List of all documents held on behalf of Dept. of Veterans Affairs.

The request was refused by Services Australia.

Dear Services Australia,

A recent response from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs stated that all documents used by them are held by Services Australia on their computer Servers (not DVA Servers), in particular documents (both inward and outward facing documents) described by DVA as the Consolidated Library of Information and Knowledge, or CLIK.

I seek a list under S.17 of the FOI Act indicating the names and details of all documents held by Services Australia on their Servers, on behalf of and accessed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. I do not require a copy of any documents, just the list.

Yours faithfully,

Arthur Jordan

FREEDOMOFINFORMATION, Services Australia

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.

            

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FREEDOMOFINFORMATION, Services Australia

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Jordan,

 

Please see attached communication regarding your FOI request.

 

Kind regards

 

Claire
FOI Practitioner
Freedom of Information Team
Freedom of Information and Ombudsman Branch

LEGAL SERVICES DIVISION

[1]cid:image003.jpg@01D6B8DA.4DF87C40

I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands we live on. I pay my
respects

to all Elders, past and present, of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander nations.

LGBTI+ ALLY!

 

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Dear Services Australia,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Services Australia's handling of my FOI request 'List of all documents held on behalf of Dept. of Veterans Affairs.'.

You state your refusal reason as "Your request indicates you have been provided advice that DVA documents are stored on the Agency’s computer servers. I am advised the Agency has a shared ICT platform with other government departments and agencies such as DVA. However, documents owned by other departments that may be stored on this server are not within the Agency’s possession. Therefore, the Agency does not hold possession of the documents (should they exist) nor a list with the the names and details of any such documents"

This is a very pedantic meaning of "possession" and one which I do not agree with. It is your duty to do more to comply with this FOI request than just say that because you share Server space with other Government Departments you do not have possession of them, you can't find them. DVA says the same thing, that because the documents are on your Servers, they do not have possession of them.

Please explain who has the ultimate access to all shared documents on your Servers? This would be of more benefit than to just refuse my FOI request outright.

This information is required for use in a submission to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans Suicide and your and DVA's attempts to fob my FOI request off on to each other can be examined by that Royal Commission.

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

Yours faithfully,

Arthur Jordan

FREEDOMOFINFORMATION, Services Australia

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.

            

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FOI.LEGAL.TEAM, Services Australia

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Jordan,  

 

Please find attached correspondence in relation to your request for access
to documents held by Services Australia made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982.

 

Kind regards

 

Matthew, Authorised FOI Decision Maker

FOI & Ombudsman Branch
LEGAL SERVICES DIVISION

[1]Title: Services Australia branding - Description: Services Australia
servicesaustralia.gov.au

Please note: 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.

 

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Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,
I formally advise that I DO NOT consent to redaction of business details of Public Servants. This includes, but is not limited to business email address, business telephone and mobile numbers and full names of Staff. Private details may be redacted.
Yours sincerely,

Arthur Jordan

FOI.LEGAL.TEAM, Services Australia

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Jordan 

 

Please find attached the decision letter relating to your request for
internal review of a decision made by Services Australia, under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982.

 

If you have any questions regarding this matter or are unable to open the
attachments please contact me by replying to this email.

 

Regards,

 

Zeng, Authorised FOI Decision Maker

FOI & Ombudsman Branch
LEGAL SERVICES DIVISION

[1]Title: Services Australia branding - Description: Services Australia
servicesaustralia.gov.au

Please note: 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.

 

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