Investigations
Dear Australian Public Service Commission,
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), I request any and all documents sent or received by, or prepared for, or prepared by, or made use of by each of:
a) Gordon de Brouwer,
b) Peter Woolcott,
c) Helen Wilson,
d) Rina Bruinsma,
e) Grant Lovelock,
f) Jo Talbot,
g) Charmaine Sims,
h) any occupants, whether in a substantive or acting capacity, of the role of Assistant Commissioner, Integrity, Performance and Employment policy,
in respect of inadequate investigations, or in respect of reports of inadequate investigations, relating to misconduct in the Australian Public Service, or any kinds of unlawful conduct by officials in the Australian Public Service (including agency heads and statutory office holders), from 1 January 2020 to 29 August 2023.
Yours faithfully,
Louis Verhuizen
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Verhuizen,
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 for access to documents held by the Australian Public
Service Commission (The Commission).
The timeframe for responding to your request is 30 days from the date of
receipt. Therefore, the due date for this request is Thursday 28 September
2023.
This timeframe may be extended in certain circumstances. You will be
notified if these circumstances arise and the timeframe is extended.
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: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
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attachments to a third party.
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OFFICIAL
Good afternoon Louis,
Thank you for submitting a Freedom of Information request to the
Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission).
I am writing to inform you that the scope of your request is too broad and
the Commission is unable to process it in its current form. I am kindly
requesting if you could refine the scope of your request such as reducing
the timeframe, providing us with information you are not seeking etc.
Please send us a response by Wednesday 13 September 2023.
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: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
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attachments to a third party.
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Dear FOI,
Thank you for your email.
In your email you note that the scope of my request “is too broad and the Commission is unable to process it in its current form.”
It is not clear what the statutory basis of your statement is.
The only ground for refusing to process an FOI request is set out in section 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act), which relates to a diversion of the resources of an agency.
In order to invoke section 24, the work involved in processing a request for documents under the FOI Act would substantially AND unreasonably divert the resources of the entire agency from its other operations: FOI Act, s 24AA(1)(a).
A request can be described quite broadly and must be read fairly by an agency, being mindful not to take a narrow or pedantic approach to its construction: ‘BI’ and Professional Services Review [2014] AICmr 20.
I have made a valid request for access to documents. It is a narrow request, in that I have identified the people with which the request is associated, the timeframe for the search (which is relatively short), and the subject matter.
Specifically, I have requested access to documents sent or received by, or prepared for or by, or made use of by 7 named individuals, as well as an officeholder, in an agency of some 380 people. Moreover, I have narrowed the request for documents to a very small class – namely documents in respect of inadequate investigations (i.e. investigations not conducted according to law), or in respect of reports of inadequate investigations (i.e. reports of investigations not conducted according to law), relating to misconduct in the Australian Public Service, or any kinds of unlawful conduct by officials in the Australian Public Service (including agency heads and statutory office holders).
There is, therefore, no basis for claiming that the documents are not sufficiently identified.
As a Commonwealth integrity agency, the response to my FOI request should be that there are no documents that fall within the scope of the request because Commonwealth integrity agencies should not be conducting inadequate investigations (i.e. investigations not conducted according to law). That being said, a set of materials has come to my attention that has prompted me to make this FOI request.
I cannot imagine that processing a request for a very narrow class of documents – documents in respect of inadequate investigations (i.e. investigations not conducted according to law), or in respect of reports of inadequate investigations (i.e. reports of investigations not conducted according to law), relating to misconduct in the Australian Public Service, or any kinds of unlawful conduct by officials in the Australian Public Service (including agency heads and statutory office holders) – pertaining to 7 people and an officeholder in an agency of some 380 people would substantially AND unreasonably divert the resources of the entire agency from its other operations.
Unless you can identify a lawful ground to support your statement that my request “is too broad and the Commission is unable to process it in its current form”, you must, with respect, process my request as it stands.
If you are claiming a practical refusal ground, please provide me with formal notification of that fact, in accordance with subsection 24AB(2) of the FOI Act. In other words, please give me written notice stating the following:
a) an intention to refuse access to a document in accordance with a request;
b) the practical refusal reason;
c) the name of an officer of the agency or member of staff of the Minister (the contact person) with whom the applicant may consult during a period;
d) details of how the applicant may contact the contact person;
e) that the period (the consultation period) during which the applicant may consult with the contact person is 14 days after the day the applicant is given the notice.
If you are not claiming a practical refusal ground, please process my FOI request as it stands.
Of course, if you are about to claim that processing a request in respect of documents in the possession of 7 identified individuals and an office holder about inadequate investigations (i.e. investigations not conducted according to law), or in respect of reports of inadequate investigations (i.e. reports of investigations not conducted according to law), relating to misconduct in the Australian Public Service, or any kinds of unlawful conduct by officials in the Australian Public Service (including agency heads and statutory office holders) would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the entire Australian Public Service Commission from its other operations, then the Australian Public Service Commission is in deeper trouble than I thought.
