Sophie Huff-Chelsby
Via email to
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ms Huff-Chelsby
Freedom of Information Request 50775 – Decision on access
I refer to the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act) request made to the Department of Social
Services (
the Department) on 11 June 2024. The request seeks access to:
‘..in regard to your funded peak national body, Women with Disabilities Australia.
1. How much has WWDA paid for legal services between 1st January 2024 - 30 May
2024?
2. How much has WWDA paid external consultants for the period 1st January 2024 -
30 May 2024?
3. How much of WWDA funds expended on lawyers and external consultants have
come from WWDA’s government funding?
4. Has WWDA utilised funds (outside of government funding) to pay for lawyers
and external consultants?
5. What staff roles has WWDA advertised and/or what staffing roles have been
fil ed between 1st January 2024 - 30 May 2024’
I am authorised to make decisions in respect of FOI requests under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Decision – No documents exist
Section 24A of the FOI Act provides in part that an agency may refuse a request for access to a
document if al responsible steps have been taken to find it and the agency is satisfied that it does not
exist.
The FOI request seeks the expenditure by
Women with Disabilities Australia on legal services and
consultants for the period 1 January 2024 to 30 May 2024. The detailed financial expenditure reporting
you are seeking, being legal services and consultancy expenditure of
Women with Disabilities Australia
is not held by the Department or available within its reporting systems. As such, the Department does
not have possession of the documents you are seeking.
Details of grant funding provided to
Women with Disabilities Australia can be found at
GrantConnect.
As a result, we do not have possession of the documents sought by this request and have decided to
refuse it under section 24A of the FOI Act.
GPO Box 9820 Canberra ACT 2601
Email Facsimile Telephone 1300 653 227
National Relay Service: TTY: 133 677, Speak and listen: 1300 555 727, Internet relay: www.relayservice.com.au
www.dss.gov.au
Review rights and complaints
Information concerning how you may seek a review of this decision or make a complaint about the
handling of this request is at
Attachment A.
Contact
If you would like to discuss any aspect of my decision, please contact me a
t xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Sarah B
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
18 June 2024
Attachments
A – Review Rights
Attachment A
INFORMATION ON REVIEW RIGHTS
You may seek review of this decision via:
(a) an internal review; or
(b) the Australian Information Commissioner (
Information Commissioner).
Internal review
If you apply for internal review, a fresh decision will be made by a different decision-maker within the
Department. An application for internal review must be:
(a) made in writing;
(b) made within 30 days of receiving this letter; and
(c) sent to
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
The application should also include the reasons why you think this decision should be reviewed.
If the internal review decision results in you not being provided access to all of the documents to which
you have requested access, you have the right to seek a further review by the Information
Commissioner.
Information Commissioner review
You can apply for the Information Commissioner to review this decision either immediately or following
an internal review decision. You must apply to the Information Commissioner within 60 days of the
receipt of this decision letter.
Further details on this process can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
COMPLAINTS TO THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
You may also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner concerning actions taken by the
Department while exercising its powers or performing its functions under the FOI Act.
Further details on this process can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
