Radio National news promgramme promo
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
Could you please provide me with a copy of the audio promo for Radio National's news programmes, that features Norman Swan, Andy Park and at least one other presenter whom I haven't been able to identify, that has been playing on Radio National recently.
If there is a script, or transcript, for this promo, I would appreciate a copy of that as well.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
Dear Mr Swain
I refer to your email of 7 April 2022, attached.
The request does not comply with the requirements of s 15 of the Freedom
of Information Act (Cth) 1982 (FOI Act) and is currently invalid.
If you submit a valid request, please note that the ABC is exempt from the
operation of the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) in
respect of its program material, s 7(2), Schedule 2, Part II refers.
This means that ABC as an agency is not required to provide its program
material under freedom of information.
The radio promo (audio, script, and/or transcript) requested is clearly
program material and cannot be supplied to you.
You may also refer to Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Herald and
Weekly Times Pty Limited [2012] AATA 914, and the Guidelines issued by the
OAIC at paragraph 2.16, for more information about the program material
exemption.
Please contact me if you would like to discuss.
Many thanks, FOI Advisor
ABC Legal | 13 9994
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee.
It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not
read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of
the information contained in this email, without authorisation.
If you have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender
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Dear ABC FoI Adviser,
I refer to your 13 April 2022 email refusing my FoI request (see https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/r...) for not complying with the requirements of s 15 of the Freedom of Information Act (Cth) 1982.
I see that section 15(3) says:
Where a person:
(a) wishes to make a request to an agency; or
(b) has made to an agency a request that does not comply with this section;
it is the duty of the agency to take reasonable steps to assist the person to make the request in a manner that complies with this section.
Therefore, could you please explain how I can get the information I have requested, e.g. under an information publication scheme.
It seems unreasonable that the ABC should be able to advertise its services, and make claims about those services, but then make it unreasonably difficult for listeners to hold it to account for the claims that it has made by claiming that the promotional material is programme material and therefore exempt.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Swain
Dear Mr Swain
A validly worded request for ABC's program material does not remove the exemption available to ABC as an agency where it is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 with respect to its program material, which includes radio promos.
Further, we are not required to process FOI requests to supply information that is already in the public domain.
You can find information and audio from ABC Radio National online, such as:
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/pro...
If you would like to speak with somone from Radio National about your concerns, you can phone ABC on 13 9994, or reach them here: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/con....
Many thanks, FOI Advisor
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians
and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee. It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of the information contained in this email, without authorisation.
If you have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Broadcasting Corporation's handling of my FOI request 'Radio National news promgramme promo' - see https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/r...
My request has been refused because the documents that I am requesting have been classified by the ABC FOI Advisor as programme material and therefore exempt under Section 7(2) of the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982.
As I am requesting promotional material I believe that the classification of the documents that I have requested as programme material is incorrect. In the OAIC's FoI Guidelines, paragraph 2.16 discusses the definition of programme material - see https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor... - and concludes:
"Documents containing salary information about ABC presenters, and documents relating to the classification of television programs, were neither ‘program material’ nor documents ‘in relation to’ program material. That latter phrase requires ‘at least a reasonably direct relationship’ or connection between a document and the nominated topic, and not a connection that is indirect, remote or tenuous."
I believe that this shows that the exemption is not absolute and should not be applied just because something has been broadcast. I therefore believe that it is unreasonable that the ABC should be able to advertise its services, and make claims about those services, but then make it unreasonably difficult for listeners to hold it to account for the claims that it has made by claiming that the promotional material is programme material and therefore exempt.
I also note that the ABC FOI Advisor has suggested that the information that I want is already publicly available. I believe that this is incorrect. For example, one of the promos was played just prior to the afternoon repeat of Late Night Live on 15 April 2022. However, it is not included in the audio for that programme that is available online at https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/pro...
Further, if the ABC FOI Adviser's claim is correct due to the promos being available somewhere within a programme, I don't believe that this makes the promos practically available as there is no way of finding them efficiently. Personally, I have not heard the promos played within a programme but only just prior to a news bulletin.
I therefore believe that the refusal to provide the documents that I have requested is incorrect, and I request that you review the decision and provide the information.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/r...
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
Dear Mr Swain
On 7 April 2022 you sent an email that was not a valid FOI request as
notified to you on 13 April 2022. I invited you to contact me to discuss.
More information on submitting a valid FOI request is available here:
[1]Freedom of information | About the ABC
No decision has been made by the delegate. Please phone me to discuss the
requirements of s 15 of the Freedom of Information Act (Cth) 1982 (FOI
Act) if you need assistance.
Your request is missing 2 elements required by s 15 of the FOI Act - most
importantly it does not provide enough detail to identify the document,
such as the name, date, and time of the program you heard the promo. If
you can identify the topic of the promo that would help. What do you mean
by “news programmes”? On 7 April, you said:
Could you please provide me with a copy of the audio promo for Radio
National's news programmes, that features Norman Swan, Andy Park and at
least one other presenter whom I haven't been able to identify, that has
been playing on Radio National recently.
If there is a script, or transcript, for this promo, I would appreciate a
copy of that as well.
Once your request complies with s 15(2)(aa) and (b), the ABC can start to
process it.