Yours sincerely,
Louis Verhuizen
Dear FOI,
If you are going to claim a practical refusal ground for refusing to process my FOI request, would you please provide me with:
a) the representative sample of documents that have been assessed to determine that there is a practical refusal ground: Paul Farrell and Prime Minister of Australia (Freedom of information) [2017] AICmr 44; GD’ and Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet [2015] AICmr 46; Farrell and Department of Immigration and Border Protection (No. 2) [2014] AICmr 121; ‘DC’ and Department of Human Services [2014] AICmr 106; Farrell and Department of Immigration and Border Protection (No. 2) [2014] AICmr 121; ‘DC’ and Department of Human Services [2014] AICmr 106; and ‘AP’ and Department of Human Services [2013] AICmr 78; and
b) an indication of the number of documents that are likely to be released in the light of the sample exercise undertaken: Paul Farrell and Prime Minister of Australia (Freedom of information) [2017] AICmr 44 [25]; and
c) in the light of the assessment of the sample, an indication of the complexity of the potential decision, the number of exemptions required, the topic and content of the documents, and the number of consultations required and effort required to contact third parties based on available contact details: Dreyfus and Attorney-General (Commonwealth of Australia) (Freedom of information) [2015] AATA 995 [57] (Justice Jagot, currently of the High Court of Australia, sitting as a Presidential Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal).
Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
Yours sincerely,
Louis Verhuizen
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Verhuizen,
Please find attached a decision notice in relation to your recent freedom
of information 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 3813 w: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
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This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally
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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.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
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return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
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Dear Ms McIntyre,
Firstly, thank you for processing my FOI request. Obviously, the statements made, on 6 September 2023, that the scope of my request is too broad and that the APSC “is unable to process it in its current form” are not true.
Secondly, the decision to refuse access on the basis on s 24A seems incorrect.
It is public knowledge that the acting Commonwealth Ombudsman, Penny McKay, sent Mr Peter Woolcott, the Public Service Commissioner, a letter (https://docdro.id/KxHOwyk) on 18 March 2022 notifying him that, after conducting a preliminary inquiry under s 7A of the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Cth), she had commenced an investigation into Kate McMullan’s handling of a public interest disclosure investigation.
According to Ms McKay, the public interest disclosure had a reference of PID-2020-400006, which is the same reference for the disclosure allocated to the APSC in relation to recruitment decisions in the Federal Court Statutory Agency (https://docdro.id/YAB3yIZ).
It’s obvious that Ms McKay’s letter is a document received by Peter Woolcott in respect of an inadequate investigation, or in respect of a report of an inadequate investigation, relating to misconduct in the Australian Public Service, or any kinds of unlawful conduct by officials in the Australian Public Service (including agency heads and statutory office holders), from 1 January 2020 to 29 August 2023.
I request an internal review of your decision on the basis that your claim that there are no documents within the scope of my request is untrue. Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/i...
Yours faithfully,
Louis Verhuizen
OFFICIAL
Good afternoon Mr Verhuizen,
The Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission) is writing to
acknowledge receipt of your request for internal review under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
The timeframe for responding to your internal review request is 30 days
from the date of receipt. This timeframe for internal review may be
extended in very limited circumstances. You will be notified if these
circumstances arise and the timeframe is extended.
Please note that there is a new LEX number for your internal review
request. All correspondences will be referred under LEX 660.
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: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
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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.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
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OFFICIAL
Good morning,
Please find attached a decision notice in relation to your recent request
for internal review.
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: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
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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.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
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[1]Office of the Australian Information Reference Code:
Commissioner ICR_10-55713553-4146
You submitted a form called: FOI Review_
Your form reference code is: ICR_10-55713553-4146
To check the progress of your submission and/or confirm it has been
received you should contact the agency that provides the form. These
details are displayed below.
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[2]http://www.oaic.gov.au | [3]1300 363 992 | [4][email address]
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Note: Please do not reply to this auto-generated email.
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Our reference: MR23/01428
By email: [FOI #10642 email]
Receipt of your IC review application
Thank you for your application for Information Commissioner Review (IC
review).
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is
considering your application.
If you wish to advise the OAIC of any changes to your circumstances,
including your contact details or if your FOI request has been resolved,
please write to [email address] and quote MR23/01428.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Regulatory Group
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Notice:
The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
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Our reference: MR23/01428
Agency reference: LEX 660
Mr Louis Verhuizen
By email: [1][FOI #10642 email]
Dear Mr Verhuizen
Thank you for your application for review. We have today informed the
Australian Public Service Commission that the Information Commissioner
will undertake an IC review and requested information to assist with
progressing the review.
We will provide you with an update when we have heard from the Australian
Public Service Commission.
Kind regards
[2][IMG] Dipali Goel (she/her)
Intake and Early Resolution Officer
Freedom of Information Branch
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney |GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
P 1300 363 992 E [3][email address]
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Dear Dipali,
Thank you for letting me know. I hope to hear from you soon.
Wishing you a safe and relaxing holiday break.
Yours sincerely,
Louis Verhuizen