Our ref: CMTEDDFOI 2024-202
Miranda Townsend
via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ms Townsend,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – NOTICE OF DECISION
I refer to your application under section 30 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2016
(the Act), received by the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development
Directorate (CMTEDD) on 18 June 2024.
Specifically, you have sought access to the following information:
“- Detailed criteria and metrics used to evaluate and select occupations for the Critical
Skil s Shortage List for the past three years.
- Documents outlining the methodology and sources of data for assessing labor market
needs, particularly for trades, construction, and medical occupations.
- Minutes, summaries, or reports from meetings where the Critical Skil s Shortage List
was discussed, highlighting input from stakeholders concerning these specific sectors.
- Documents justifying the quotas allocated for each occupation on the Critical Skil s
Shortage List for the past three years. I.e. Explanation and rationale behind the quota
distribution, specifically why trades, construction, and medical occupations received their
respective quotas.
- Internal communications, emails, and memos discussing the exclusion or limited
inclusion of trades, construction, and medical occupations.
- Impact assessments or reports evaluating the effects of the current Critical Skil s
Shortage List on local labor markets, particularly for trades, construction, and medical
sectors.
- Any reviews or evaluations of the Critical Skil s Shortage pathway’s effectiveness in
addressing labor shortages in the ACT.”
Authority
I am an Information Officer appointed by the CMTEDD Director-General under section 18
of the Act to deal with access applications made under Part 5 of the Act.
Timeframes
In accordance with section 40 of the Act, CMTEDD is required to provide a decision on
your access application within 30 days.
As this matter required third party consultation, the decision due date was extended by
15 working days, in accordance with section 40(2) of the Act.
Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development
GPO Box 158 Canberra ACT 2601 | phone: 6207 7754 | www.act.gov.au
Therefore, a decision is due by
20 August 2024. Decision on access
Searches of CMTEDD records have identified 28 documents within the scope of your
request.
I have decided to grant
full access to five documents and
partial access to 23 documents.
In addition to the 28 documents found, the business area has collated a response to the
last four points of your request. This can be found at page 157 of
Attachment B.
The records identified as relevant to your application are listed in the schedule at
Attachment A. This provides a description of each document that fal s within the scope of
your request and the access decision for each of those documents.
Release of documents
The information being released to you is provided at
Attachment B.
Statement of Reasons
In accordance with section 54(2) of the Act a statement of reasons outlining my decisions
is below. In reaching my access decisions, I have taken the fol owing into account:
• the Act
• the information that falls within the scope of your request
• third party views sought under section 38 of the Act
•
Human Rights Act 2004.
As a decision maker, I am required to determine whether the information within scope is
in the public interest to release. To make this decision, I am required to:
• assess whether the information would be contrary to public interest to disclose as
per
Schedule 1 of the Act.
• perform the public interest test as set out in section 17 of the Act by balancing the
factors favouring disclosure and factors favouring non-disclosure in
Schedule 2 of
the Act.
There are no Schedule 1 provisions applicable to the information within scope of this
request.
Public Interest Test
The Act has a presumption in favour of disclosure. As a decision maker I am required to
decide where, on balance, public interests lies. As part of this process I must consider
factors favouring disclosure and non-disclosure.
In
Hogan v Hinch (2011) 243 CLR 506, [31] French CJ stated that when ‘used in a statute,
the term [public interest] derives its content from “the subject matter and the scope and
purpose” of the enactment in which it appears’. Section 17(1) of the Act sets out the test,
to be applied to determine whether disclosure of information would be contrary to the
public interest. These factors are found in subsection 17(2) and Schedule 2 of the Act.
Schedule 2: Factors to be considered when deciding the public interest
Taking into consideration the information contained in the documents found to be within
the scope of your request, I have identified that the following public interest factors are
relevant to determine if release of the information contained within these documents is
within the ‘public interest’.
Factors favouring disclosure (Section 2.1)
•
Section 2.1(a)(i) - promote open discussion of public affairs and enhance the
government’s accountability.
•
Section 2.1(a)(ii) - contribute to positive and informed debate on important issues
or matters of public interest.
•
Section 2.1(a)(vi i) - reveal the reason for a government decision and any
background or contextual information that informed the decision.
The ACT Critical Skills List identifies occupations in demand for the territory and
is an important tool for those that wish to apply for ACT nomination. I contend
that it is reasonable to expect that information about this topic may be of
interest to the community and contribute to informed debate about issues of
interest. I also strongly believe that disclosure of this information could reveal
the reasons that government made decisions regarding the list and provide
transparency and accountability of the decision-making process.
I am satisfied that these factors favouring disclosure carry some weight. However, these
factors are to be balanced against the factors favouring nondisclosure.
Factors favouring nondisclosure (Section 2.2)
•
Section 2.2(a)(ii) - prejudice the protection of an individual’s right to privacy or any
other right under the Human Rights Act 2004.
Having reviewed the documents, release of information concerning individuals working
within the ACT Public Service is generally not considered to prejudice the protection of an
individual’s right to privacy. However, where personal information may be used for home
and work purposes, this information is redacted, as it is for other individuals, as it could
or would reasonably be expected to prejudice an individual’s right to privacy under the
Human Rights Act 2004.
Having applied the test outlined in section 17 of the Act and deciding that release of
personal information contained in the documents is not in the public interest to release, I
have chosen to redact this specific information in accordance with section 50(2). Noting
the pro-disclosure intent of the Act, I am satisfied that redacting only the information that
I believe is not in the public interest to release wil ensure that the intent of the Act is met
and will provide you with access to the majority of the information held by CMTEDD
within the scope of your request.
Charges
Processing charges are applicable for this request because the total number of pages to
be released to you exceeds the charging threshold of 50 pages. However, the charges
have been waived.
Online publishing – Disclosure Log
Under section 28 of the Act, CMTEDD maintains an online record of access applications
called
a disclosure log. Your original access application and my decision wil be published on the CMTEDD
disclosure log. Your personal contact details will not be published.
Ombudsman Review My decision on your access request is a reviewable decision as identified in Schedule 3 of
the Act. You have the right to seek Ombudsman review of this outcome under section 73
of the Act within 20 working days from the day that my decision is provided to you, or a
longer period allowed by the Ombudsman.
We recommend using this form
Applying for an Ombudsman Review to ensure you
provide all of the required information. Alternatively, you may write to the Ombudsman
at:
The ACT Ombudsman
GPO Box 442
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Via email:
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) Review
Under section 84 of the Act, if a decision is made under section 82(1) on an Ombudsman
review, you may apply to the ACAT for review of the Ombudsman decision. Further
information may be obtained from the ACAT at:
ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal
GPO Box 370
Canberra City ACT 2601
Telephone: (02) 6207 1740
http://www.acat.act.gov.au/
Should you have any queries in relation to your request please contact the Information
Access Team by telephone on 6207 7754 or email
xxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely
Katharine Stuart
Information Officer
Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development
Directorate
14 August 2024
Document Outline
