Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,

With reference to Open Arms, I require the following information, namely:

: The number of full time equivalent, (FTE), APS staff,
: The number of FTE contracted staff, and
: The percentage of total staff involved in the following activities:
- Administration/clerical duties,
- Frontline counselling, and
- Managing contracted staff.

Yours faithfully,

Alan ASHMORE

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

Thank you for your email. Please accept this automatic reply as
confirmation the Information Access Unit has received your email. An IA
Officer will contact you in due course, we appreciate your patience in the
interim.

 

This email is monitored during business hours Monday to Friday excluding
Public Holidays.

 

The Open Arms Veterans & Families Counselling service is available to
support members of the veteran and ex-service community and their families
and can be contacted toll free on 1800 011 046 (24/7). This number is for
counselling only. If you require urgent assistance, please call 000. If
you are unwell, please contact your local doctor or go to your nearest
hospital. You can also visit the Open Arms
website [1]https://www.openarms.gov.au/

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.openarms.gov.au/%0dThe%20Saf...

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

6 Attachments

Dear Mr Ashmore,

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (the department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:

''With reference to Open Arms, I require the following information,
namely:
:  The number of full time equivalent, (FTE), APS staff,
:  The number of FTE contracted staff, and
:  The percentage of total staff involved in the following activities:
-          Administration/clerical duties,
-          Frontline counselling, and
-          Managing contracted staff.'

Your request was received by the department on 13 April 2023 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.

Charges

 

The Department will notify you within 14 days of an estimate of the
charges that will apply to your request for non-personal information
before we process any requested documents or impose a final charge.

 

Your address

 

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[1][FOI #10158 email]  . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.

 

Disclosure log

 

Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

 

Request to treat certain material as out of scope or irrelevant to the
request

 

To the extent the department has documents in its possession that fall
within the scope of your request, we intend to treat the following
information as out of scope or irrelevant to your request, pursuant to
section 22(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act:

1.       The surnames, signatures and direct contact details of non-SES
Commonwealth employees and contractors, including clinical staff working
for Open Arms - Veterans & Families Counselling; and

2.       The signatures of third party individuals.

If you agree to the department treating these details as irrelevant,
please advise by 21 April 2023.

 

Further assistance

 

If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Kevin  Position Number – 62210946

Information Access Officer

Information Access Unit I Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

Client Engagement and Support Services Division

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)

[3][DVA request email]

[4]www.dva.gov.au 

 

[5]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[6]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[7]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[8]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590

[9]cid:image008.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0

[10]cid:image009.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #10158 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[DVA request email]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/
5. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
6. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
7. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
8. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

8 Attachments

Dear Mr Ashmore,

 

Thank you for your Information Access request to the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs (Department) – LEX 57211.

 

Please find the Department’s decision attached.

 

Kind regards

 

Ramona | Assistant Director

Position Number: 62336362

Information Access Unit I Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

Client Engagement and Support Services Division

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Tel 1800 838 372 (1800 VETERAN)

e [1][email address]

[2]www.dva.gov.au

[3]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[4]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[5]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[6]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590

[7]cid:image009.jpg@01D8EDC8.743A0070

[8]cid:image010.jpg@01D8EDC8.743A0070

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.dva.gov.au/
3. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
4. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
5. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
6. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus

Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans' Affairs's handling of my FOI request 'Open Arms staffing levels'.

Under righttoknow this is the only option I can use to make further contact with you.

The issue is there seems to be a large addition error to part 3 of your response, i.e. the percentages only add up to 59.5% and not 100%

I ask that you re-issue your reponse to this request to reflect the correct percentages.

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

Yours faithfully,

Alan ASHMORE

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

Thank you for your email. Please accept this automatic reply as
confirmation the Information Access Unit has received your email. An IA
Officer will contact you in due course, we appreciate your patience in the
interim.

 

This email is monitored during business hours Monday to Friday excluding
Public Holidays.

