Incident logs - self-harm by minor

Sarah Pitney made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Home Affairs

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 Department of Home Affairs.

To the Department of Immigration and Citizenship,

Dear Sir/Madam,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) I request the
following:

A summary of all incident logs from the "self-harm" category involving persons under 18 years of age from January 2013 to present in the same format as FOI request "FA 13/12/00509

Kind Regards,

Sarah Pitney

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653; ADF2014/8942

 

Dear Ms Pitney

 

I am writing to you in response to your email dated 11 March 2014,
purportedly under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and asking
that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection provide you with
a copy of the following document:

 

A summary of all incident logs from the "self-harm" category involving
persons under 18 years of age from January 2013 to present in the same
format as FOI request "FA 13/12/00509

 

The purpose of this email is to advise you that I consider the request may
be invalid under the FOI Act.  I will explain my reasons in full below.

 

Requirements of the FOI Act

 

The requirements for a valid FOI request are set out in section 15(2) of
the Act, which provides that:

 

The request must:

 

(a)  be in writing; and

 

(aa) state that the request is an application for the purposes of this
Act; and

 

(b) provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably
necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency, or the Minister,
to identify it; and

 

(c) give details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the
applicant (for example, by providing an electronic address to which
notices may be sent by electronic communication).

 

The FOI Act envisages that an agency and the applicant will, where
necessary and appropriate, engage in dialogue about the request.  The FOI
Act also envisages that there may be instances when an agency will wish to
send a formal legal notice to an applicant, for example, when the agency
believes that it would be a substantial and unreasonable diversion of
resources to process the request or intends to charge the applicant for
processing the request.  In addition, the FOI Act provides applicants with
review rights which are activated by the act of the agency ‘notifying’ the
applicant of the decision.

 

In order to engage in this dialogue, the applicant must provide an address
through which the applicant intends to be contactable.  It should be an
address through which the agency will be able to write to the applicant
and receive a response to the communication.  It must also be an address
through which the agency can reasonably assume that legal notices will be
received, read and responded to by the applicant.  This requirement has
been an element of a valid FOI request since the Act was first enacted in
1982.

 

Issues regarding your request

 

I am not satisfied that the email address you have provided meets the
requirement of ‘details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the
applicant’ (s.15(2)(c) of the FOI Act).  In particular, it does not appear
to be an address to which the agency could send a ‘notice’.  The address
you have provided appears to be an address for publication of
correspondence and documents on the internet.

 

Next steps

 

Please confirm by writing to [email address] that the email address you
have provided is an address to which the department can send you
correspondence and legal notices, by close of business Wednesday 26 march
2014.  The request will then be validated. 

 

If you have not provided confirmation by that time, the request will be
closed as invalid.

 

Yours sincerely

Janelle

__________________________________

Janelle Raineri

FOI Inbox Manager

FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration and Border Protection

Email: [1][email address]

 

show quoted sections

Dear Janelle Raineri,

I confirm that the 'right to know' email address that I have provided is an address to which the Department may send me correspondence and legal notices.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Pitney

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653; ADF2014/8942

 

Dear Ms Pitney

 

Thank you for your prompt response.  The department will send all
correspondence and legal notices to the right to know email address.  The
request has been validated and you will receive an acknowledgement
shortly.

 

Yours Sincerely

Janelle

 

__________________________________

Janelle Raineri

FOI Inbox Manager

FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration and Border Protection

Email: [1][email address]

 

show quoted sections

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653; ADF2014/8942

 

Dear Ms Pitney,

 

Please find attached the acknowledgement of receipt for your recent FOI
Request. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

_____________________________________

Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer

FOI & Privacy Policy Section

Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB)
Department of Immigration and Border Protection

( (02) 6264 4667

8 [1][email address

 

UNCLASSIFIED

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653;  ADF2014/8942

 

Dear Ms Pitney,

 

Re: Your Freedom of Information request

 

I am writing to inform you that I have been appointed as the authorised
decision maker for your FOI request, seeking access to:

 

A summary of all incident logs from the "self-harm" category involving
persons under 18 years of age from January 2013 to present in the same
format as FOI request "FA 13/12/00509

 

As part of the department’s FOI service standard, I will update you every
14 days regarding the progress of your request, however please do not
hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or wish to discuss the
request in the interim.

