Australian Securities
and Investments Commission
Office address (inc courier deliveries):
Level 5, 100 Market Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
Mail address for Sydney office:
GPO Box 9827,
Melbourne VIC 3001
Tel: +61 1300 935 075
Fax: +61 1300 729 000
www.asic.gov.au
3 September 2024
Me
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear applicant
Freedom of Information Request No. FOI 181 - 2024
Notice of Decision
I refer to your request dated
14 August 2024 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 the fol owing:
“I request a fully unredacted copy of the ‘written confirmation from the Department of
Finance, that ASIC was covered by [CDDA] and could receive [CDDA] claims’ referred to at
[5.130] of the recent SERC report. I asked Finance and Treasury and they both returned nil
docs. PTAG might’ve noted the wrong department. This document was not in scope of the
previous request regarding SERC 5.130.”
The 30-day statutory time period for processing your request commenced on the day after
the day on which your request was received.
I am the authorised decision-maker for the purposes of section 23 of the FOI Act and this
letter gives notice of my decision.
Decision
I am the authorised decision-maker for the purposes of section 23 of the FOI Act and this
letter gives notice of my decision.
My decision is to refuse access to your request on the basis that there are no documents in
scope.
I have taken the fol owing material into account in making my decision:
• the terms of your request;
• details of the searches conducted by ASIC staff;
• the FOI Act, specifical y sections 24A(1); and
• the Australian Information Commissioner’s FOI Guidelines issued under s 93A of the FOI
Act (FOI Guidelines).
Reasons for my decision
Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or have not been
received
Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act sets out the fol owing:
(1) An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a) al reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b) the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
i.
is in the agency's or Minister's possession but cannot be found; or
i .
does not exist.
Searches were conducted by ASIC’s Commission Counsel team for documents in response
to your request. The searches involved using manual and keyword searches across the
relevant case management systems such as SharePoint and Outlook for documents that are
captured by the terms of your request. No documents fal ing within the terms of your request
were identified.
My decision is to therefore refuse your request for access to documents under section 24A of
the FOI Act on the basis that ASIC has taken al reasonable steps to find documents within
the scope of your current request and I am satisfied that they cannot be found or do not
exist.
Review rights
In the event that you are dissatisfied with the decision
1. You may, within 30 days after the day on which you have been notified of this
decision, apply in writing to ASIC for an internal review of my decision under section
54B of the FOI Act. This review is an independent process conducted by a Senior
Freedom of Information Officer at ASIC. This request should be addressed to me or to
the Senior Manager, Freedom of Information, by email to xxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
2. You may within 60 days after the day on which you have been notified of this
decision, apply in writing to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) for a review of my decision under section 54N of the FOI Act. You may
contact the OAIC by post at GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001, by email at
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or by telephone on 1300 363 992.
Right to complain
3. You may lodge a complaint with the OAIC in relation to the conduct of ASIC in the
handling of this request. You may contact the OAIC as set out above.
If you have any questions or wish to discuss, please contact me on (02) 9911 2454 or by email
at
xxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Shoumia Nithiananthan
Privacy and Freedom of Information Lawyer
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)