Policy and procedures for making 'reasonable accommodation' for disabilities

Keith Owen made this Freedom of Information request to Services Australia

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

The request was refused by Services Australia.

Dear Department of Human Services,

1. Documents relating to the Child Support Program's internal procedures, instructions, guides or written policies in:

a. assisting participants with disabilities who:

i. are attending an AAT hearing;
ii. are participating in a hearing when they are self represented;
iii. have stated that they have difficulty providing evidence;
iv. have stated that their disability may impact on their psychological health; and
v. have indicated to the Department that they have trouble responding to questions or providing oral evidence in the hearing.
vi. have made an application for a change of assessment and indicated that they have difficulty providing information due to a range of disabilities including "depression, acquired brain injury, intellectual impairment, cognitive impairment, psychiatric impairment, psychological impairment, or any other condition that impairs their ability to communicate with the Department.
vii. have otherwise communicated to the Department regarding their disability in any other format for any other purpose.

2. DHS documents demonstrating:

a. its compliance with provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth);
b. its obligations to apply legislation that does not disadvantage people who have a disability.

3. DHS documents demonstrating the steps taken to ensure that it does not discriminate against people who have a disability, including but not limited to the conditions mentioned above.

We believe that this information is in the public interest to be made available publicly.

Yours faithfully,

Keith Owen

FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

2 Attachments

Dear Keith Owen

 

Please find attached correspondence relating to your request for access to
information held by the Department of Human Services, under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ashleigh

Freedom of Information and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division

Department of Human Services

Email [1][email address]

[2]cid:image001.png@01D15CE0.EE682F50

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
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Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

Thank-you for your response.

I advise the following:

1. This request is in the public interest.
2. This request was made to the AAT, and they were able to fulfil the request relatively easily. The same terms of reference were used.

I now request, what steps you have made to identify the extent of the documents required?

Further, due to the nature of the material requested, both being in the public interest, and given that there is a legislated duty for the Department of Human Services to adhere to the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act (Commonwealth), it is a reasonable request made in the public interest to make these documents available for public use and knowledge.

I thus request that you finalize the intended refusal so that I may request an external review to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, and then lodge a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Owen

Matt Perrottet left an annotation ()

Hi There
I am at a loss as to why the Department would refuse such a request. It seems the Department hides under many nuances of Law and in my case has fragrantly disregarded the law. In this case there is no reasonable excuse to withhold what is being asked for. The Australian public demands their right to have access to documents such as this and it should already b available from a public facing website if the documents are of a reasonable nature.
Thank
Matt.

Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

Accountability is the key here.

Can you please articulate why it is more difficult for the Department to comply with this request in light of the fact that other Government Departments/Agencies seem to have little difficulty with it?

Yours sincerely,

Keith Owen

Renee left an annotation ()

This is very clear in what is being requested. As a government agency transparency is essential, Particularly when it comes to those who have a disability.
Once again a case of the CSA attempting to hide due to the corruption of the organisation.

Dear FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

A fair question has been asked regarding what steps have been taken to identify the documents concerned. This step is required before forming a 'preliminary' view that it presents too much work or the documents don't exist.

I will provide a further 7 days, and then I will escalate this to the OAIC not only for an external determination, but also as a formal complaint, and CC the Minister's office in seeking an explanation as to why DHS is not conforming to the Prime Minister's direction regarding open and accountable Government.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Owen

FOI.LEGAL.TEAM,

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Owen,

 

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

 

 

Bruce

FOI and Litigation Branch | Legal Services Division

Department of Human Services

[1]cid:image001.png@01CF8C5E.459B3DD0

 

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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