Premier of WA sexual harassment equal opportunity law reform
Dear WA Department of the Premier and Cabinet,
I would like copies of all action taken by the Premier of WA in relation to the inadequacy of the Equal Opportunity Act WA 1984 to protect employees in the workplace (predominantly female employees who represent the vast majority of complainants).
The Premier has been made aware of a sexual harassment case in 2018, including his treasurer and the local member for that area.
I would like to know what action he has taken to change the paltry penalty which is a maximum penalty of 40k, and the paltry penalty for false and misleading information.
I would also like to know what action he has taken in regards to making available to complainants previous complaints against respondents since this is currently protected.
I would like to know what action he has taken in regards to increasing the release of documents through the FOI act since it is being used to block release of relevant information to cases.
Regards
Former local government and state govt employee who chooses not to work somewhere that keeps employees who can bring vagina and pubic hair books to work and keep their job
Yours faithfully,
Anon for now
Good afternoon,
I refer to your email sent to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet's Freedom of Information (FOI) Unit.
For an FOI Application to be valid, an applicant must meet the requirements of Section 12 of the FOI Act.
Section 12(1) of the Act states that for an application to be valid, the access application has to:
(a) be in writing;
(b) give enough information to enable the requested documents to be identified;
(c) give an address in Australia to which notices under this Act can be sent;
(d) give any other information or details required under the regulations;
(e) be lodged at an office of the agency with any application fee payable under the regulations.
At this point, your application has not been accepted by this agency as it does not comply with the requirement of sections 12(1)(b) and 12(1)(c) of the FOI Act. I can confirm the FOI Unit deal with access requests for documents and does not answer questions. Please note that until your application complies with section 12 of the FOI Act, your application remains an invalid application and it cannot be processed by the agency.
You can validate your application at any time by forwarding this agency clear correspondence stating which documents you are seeking under the FOI Act together with an address in Australia. If you are seeking information which is not personal to you, you are required to make payment of the non-personal application fee.
You have the option of using the online application form to lodge your FOI application and make electronic payment of the fee by credit card (if applicable). To use this facility please visit; https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publica... and complete the FOI application form. I have also attached a hard copy application form.
I can ensure you that the FOI Unit will deal with your application in a confidential manner.
Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss.
Regards,
Domenico Misitano | Freedom of Information Coordinator | Executive Services
Department of the Premier and Cabinet | Dumas House, 2 Havelock Street, West Perth
Telephone 08 6552 5823 | Email [email address]
dpc.wa.gov.au