 

Regards

 

_____________________________________

Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer

FOI & Privacy Policy Section

Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB)
Department of Immigration and Border Protection

( (02) 6264 4667

8 [1][email address

 

UNCLASSIFIED

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

2 Attachments

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653; ADF2014/8942

 

Dear Ms Pitney,

 

This email refers to your FOI request received on 11 March 2014 seeking
access to:

 

A summary of all incident logs from the "self-harm" category involving
persons under 18 years of age from January 2013 to present in the same
format as FOI request "FA 13/12/00509

 

The current due date for your FOI request is 18 April 2014.

 

The purpose of this email is to advise you (as required under s.24AB of
the FOI Act) that I consider a 'practical refusal reason' exists under
s.24AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) in relation to
your request.  I have set out my reasons in the attached notice.

 

The FOI Act requires that you respond to this notice before the end of the
consultation period, which is close of business Australian Eastern
Standard Time (AEST) Monday 28 April 2014.

 

Please note that I have extended the consultation period by 5 days as I
will be out of the office over the Easter break. I will be on leave from
COB Thursday 17 April 2014 and returning Monday 28 April 2014. Any
correspondence that you may send during this time, I will respond to on my
return.

 

As advised in the notice, you may reply to me at this email address
([1][email address]).

 

Regards

 

_____________________________________

Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer

FOI & Privacy Policy Section

Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB)
Department of Immigration and Border Protection

( (02) 6264 4667

8 [2][email address

 

UNCLASSIFIED

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]

Dear Shannon Bevan,

I am happy to revise my request to all incident logs from the 'self-harm' category so that it will not be necessary to filter by age. Given the large number of incidents recorded, I also revise my request to only those incidents occurring since 1 December 2013.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Pitney

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653; ADF2014/8942

Dear Ms Pitney,

Thank you for your email.

I note that you have provided a narrowed scope. I will need to contact the relevant business area and get some advice on the size of the revised scope. Once I receive a response from the business area I will be in touch.

Kind Regards

Shannon

_____________________________________
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB) Department of Immigration and Border Protection

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653; ADF2014/8942

Dear Ms Pitney,

I have received advice from the relevant business area and I am happy to accept your narrowed scope.

Your scope now reads:

A summary of all incident logs from the "self-harm" category from 1 December 2013 to present (11 March 2014) in the same format as FOI request
"FA 13/12/00509

The new due date for you request is 26 April 2014.

Kind Regards

Shannon

_____________________________________
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB) Department of Immigration and Border Protection [email address]

show quoted sections

3 Attachments

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653; ADF2014/8942

 

Dear Ms Pitney,

 

I am writing in regards to your FOI request seeking:  

 

A summary of all incident logs from the "self-harm" category from 1
December 2013 to present (11 March 2014) in the same format as FOI request

FA 13/12/00509

 

This email is to advise you of my decision that you are liable to pay a
charge in respect of the processing of your FOI request in accordance with
s 29 of the FOI Act.  

 

Please see the attached letter for further information.  

 

How to pay:

 

Include your FA Reference number and advise whether you wish to pay the
deposit or the full amount.

 

The deposit or full payment can be paid by cheque, money order or credit
card.

 

Cheques and money orders should be made payable to "Collector of Public
Monies" and sent to

 

FOI & Privacy Policy Section

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

PO Box 25

BELCONNEN  ACT  2616

AUSTRALIA

 

Should you choose to pay by credit card, please fill out the attached
credit card authorisation form and forward to FOI & Privacy Policy Section
at the above address, or email to [1][email address]. 

 

Please note that I will be out of the office from COB today, Thursday 17
April 2014 and will be returning Monday 28 April 2014.  Please ensure that
any correspondence is sent to [2][email address].

 

Kind Regards

_____________________________________

Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer

FOI & Privacy Policy Section

Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB)
Department of Immigration and Border Protection

8 [3][email address

 

UNCLASSIFIED

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]

2 Attachments

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 14/03/00653; ADF2014/8942

 

Dear Ms Pitney,

 

Thank you for your FOI request received on 11 March 2014 for:

 

A summary of all incident logs from the "self-harm" category from 1
December 2013 to present (11 March 2014) in the same format as FOI request
FA 13/12/00509

 

Purpose of this email

 

I am writing to you about the charges notice that I sent to you on 17
April 2014. The notice period under the FOI Act expired at close of
business on Monday 19 May 2014. As you did not respond to me by the end of
the notice period, your request is now deemed to be withdrawn as at close
of business on the last day of the notice period, which was Monday 19 May
2014.

 

The attached notice provides more detail.

 

Regards

 

_____________________________________

Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer

FOI & Privacy Policy Section

Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB)
Department of Immigration and Border Protection

( (02) 6264 4667

8 [1][email address

 

UNCLASSIFIED

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]