ASIC CDDA scheme
Dear Australian Securities and Investments Commission,
Please provide all documents in ASIC's possession that relate to ASIC receiving, considering, refusing or failing to consider, assessing, determining, accepting, rejecting, or otherwise dealing with, CDDA applications made to ASIC.
For the avoidance of doubt, this does not include individual CDDA applications themselves.
Yours faithfully,
Me
Dear Me
The attached correspondence acknowledges your FOI request.
Kind regards
Sandra
Sandra Wavamunno
Senior Lawyer, FOI & Privacy, Chief Legal Office
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Level 5, 100 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 9911 2267 | [mobile number]
(Authorised decision maker under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Dear Me
The attached correspondence requires your response within 14 days.
Please contact me if you wish to discuss further.
Kind regards
Sandra Wavamunno
Senior Lawyer, FOI & Privacy, Chief Legal Office
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Level 5, 100 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 9911 2267 | [mobile number]
Dear Sandra,
Thanks for your reply
Does that mean the Treasurer directly or the Treasury on his behalf can decide CDDA applications concerning ASIC?
Yours sincerely,
Me
Dear Me
Please consider the attached with a response to your query below and let me know if you still wish to proceed with the FOI request.
I would be grateful for a response by 26 May 2023.
Kind regards
Sandra
Sandra Wavamunno
Senior Lawyer, FOI & Privacy, Chief Legal Office
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Level 5, 100 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 9911 2267 | [mobile number]
Dear Sandra Wavamunno,
Thanks for this
Would it be possible to revise my scope to the most final report/outcome documents in the possession of ASIC for any Act of Grace payments considered regarding ASIC since say 1 July 2021?
As in, Finance administers the scheme, but I imagine if a claim is made to Finance regarding ASIC, Finance would tell ASIC the outcome (?)
Yours sincerely,
Me
Dear Me
The subject matter of the documents related to your revised scope is more closely connected with the functions of the Department of Finance (the Department).
The Department has accepted a transfer of the request under s 16 of the FOI Act and will be in touch with you regarding an outcome.
Kind regards
Sandra
Sandra Wavamunno
Senior Lawyer, FOI & Privacy, Chief Legal Office
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Level 5, 100 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 9911 2267 | [mobile number]
OFFICIAL
Dear Me
The Department of Defence has transferred your FOI request to the Department of Finance under section 16 if the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Noting that this occurred part way through the FOI processing period, I request your agreement to an extension of 21 days. This would make a decision on your request below due to you on or before 9 June 2023.
Please respond at your earliest convenience.
Kind regards.
FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
E: [email address]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 22/05/2023 1:38:04 PM
Dear FOI Requests,
Yes extension granted
(I infer you mean ASIC rather than DoD)
Yours sincerely,
Me
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Me
Thank you for agreeing to an extension in this matter, noting its transfer
from ASIC.
Your FOI request as transferred read as follows:
Would it be possible to revise my scope to the most final report/outcome
documents in the possession of ASIC for any Act of Grace payments
considered regarding ASIC since say 1 July 2021?
As in, Finance administers the scheme, but I imagine if a claim is made to
Finance regarding ASIC, Finance would tell ASIC the outcome (?)
Finance has taken this to mean that you are seeking outcome
documents/reports relating to Act of Grace applications involving ASIC.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
Department of Finance
A: One Canberra Ave, Forrest ACT 2603
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 8/06/2023 7:46:38 PM
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Me
Thank you for your reply below.
Would you kindly please agree to a further 7 day extension to process this request?
Kind regards
FOI Officer
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 8/06/2023 8:07:14 PM
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Sir or Madam
Please see attached a request consultation notice in relation to your FOI
request (our reference FOI 22-23/053).
Kind regards
FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 16/06/2023 5:22:33 PM
Dear Rachal [that’s the spelling in the letter?],
I am surprised my request covers such a large number of documents. That’s why I narrowed it to final decisions only. Also, not quite 2 financial years is not very long.
I am happy to exclude from the scope of my request personal information other than personal information of Commonwealth SES employees (regardless of which agency). This should negate the need for third party consultation and/or decision-making about third party redactions.
Could you please provide further information on the quantity of documents. For example, how many decisions does that cover? How many successful vs unsuccessful act of grace applications? Can I specify decision documents excluding say attachments/annexures? Just the reasons for decision or equivalent should be fine (if they contain at least some facts for context)
Yours sincerely,
Me
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Me,
Thank you for your email. Please see below responses to your questions for further information and context of the documents involved.