Alternatively, I have previously given you the direct contact details of
the Radio National team: [2]https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/con...
This link allows you to phone or email concerns, feedback, or lodge a
complaint. The RN team is best placed to help you with more information
about what you may have heard on their programs, please contact them
directly, as they can help you find online content as well.
Paragraph 2.16 the Guidelines states:
“2.16 The exemption for ‘program material’ of the ABC and SBS has been
considered in Federal Court, AAT and IC review cases. In Australian
Broadcasting Corporation and Herald and Weekly Times Pty Limited, the AAT
held that program material means a document ‘which is the program and all
versions of the whole or any part of the program, any transmission
broadcast or publication of the program, and includes a document of any
content or form embodied in the program and any document acquired or
created for the purpose of creating the program, whether or not
incorporated into the complete program’.”
A radio promo is a transmission broadcast and content embodied in the
(Radio National) program. For efficiency, I have let you know this in
advance of submitting a compliant FOI request as you have the option of
contacting the RN team outside of FOI instead.
In any event, the ABC has not made an original decision as it is yet to
receive a valid FOI request from you. Once you submit a valid request,
which identifies the relevant date, time, and program/promo topic, the ABC
will then issue a decision to you.
Many thanks, FOI Advisor | 13 9994
Dear ABC FOI Adviser,
Wow! Talk about getting in the minutiae! Just how many promos played on Radio National have featured Andy Park, Norman Swan and at least one other person?
Given that I think that it is reasonable to assume that Radio National has all its promos stored in one place, have them indexed with the people involved, and that I have been pretty specific about those people, I find it difficult to believe that you didn't have the information required to identify the document that I have requested and that therefore I hadn't complied with Section 15(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act.
And in what way haven't I complied with Section 15(2)(aa)? The subject of my 7 April 2022 email is "Freedom of Information request - Radio National news promgramme promo".
So why was I supposed to infer that you were classifying the request as invalid for those reasons?
Wasn't it far more likely that you had classified it as invalid because I hadn't used the magical word "document" in describing the information that I wanted? And that as a result it was reasonable for me to ask for assistance under Section 15(3), as I did on 13 April 2022. To which you started talking about exemptions, rather than problems with Section 15(2)(aa) and (b).
In any case, by chance, I heard the promo I am requesting, on Radio National, today, just before the 6 pm news in Sydney.
So you now have a date and time the promo was played, and so I have met the standard that you have set.
And just to be sure that I have met your standards for Section 15(2)(aa), this is a request for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
I look forward to getting this "document".
Yours sincerely,
Paul Swain
Dear Mr Swain
Attached is the ABC’s decision about your freedom of information request.
Many thanks, FOI Advisor
ABC Legal | 13 9994
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Broadcasting Corporation's handling of my FOI request 'Radio National news promgramme promo' which can be found at https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/r...
My request has been refused because the documents that I am requesting have been classified by the ABC FOI Advisor as programme material and therefore exempt under Section 7(2) of the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982.
As I am requesting promotional material I believe that the classification of the documents that I have requested as programme material is incorrect. In the OAIC's FoI Guidelines, paragraph 2.16 discusses the definition of programme material - see https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor... - and concludes:
"Documents containing salary information about ABC presenters, and documents relating to the classification of television programs, were neither ‘program material’ nor documents ‘in relation to’ program material. That latter phrase requires ‘at least a reasonably direct relationship’ or connection between a document and the nominated topic, and not a connection that is indirect, remote or tenuous."
I believe that this shows that the exemption is not absolute and should not be applied just because something has been broadcast. I therefore believe that it is unreasonable that the ABC should be able to advertise its services, and make claims about those services, but then make it unreasonably difficult for listeners to hold it to account for the claims that it has made by claiming that the promotional material is programme material and therefore exempt.
I also note that the ABC FOI Advisor has at times suggested that the information that I want is already publicly available. I believe that this is incorrect. For example, one of the promos was played just prior to the afternoon repeat of Late Night Live on 15 April 2022. However, it is not included in the audio for that programme that is available online at https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/pro...
Further, if the ABC FOI Adviser's claim is correct due to the promos being available somewhere within a programme, I don't believe that this makes the promos practically available as there is no way of finding them efficiently. Personally, I have not heard the promos played within a programme but only just prior to, or after, a news bulletin.
The ABC FOI Adviser has also said:
"we are not required to process FOI requests to supply information that is already in the public domain"
and suggested that I contact Radio National using https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/con...
I did this on 21 April 2022, and 3 weeks later I am still to receive an acknowledgement, let alone a reply. It therefore seems unlikely that the information is already in the public domain.
I therefore believe that the refusal to provide the documents that I have requested is incorrect, and I request that you review the decision and provide the information.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/r...
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
Mr Swain
The delegate is processing the internal review.
Many thanks,
Senior FOI Officer
ABC Legal
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians
and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee. It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of the information contained in this email, without authorisation. If you have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system.
Dear Mr Swain
Please see attached our letter of today’s date.
Yours sincerely,
Dharma
[1]ABC Dharma Chandran
Chief People Officer
ABC
M: 0497 565 061
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the
First Australians
and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and
work.