Our ref: LEX 75697 Brendon
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Brendon
Freedom of Information Act 1982 – Notice of Decision
I refer to your 27 August 2024 request, to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (the
department), which was subsequently revised by agreement, to seek access under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to:
“Under the FOI Act I request a copy of all meeting invites sent or received by the FOI EL2, Pip Fairbairn,
between the period of 1 March to 31 March 2024.
I also request a copy of all emails sent or received by the above mentioned which contains the following
words between the period of 1 March to 31 March 2024:
“Meeting” “decision maker” “clearance””
On 23 September 2024 you were provided with a notice of the department’s intention to refuse your
request on practical refusal grounds. The practical refusal grounds being that processing your request
would unreasonably and substantially divert the resources of the department from its other
operations. Accordingly, you were invited to revise the scope of your request before a final decision
was made as to whether your request was able to be processed.
On 23 September 2024 you revised the scope of your request to the following:
“Under the FOI Act I request a copy of all meeting invites sent or received by the FOI EL2, Pip Fairbairn,
between the period of 1 March to 31 March 2024.
I also request a copy of all emails sent or received by the above mentioned which contains the following
words between the period of 1 March to 14 2024:
“Meeting” “decision maker” “clearance””
Decision
I am an authorised decision maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.
I have decided to refuse your request under section 24(1) of the FOI Act on practical refusal grounds.
The practical refusal ground being that processing your request would unreasonably and substantially
divert the resources of the department from its other operations.
The reasons for my decision are set out below as required by section 26 of the FOI Act.
LEX 75697
Reasons for Decision
Under subsection 24(1) of the FOI Act, if an agency is satisfied that a practical refusal reason exists in
relation to a request, the agency must undertake a request consultation process in accordance with
section 24AB of the FOI Act. However, if after the request consultation process the agency is satisfied
that the practical refusal reason still exists, the agency may refuse the request.
I am satisfied that a request consultation process has been undertaken by the department in
accordance with section 24AB of the FOI Act. On 23 September 2024 you were issued a notice of
intention to refuse informing you of the voluminous scope of your request and that the processing of
your request as originally framed would unreasonable and substantially divert the resources of the
department from its other operations.
Consistent with section 24(3) of the FOI Act, I am satisfied that the department also took reasonable
steps to assist you to revise the scope of your request so that a practical refusal reason would no
longer exist. The department provided guidance for the refinement of your scope by suggesting you
limit your request to particular topics or reducing the timeframe. I am therefore satisfied that the
department has taken reasonable steps to assist you to revise the scope of your request.
I am also satisfied that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to your revised request of
23 September 2024, that is the revised request that you provided to the department after a request
consultation process had been undertaken. While you did reduce the scope of your initial request by
introducing timeframes, specifically reducing a four-week period down to two-weeks, this revised
timeframe failed to sufficiently narrow the scope of the request. This is because despite the revised
timeframe the volume of documents within scope remains significant because of the specific search
terms that form part of your request.
A conservative estimate indicates that it would take the department at least 50 hours to process the
revised request. This is based on an estimate that there are at least 1000 documents, consisting of at
least 4,560 pages, relevant to the scope of the revised request. I note that this estimate does not
include an estimate of the time it would take for the department to collect and review the documents
subject to your request.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that a practical refusal reason remains in relation to your request and I have
decided to refuse your request under section 24(1) of the FOI Act.
Review rights
If you are dissatisfied with any part of my decision, your review rights are set out in
Attachment A.
For further queries or clarification, please contact the FOI team by e-mail at
xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely
Deborah Miliszewski
General Counsel – Legal
Chief Counsel and Integrity
25 September 2024
industry.gov.au Industry House - 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
2
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN: 74 599 608 295
LEX 75697
ATTACHMENT A
REVIEW RIGHTS Application for Internal Review
Section 54 of the FOI Act gives you the option to apply for a departmental internal review of my
decision. If you make an application for internal review it will be conducted by an officer of the
department (other than me) appointed by the Secretary of the department to conduct a review and
make a completely fresh decision on the merits of the case.
Application for a review of the decision must be made within 30 days after the day of receipt of this
letter, or within 15 days of receipt of the documents to which this decision relates (whichever is the
longer period). You do not have to pay any fees or processing charges for an internal review, except for
charges relating to the provision of any additional relevant material located as a result of the review
(for example photocopying). While a specific form is not required, it would assist the decision maker if
your application specifies the grounds on which you consider the decision should be reviewed.
Application for a review of a decision should be addressed to:
FOI Coordinator
Department of Industry, Science and Resources
GPO Box 2013
CANBERRA ACT 2601
or by e-mail to
: xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. Review by the Australian Information Commissioner
If any decision on internal review were not satisfactory to you, section 54L of the FOI Act gives you the
right to apply for review of my decision by the Information Commissioner.
An application for review by the Information Commissioner may be made regardless of whether the
decision was the subject of a departmental internal review. An application for review by the
Information Commissioner must be made within 60 days of receipt of this notice. There is no fee for
review by the Information Commissioner.
You must apply in writing and you can lodge your application in one of the following ways:
Onlin
e: www.oaic.gov.au Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Email
: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
An application form is available on the website
at www.oaic.gov.au. Your application should include a
copy of this notice and your contact details. You should also set out why you are objecting to the
decision.
Complaints to the Australian Information Commissioner
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner concerning action taken by an agency
in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions under the FOI Act. There is no fee for
making a complaint. The Australian Information Commissioner will make a completely independent
investigation of your complaint. A complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner must be
made in writing and can be lodged online using the Information Commissioner Complaint Application
form on the Australian Information Commissioner’s website
at www.oaic.gov.au.
industry.gov.au Industry House - 10 Binara Street, Canberra City, ACT 2601
3
GPO Box 2013 Canberra ACT 2601 ABN: 74 599 608 295
