any documents which may be released to you. 
 
Please note, the NIAA routinely excludes the following from documents
released in response to FOI requests:
•       duplicate documents
•       duplicate email chains
•       publicly available documents, and
•       draft or interim documents where a later version is included.
 
If you consider this information is relevant to the scope of your request,
please contact us by email at [8][email address].
 
Information that may assist you with accessing information
The information you have requested may already be publically available in
the NIAA Annual Report, available on the NIAA website.
 
For the 2019-20 financial year, please refer to page 153 of the NIAA
Annual Report for a breakdown of expenses for the Aboriginals Benefit
Account. A copy is located here:
[9]https://www.niaa.gov.au/resource-centre/....
 
For previous financial years, information about expenses for the
Aboriginals Benefit Account is available in the Department of Prime
Minister and Cabinets Annual Reports, located here:
[10]https://pmc.gov.au/who-we-are/accountabi....
 
Option to withdraw your request
Noting that information regarding expenses for the Aboriginals Benefit
Account is publicly available, it is open to you to write to us and
withdraw your request under the FOI Act.
 
Next steps
Please write to us by reply email to [11][email address] by Friday 25 June
2021 and tell us:

* if we have made a mistake in understanding your reference to
‘department’ in your FOI request, or
* if you would like to withdraw your FOI request.

 
If you do not withdraw your request in writing, the NIAA must continue to
process your request and provide you with a decision on access.
 
If you have any questions, please contact me at [12][email address].
 
Kind regards,
 
Therese
FOI Coordinator
Corporate Group 
National Indigenous Australians Agency
Charles Perkins House 16 Bowes Place Phillip ACT 2606 |GPO Box 2191
Canberra ACT 2601
w. niaa.gov.au  w. indigenous.gov.au
 

show quoted sections

FOI NIAA,

6 Attachments

OFFICIAL

FOI/2021/030

 

Dear Ms Jones,

 

Please find attached request consultation notice in relation to your
Freedom of Information request.

 

As set out in the attached correspondence, you are required to advise our
office of your response within 14 days, being 21 July 2021.

 

If you do not contact us within 14 days, your request will be taken to
have been withdrawn under section 24AB(6) of the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (FOI Act).

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at
[1][email address]. 

 

Kind regards,

 

NIAA FOI Coordinator

Corporate Group 

National Indigenous Australians Agency

[2][email address]

Charles Perkins House 16 Bowes Place Phillip ACT 2606 |GPO Box 2191
Canberra ACT 2601

w. niaa.gov.au  w. indigenous.gov.au

 

 
[3]cid:image016.png@01D56E0C.F4E5C720 The National Indigenous Australians Agency acknowledges the traditional
owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges
their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our
respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and
emerging.
 
[4]cid:image017.png@01D56E0C.F4E5C720    
[5]cid:image018.png@01D56E0C.F4E5C720     [6]cid:image019.png@01D56E0C.F4E5C720     [7]cid:image020.png@01D56E0C.F4E5C720

Note: This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally
privileged information (and neither are waived or lost if this email has
been sent to you by mistake).  If you are not the intended recipient, you
must not use, disclose, copy or retain it.  If you have received it in
error, please let me know by reply email and then delete this email from
your system and do not retain any copy.  Recipients within the Agency
should seek assistance from Legal Services Branch before disseminating
this email to third parties.

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov.au
5. https://www.instagram.com/indigenous_gov/
6. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
7. https://www.youtube.com/user/IndigenousG...

Trent Morrison-Francis

Dear Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Secretaries’ ICT Governance Board's handling of my FOI request 'General Ledger (Last 5 Financial Years)'.

The application has not been responded to

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/g...

Yours faithfully,

Trent Morrison-Francis

Aboriginals Benefit Account Advisory Committee

2 Attachments

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    Internal review of Freedom of Information request General Ledger Last 5 Financial Years.txt

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Ben Fairless left an annotation ()

Given the amount of time between when this request was made and now, I have updated this request to "Withdrawn". If you would like to request this information, please make a new request.

Thanks,
Ben - OpenAustralia Foundation worker