Documents identified
Finance does not hold a document that consolidates Act of Grace claims related to ASIC, therefore the only documents found that were in scope of the terms "Final outcome/Decision" are reports that related to individuals that have submitted claims and the decisions made for each claim.
Quantity of documents
The number of documents is large as it is the number of individual claims, and the number of pages identified reflects that each claim contains a detailed decision document as well as additional supporting attachments to that decision.
Consultation
Each document identified relates to an individual outside of Finance, therefore we are required to consult with each person before we release any documents that refer to their claim and we will likely need to make significant redactions to the documents to remove personal information under Section 47F of the FOI Act.
As Finance does not hold a document that contains consolidated or summarised information of the individual Act of Grace decisions, we are also unable to provide you with details related to the number of successful or unsuccessful claims.
We would like to work with you to identify the information you are seeking. If you would like to arrange a time to discuss this matter further, please let me know by providing me with the best contact number and time to reach you.
Kind regards
Rachal
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 19/06/2023 7:13:20 PM
Dear Rachal,
Thanks for your reply.
Yes a chat might be easier. Would it be ok if I called you? If you’d prefer not to give your direct line, does Finance have a switchboard (I assume ‘Rachal in the FOI team’ will get me close enough)?
Tentative thoughts also:
- Does ‘unreasonable diversion of resources’ apply before or after documents are in scope? I would want to say that ctrl-f to find decision documents about ASIC isn’t too time consuming, and will exclude a large chunk of the documents from requiring assessment (i.e., all the non-ASIC ones)?
- I’m happy to exclude additional supporting attachments
- My understanding from previous FOI decisions is that if I exclude personal information from the scope of my request, the redactions are under s 22 (not 47F). Provided the redactions make the third party anonymous, consultation isn’t required (because they are not identifiable it ceases to be their personal information in the relevant way)
- I accept that Finance doesn’t keep stats on Act of Grace payments, although that seems odd
- Finance has the power to create a document to answer my request. That might be less work, open to your view
Yours sincerely,
Me
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Me,
Thank you for your email.
We can offer one of the two below times to meet with myself and the decision maker who is the subject matter expert.
Friday 23rd June 11am
Monday 26th June 3pm
Please let me know which time suits you best and I can forward meeting details.
Many thanks
Rachal
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 20/06/2023 4:13:02 PM
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Me
Please see below link for Teams Meeting.
On the day of the meeting, if this link does not work for you, we should
be able to dial you in using your phone number.
Please let me know if you have any questions in the meantime.
Kind regards
Rachal
________________________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
[1]Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 415 914 407 80
Passcode: 7GKhde
[2]Download Teams | [3]Join on the web
Or call in (audio only)
[4]+61 2 8320 9200,,987290607# Australia, Sydney
Phone Conference ID: 987 290 607#
[5]Find a local number | [6]Reset PIN
[7]Learn More | [8]Meeting options
________________________________________________________________________________
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 20/06/2023 5:17:11 PM
References
Visible links
1. https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi...
2. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsof...
3. https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-team...
4. file:///tmp/tel:+61283209200,,987290607#
5. https://dialin.teams.microsoft.com/e7c4d...
6. https://dialin.teams.microsoft.com/usp/p...
7. https://aka.ms/JoinTeamsMeeting
8. https://teams.microsoft.com/meetingOptio...
OFFICIAL
Hello - hope all is well on your end if any problems please give me your phone number and I will dial you in
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 23/06/2023 11:01:13 AM
Dear Rachal,
Thanks for your (and colleagues) time on the phone.
As discussed, can I please amend the scope of my request to be limited to:
1. The 5 most recent successful act of grace decisions regarding ASIC where SR Group were the/an agent of the applicant
2. The 5 most recent decisions as in (1), except where SR Group was not involved
3. Within (1) and (2), only:
3A ASIC’s submissions
3B The considerations summary or equivalent in the final decision letter
3C The decision summary or equivalent in the final decision letter
3D Finance’s file or reference number or equivalent for that decision
4. For 1 July 2022 - 30 June 2023 (even with the post-dating), a table or similar that lists all ASIC-related Act of Grace payments, including:
4A Finance’s file number or equivalent
4B Whether the application was successful
4C The amount of the payment, if applicable
(4) can be by date of payment or date of decision or other, whatever is easier provided it’s consistent
The scope expressly excludes:
- Personal information, other than personal information of (a) SES of Commonwealth entities and (b) ministers
- Documents or parts of documents that are not included in the above (for example, the parts of a decision letter that are not the considerations or decisions summary)
I note I expanded (4) slightly. Hopefully it’s not much additional if you’re looking anyway. If required, I would make the argument it’s in the public interest, because (i) there is a surge in ASIC related applications, and (ii) such a table will assist Finance in improving public administration by identifying or helping to identify causes of this surge
Yours sincerely,
Me
OFFICIAL
Dear Me
Apologies for the delay in replying, we would like to seek an extension until Monday 24 July 2023 on this matter so that we can prepare the correct documents.
