Australian Securities
and Investments Commission
Office address (inc courier deliveries):
Level 7, 120 Col ins Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
Mail address for Melbourne office:
GPO Box 9827,
Brisbane QLD 4001
Tel: +61 1300 935 075
16 May 2023
Fax: +61 1300 729 000
www.asic.gov.au
Watson Norwood
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Norwood
Freedom of Information Request No. FOI 072-2023
Notice of a practical refusal ground under s24AB of the FOI Act
I refer to your request dated 6 May 2023 under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act)
in which you seek access to documents in the possession of the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission (
ASIC).
Your request seeks access to the fol owing:
“I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a complete
copy of the departments' Freedom of Information (FOI) logs for the period 2013-2023,
including any secondary departments control ed by the agency.”
Practical refusal ground(s)
Section 24AA of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal ground exists in relation to a
request for a document if either (or both) of the following applies:
• the work involved in processing the request would substantial y and unreasonably
divert the resources of the agency from its other operations (s24AA(1)(a));
• the request does not satisfy the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act
(s24AA(1)(b))
In relation to your request, I find that 24AA(1)(b)
applies.
Section 24AA(1)(b) FOI Act – Identification of documents
I am writing to advise you that your request in its current form does not adequately identify
the documents sought and it would therefore be my intention to refuse your request given
that a practical refusal reason exists within the meaning of section 24AA(1)(b) of the FOI Act.
Areas requiring clarification
It appears your request is for access to a list of FOI requests received by ASIC between 2013-
2023. However, your request does not specify what information should be included in relation
to each request. Please identify specifically what information you seek in respect to each
request (for example, FOI reference number, summary of request, number of documents
released in full or part, etc).
2
I also note that your request states:
“I request that this is provided as a document and not a simple redirect to the agency
website as I am of the view that your online disclosure logs do not actively reflect your
FOI requests that you have received in this period.”
Please note that ASIC’s FOI Disclosure Log does not reflect al FOI requests received by ASIC as
there are exceptions to publication of FOI documents as set out in section 11C(1) of the FOI
Act.
Intention to refuse request
For the reasons stated above, it would be my intention to refuse your request given that a
practical refusal reason(s) exist(s) within the meaning of 24AA(1)(b) of the FOI Act. However,
before a final decision is made you are invited to revise the terms of your request.
Request consultation process
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with an opportunity to revise your request so that
the practical refusal reason no longer exists before a final decision is made. Should you wish
to submit a revised request please consider the issues raised in this notice to ensure that they
are addressed.
Timeframe
The statutory timeframe for notifying an applicant of a decision on a request for access under
the FOI Act is 30 days from the day the agency receives the request. Please note that in
accordance with section 24AB(8) of the FOI Act, the time for processing your request is
suspended from the day that you receive this letter, and resumes on the day after you provide
ASIC with one of the following:
• written notification that you wish to withdraw the request;
• a revised written request addressing the matters raised above; or
• written notification that you do not wish to revise your request.
If you choose to do one of the three things listed above, you must do so within 14 days
of the
date of this letter
(the consultation period). If you do not do one of the three things listed
above during the consultation period, your request wil be taken to be withdrawn in
accordance with section 24AB(7) of the FOI Act.
During the consultation period you may wish to seek assistance in reframing your request. If
you have any questions or wish to discuss, please contact me at
xxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or on 0466 290 017.
Yours sincerely,
Monique Lindridge
(Authorised decision maker under section 23(1) of the FOI Act)
