International portability assessments procedures
Lei Ying made this Freedom of Information request to Services Australia
Dear Services Australia FOI and Ombudsman Branch
This is an application for documents under FOI.
The application scope is the following two OB pages in relation to CIS assessments:
1. 061-01110050 Restricted portability assessment procedure for Centrelink International Services staff
2. 008-03120040 Assessment for Disability Support Pension (DSP) customers going overseas under the no future work capacity provisions
The applicant is agreeable to administrative release if the documents are made publicly available subsequent to the filing of this application.
Yours faithfully
Lei Ying
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released under the arrangements will be considered withdrawn.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.
Dear Lei Ying,
I refer to your request to Services Australia (the Agency) on 16 April
2025 for access to the following document held by Services Australia (the
Agency), under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act:
1. 061-01110050 Restricted portability assessment procedure for Centrelink
International Services staff
2. 008-03120040 Assessment for Disability Support Pension (DSP) customers
going overseas under the no future work capacity provisions
Proposal
We are asking that you consider the below proposal, in order for your
request to be processed in the most expediate manner.
The Operational Blueprint (OB) you requested in Point 2 (008-03120040) was
released in a recent FOI request on 4 November 2024, under reference
number LEX 81670.
The OB is now available upon request via the [1]Agency’s disclosure log.
If requested off the disclosure log, it can be provided to you within 7
days, rather than the 30-day statutory timeframe.
Therefore, I am proposing you revise Point 2 of your request to be for the
OB published on the disclosure log under LEX 81670. We will continue
processing the OB listed in Point 1 under this FOI request, LEX 84719.
We require your written agreement to proceed on this basis.
Action
If you agree with my proposal to revise Point 2 of your request to be for
the OB published on the disclosure log under LEX 81670, we would
appreciate if you could please respond to this email stating ‘I agree’ by
Monday 28 April 2025.
As stated above, we will continue processing Point 1 of your request,
however you will receive the OB requested in Point 2 within 7 days.
If you do not agree to receiving Point 2 via a disclosure log request, the
Agency will process your request under the FOI Act, however a 30-day
statutory period for processing your request will apply.
Further assistance
If you have any questions, please reply by return email as soon as
possible.
Kind regards,
Alexander, A/g Senior FOI Officer
FOI & Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division
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Dear Alexander,
I agree to your proposal to release 008-03120040 by way of the disclosure log and refine the application scope to solely 061-01110050. Thank you.
Kind regards,
Lei Ying
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.
Dear Lei
I refer to your request for documents released on Services Australia's
Disclosure Log under LEX 81670.
Your request has been received and we will process it as soon as
practicable.
You can expect the documents from us by 1 May 2025.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Please use
FOI LEX reference number LEX 84828.
Kind regards,
Gurtej, Authorised FOI Decision Maker
Freedom of Information Legal Team
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.
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.
References
Visible links