 

The Open Arms Veterans & Families Counselling service is available to
support members of the veteran and ex-service community and their families
and can be contacted toll free on 1800 011 046 (24/7). This number is for
counselling only. If you require urgent assistance, please call 000. If
you are unwell, please contact your local doctor or go to your nearest
hospital. You can also visit the Open Arms
website [1]https://www.openarms.gov.au/

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.openarms.gov.au/%0dThe%20Saf...

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

6 Attachments

Dear Mr Ashmore,

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (the department) has received your
request for internal review of the Department's decision LEX 57761 under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Your internal review
request reads as follows:

'I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans'
Affairs' handling of my FOI request 'Open Arms staffing levels'.
Under righttoknow this is the only option I can use to make further
contact with you.
The issue is there seems to be a large addition error to part 3 of your
response, i.e. the percentages only add up to 59.5% and not 100%
I ask that you re-issue your response to this request to reflect the
correct percentages.'

Your request for internal review was received by the department on 12 May
2023 and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request
commenced from the day after that date.

 

Where possible, your request for internal review will be handled by a FOI
officer authorised decision-maker who was not involved in the original
decision.

 

Your address

 

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[1][FOI #10158 email]  . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.

 

Disclosure log

 

Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

 

Further assistance

 

If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Kevin  Position Number – 62210946

Information Access Officer

Information Access Unit I Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

Client Engagement and Support Services Division

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)

[3][DVA request email]

[4]www.dva.gov.au 

 

[5]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[6]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[7]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[8]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590

[9]cid:image008.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0

[10]cid:image009.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #10158 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[DVA request email]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/
5. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
6. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
7. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
8. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

9 Attachments

Good afternoon Mr Ashmore,

 

How the original FOI request was worded, the response provided did meet
the scope of your request, as there are additional functions being
performed by Open Arms staff which did not fall into the 3 categories you
stipulated in your request. And as such did not equal 100%.

 

However, I have interpreted that you are seeking a complete breakdown of
staff and their functions within Open Arms, and have asked them to provide
the complete table with percentages of staff attributed to each job
family. We are happy to release to you administratively. See below:

 

ACTUAL JOB FAMILY Count of Employee (%)
Accounting and Finance 0.22%
Administration 14.25%
Communications and Marketing 8.99%
Monitoring and Audit 0.22%
Portfolio/Program/Project Management 15.57%
Science and health (majority frontline counsellors) 51.10%
Senior Executive 0.22%
Service Delivery 9.43%
TOTAL 100.00%

 

I am hoping that the provision of this complete information will satisfy
your request, and that you may be agreeable to withdrawing the below
internal review?

 

Happy to discuss further if required.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Brett | Director a/g

Position Number 62331110

Information Access Unit I Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

Client Engagement and Support Services Division

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Tel 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)

information.access @dva.gov.au

[1]www.dva.gov.au 

[2]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[3]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[4]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[5]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590

 

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan ASHMORE <[FOI #10158 email]>
Sent: Friday, 12 May 2023 9:48 PM
To: INFORMATION.ACCESS <[email address]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Open Arms
staffing levels

 

Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,

 

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

 

I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans'
Affairs's handling of my FOI request 'Open Arms staffing levels'.

 

Under righttoknow this is the only option I can use to make further
contact with you.

 

The issue is there seems to be a large addition error to part 3 of your
response, i.e. the percentages only add up to 59.5% and not 100%

 

I ask that you re-issue your reponse to this request to reflect the
correct percentages.

 

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

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Alan ASHMORE

 

 

 

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

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[7][FOI #10158 email]

 

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

[8]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

 

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

 

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

 

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

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dva.gov.au/
2. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
3. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
4. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
5. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus
6. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/o...
7. mailto:[FOI #10158 email]
8. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

hide quoted sections

INFORMATION.ACCESS, Department of Veterans' Affairs

16 Attachments

Dear Mr Ashmore,

 

Please see the affirmed internal review and the administrative release
provided to you on 17 May attached.

 

Kind regards

 

Brett | Director a/g

Position Number 62331110

Information Access Unit I Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

Client Engagement and Support Services Division

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Tel 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)

information.access @dva.gov.au

[1]www.dva.gov.au 

[2]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[3]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[4]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[5]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dva.gov.au/
2. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
3. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
4. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
5. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus