Universal Basic Income - Documents from 2000 onwards

James Adams made this Freedom of Information request to Department of the Treasury

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

Department of the Treasury did not have the information requested.

Dear Department of the Treasury,

Please supply any documents (including reports, briefings and memos) that discuss universal basic income initiatives (either in Australia or elsewhere).

For clarity, I interested in any document that discusses universal basic income pilots, negative income taxes, unconditional cash transfers, papers that model the effects of this sort of scheme, and any document that discusses design issues associated with introducing a universal basic income, whether hypothetically or otherwise.

Please note that I am only interested in documents dated since 1 January 2000.

Yours faithfully,

James Adams

FOI, Department of the Treasury

Dear James

We would like to acknowledge receipt of your FOI request to this
department, seeking the following documents:

FOI 2317 – Please supply any documents (including reports, briefings and
memos) that discuss universal basic income initiatives (either in
Australia or elsewhere).

 

For clarity, I interested in any document that discusses universal basic
income pilots, negative income taxes, unconditional cash transfers, papers
that model the effects of this sort of scheme, and any document that
discusses design issues associated with introducing a universal basic
income, whether hypothetically or otherwise.

 

Please note that I am only interested in documents dated since 1 January
2000.

 

Your request was received by the department on 25 April 2018 and the 30
day period currently expires on 25 May 2018.

 

The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your
request and the amount of any such charge as soon as possible.

 

Unless we hear from you, we will assume that you are not seeking staff
names and contact details as part of your request. Where applicable, these
details will be redacted under section 22 of the Act.

 

If you have any questions in relation to your application, please contact
the FOI Team on 02 6263 2800 or [1][email address]

 

Kind regards

FOI Team

Parliamentary and Legal Services Division

The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600

 

Phone:  (02) 6263 2800

Email:  [2][email address]

 

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2. mailto:[email address]

FOI, Department of the Treasury

1 Attachment

Dear James,

 

Please find attached a consultation notice regarding your FOI request to
the Treasury dated 25 April 2018, relating to universal basic income
initiatives.

 

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us on the number or
email listed below.

 

Regards

 

Dan Bigna

 

FOI Officer

Law Design Office

Revenue Group

The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600

 

Phone:  (02) 6263 2800

Email:  [1][email address]

 

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References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Vicki Wilkinson (or others at The Treasury),

Thank-you for your response to my Freedom of Information request. I entirely understand that providing the requested documents would take an unreasonable amount of your time; I had not realised that there would be so many documents on this subject!

As provided in the Act, I wish to clarify my request. I would now like to see any reports or briefings that discuss the feasibility of Universal Basic Income initiatives. By "universal basic income" initiatives, I mean schemes that involve paying a sum of money to at least the majority of Australians; I do not consider schemes that provide income assistance to those on low incomes only without any other conditions to be universal basic income initiatives.

I am only interested in reports or briefings that were provided to one or more Ministers or were developed for audiences external to The Treasury. I am not interested in emails or any other form of internal discussion documents.

Further, I am not interested in reports or briefings that were written before 2007, and I only wish to see documents held by The Treasury; this should mean that consultation with other agencies is not necessary.

Please be in contact if there is any more information that I can provide to assist you to comply with this request.

Yours sincerely,

James Adams

FOI, Department of the Treasury

Hi James

Thank you for your clarification. The revised scope reads as follows:

FOI 2317 - 'Any reports or briefings that discuss the feasibility of Universal Basic Income initiatives. By "universal basic income" initiatives, I mean schemes that involve paying a sum of money to at least the majority of Australians; I do not consider schemes that provide income assistance to those on low incomes only without any other conditions to be universal basic income initiatives. I am only interested in reports or briefings that were provided to one or more Ministers or were developed for audiences external to The Treasury. I am not interested in emails or any other form of internal discussion documents'.

The policy area has determined that the revised date range still remains quite broad with regard to a document search. Taking this into account, would you consider reducing the date range to documents produced after 1 January 2014?

Regards

Dan

FOI Officer
Law Design Office
Revenue Group
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600
Ph: + 61 2 6263 2558

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Dear Dan,

My apologies for taking a while to get back to you, and thank-you for the work that you and others within The Treasury have done to process my request.

If you are confident that there is material on the subject of a UBI within the suggested date range (2014 onward), I would be happy to accept this clarification.

Regards,

James Adams

FOI, Department of the Treasury

Hi James

Thank you for your email. We will proceed with the revised scope.

Regards

Dan

FOI Officer
Law Design Office
Revenue Group
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600
Ph: + 61 2 6263 2558

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FOI, Department of the Treasury

1 Attachment

Dear James

 

Please find attached correspondence regarding your FOI request, 2317. 

Regards

 

FOI Team

Communications and Parliamentary Division

The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600

 

Phone:  (02) 6263 2800

Email:  [1][email address]

 

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References

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1. mailto:[email address]