Can you please confirm that you agree to the extended due date?
Many thanks
Rachal
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 28/06/2023 4:36:14 PM
OFFICIAL
Dear Me
Please see attached a decision letter in relation to your FOI request (our
reference FOI 22-23/053).
Kind regards
FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 25/07/2023 8:12:08 AM
Dear Finance,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Finance’s handling of my FOI request 'ASIC CDDA scheme'.
I feel cheated. I amended the scope of my request on Finance’s advice, with Finance expressly stating that the documents I sought had decision reasoning.
Providing incorrect advice, even if unintentional, then failing to correct that advice, and failing to allow me to make further submissions on the new advice, denied a fair hearing. Making the decision without a fair hearing is a jurisdictional error, and therefore no decision at all.
As part of this internal review, I expect:
1) To be given updated advice
2) To be given the opportunity to make further submissions
3) For the decision to be re-made according to law.
For the avoidance of doubt, the scope of my request is functionally the same, except instead of ‘final decision letters’ of the 10 matters it would be something like ‘documents with the reasoning for decision’ or ‘with a summary of the reasoning for decision’.
Further, the decision did not consider that there is currently a Senate inquiry into ASIC enforcement. The public interest in disclosing the anonymised information is very high. It directly and immediately assists all the objects of the Act, such as participation in democracy etc.
As to s 47F, it does not arise. I have excluded personal information from the scope - it should be redacted under s 22. The remaining anonymous information is not personal information because anonymous information is outside the definition of personal information.
I appreciate your careful attention to the OAIC guideline; I believe it was read and applied (most entities mention it in their decision template but their decision makers don’t seem to have ever read it). In the internal review, please again pay careful attention to, and reference, the OAIC guideline re: s 47F. The guideline makes clear that entities can anonymise personal information, that anonymous information is not personal information, and the threshold for deciding that anonymous information is nonetheless identifiable is very high.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...
Yours faithfully,
Me
Dear Me,
Your below email addressed to "Dear Finance" was sent to ASIC's email address for receiving requests made under the FOI Act.
Your email appears to relate to your FOI request to ASIC dated 5 May 2023 that was transferred to the Department of Finance under s 16 of the FOI Act. Attached is ASIC's notification to you of the transfer of that request.
If you are seeking an internal review of the decision issued by the Department of Finance in that matter , please email the FOI team at the Department of Finance at [email address].
Dear FOI Requests,
Please see my request for internal review at this link https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...
(It went to ASIC by accident)
Yours sincerely,
Me
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Sir
Freedom of Information Request – FOI 23-24/053IR
Thank you for your email to the Department of Finance (Finance) seeking an
internal review of our decision reference FOI22-23/053 under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
General FOI matters
Your request was received by Finance on 27 July 2023. The statutory period
for processing your request commences from the day after Finance received
your request and a decision is due on 28 August 2023.
We may seek an extension to the processing period may be extended if we
need to consult third parties. We will advise you if this happens.
Publication
As required by the FOI Act, any documents provided to you under the FOI
Act will be published on our [1]disclosure log, unless an exemption
applies or the documents are characterised as containing personal
information. Documents will be published the next working day after they
are released to you.
Policy to exclude junior officer contact details, signatures and mobile
phone numbers
Finance has adopted a policy to generally exclude from any documents
released under FOI, the names and contact details of junior staff (non-SES
officers) and staff employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act
1984 (adviser level and below). Finance has also adopted a policy to
exclude signatures and mobile phone numbers from any documents released
under FOI (unless publicly available). Finance’s preference is to reach
agreement with FOI applicants to exclude these details from the scope of
the request. Where there is no objection, the names and contact details of
junior officers, as well as any signatures and mobile phone numbers
appearing in identified documents, will be redacted under section 22 of
the FOI Act on the basis that these details are irrelevant to the request.
Please contact the FOI Team on the below contact details if you wish to
discuss your request.
Kind regards
FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 15/08/2023 10:31:11 AM
References
Visible links
1. https://www.finance.gov.au/about-us/free...
OFFICIAL
Dear Me
Please see attached an internal review decision letter together with the
documents released to you in relation to your FOI request (our reference
FOI 22-23/053IR).
Kind regards
FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 28/08/2023 5:30:45 PM