Vincent Sheehy
Via em
ail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Sheehy
Freedom of Information Request LEX 51068 – Notice of intention to refuse
I refer to the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act) request made to the Department of Social
Services (
the Department) on 8 July 2024. The request, which was subsequently revised, seeks access
to:
"The briefs prepared for the Secretary for 2024/25 Budget Estimates."
I am authorised to make decisions in respect of FOI requests under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Practical refusal reason
This request general y seeks all briefs that were prepared for the Secretary for the 2024/25 Budget
Estimates. I consider that in requesting those briefs you are also requesting the associated attachments
within each brief.
On an estimate that a minimum of 180 documents, being briefs and their respective attachments, fall
within the scope of the request with an average of 10 pages per document, if an officer of the
Department were to assess each for sensitivities and mark them up with redactions accordingly, it
would take them a total of 5,400 minutes / 90 hours / 12 working days to review the documents at a
rate of 3 minutes a page.
The Department is currently processing historically high amount of FOI requests coupled with reduced
staffing. It does not have the capacity to process a request of this size at this time. The work involved in
processing the request would substantial y and unreasonably divert the resources of the Department
from its other operations, in particular processing its existing FOI workload and ensuring that existing
requests are dealt with within their respective statutory timeframes.
In accordance with s 24(1) of the FOI Act, I consider that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to
the request for access to documents.
Request consultation process
Under section 24(1)(b) of the FOI Act, the Department is required to provide you with the opportunity
to revise the scope of your request so that a ‘practical refusal reason’ no longer exists. One way you
could achieve this is to refine the scope of your request, for example of this would be limiting the
request to the index page of briefs prepared for the Secretary of the Department of Social Services for
2024-25 Budget Estimates.
Please note that refining the scope of the request may remove the practical refusal reason but does not
necessarily mean that that any documents subject to the request will be released in part or in full.
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
Next steps
Should you wish to revise the request, you must do so
within 14 days after the day you are sent this
notice. The 14-day deadline ends at
11:59pm on Friday 26 July 2024 by which time
you are required to
take one of the below actions
. If you are unable to meet this deadline and require an extension of time
to discuss ways to revise the scope of your request, please contact the FOI Section by email at
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
In accordance with subsection 24AB(6) of the FOI Act, you must, before the end of the 14-day
consultation period, do one of the fol owing by written notice to the department:
a) withdraw the request;
b) make a revised request; or
c) indicate that you do not wish to revise the request.
Please note that under subsection 24AB(7), the request is taken to have been withdrawn at the end of
the 14-day consultation period if:
a) the applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with this notice; or
b) the applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection(6) before the end of the
consultation period.
In accordance with subsection 24AB(8) of the FOI Act, the 14-day consultation period is to be
disregarded in calculating the processing period for the request.
Yours sincerely
Sarah B
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
12 July 2024
