FOI reference: FOI 25-0035 LD
CR
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear CR,
Decision on your Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your information access request of 1 October 2024 made to the Department
of Health and Aged Care (the department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(Cth) (FOI Act). In your request, you sought access to:
  I request access to the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982:
1.  The most recent 30 notices of charges issued to FOI applicants.

For each of these 30 requests, if applicable, please also provide:
2.  Any subsequent decisions regarding charges following applicant contention.
3.  Any subsequent decisions regarding charges following internal or external review.

Please exclude the following information:
i)
Personal information of FOI applicants.
I am authorised under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to
Freedom of Information request. I am writing to notify you of my decision on your
access request.
Revision on scope of request
On 8 October 2024, you contacted the department and amended your scope to:
  1.  The most recent 30 notices of charges issued to FOI applicants.

For each of these 30 requests, if applicable, please also provide:
2.  Any subsequent decisions regarding charges following applicant contention.
3.  Any subsequent decisions regarding charges following internal or external review.

The time period for my request is from 1 July 2022 to 1 October 2024.

Please exclude the following information:


GPO Box 9848 Canberra ACT 2601 - www.health.gov.au

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i)
Personal information of FOI applicants, including supporting evidence or
details of personal circumstances in a financial hardship contention.
ii)
Emails that attached the charges notices/decision letters.

On 17 October 2024, the department contacted you regarding the scope of your request
requesting that you consider excluding all third-party information from the scope of
the request.

On 17 October 2024, you agreed to the above and as such we have modified the scope
of your request to the following:

1.  The most recent 30 notices of charges issued to FOI applicants.

For each of these 30 requests, if applicable, please also provide:
2.  Any subsequent decisions regarding charges following applicant contention.
3.  Any subsequent decisions regarding charges following internal or external review.

The time period for my request is from 1 July 2022 to 1 October 2024.

Please exclude the following information:
i)
Personal information of FOI applicants, including supporting evidence or
details of personal circumstances in a financial hardship contention.
ii)
Emails that attached the charges notices/decision letters.
iii)
All details of third parties

On 23 October 2024, you contacted the department again and further amended your
scope to:

1.  The most recent 30 notices of charges issued to FOI applicants.

For each of these 30 requests, if applicable, please also provide:
2.  Any subsequent decisions regarding charges following applicant contention.
3.  Any subsequent decisions regarding charges following internal or external review.

The time period for my request is from 1 July 2022 to 1 October 2024.

Please exclude the following information:
i)
Personal information of FOI applicants, including supporting evidence or
details of personal circumstances in a financial hardship contention.
ii)
Emails that attached the charges notices/decision letters.
iii)
All details of third parties
  If a preliminary charge notice or decision of a charge is sent via the body of an email (as
opposed to an email attachment) I wish to access a copy of that email, as well as the
applicant's contention reasons.
Extension of time to process request
On 8 October 2024, the department wrote to you under section 15AA of the FOI Act
seeking a 14 day extension of time to allow it to process your FOI request.

link to page 5 link to page 8 - 3 -
On 8 October 2024, you responded to the department refusing the extension of time
request. As a result, the statutory date for your FOI access request remains 31 October
2024.
Reasonable searches
The department has conducted reasonable searches for documents in scope of your
request. As per the FOI Guidelines [at 3.89], these searches were undertaken with
reference to:
•  the subject matter of your request
•  the department’s current and past file management systems
•  the department’s record management systems
•  the individuals within the department with knowledge of the subject matter of
the documents, or who could assist with location of documents
•  the age of the documents.
I am satisfied that the searches undertaken were both thorough and reasonable in the
context of the scope of your request, the resources of the department, and the
requirements of the FOI Act and FOI Guidelines.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner publishes  agency  statistics
every year in their Annual Report. This contains information regarding charges issued
by agencies in regard to FOI requests.
Decision on access
I have identified 30 documents that are relevant to your request. These documents
were in the possession of the department when your request was received.
I have decided to:
•  grant access to 30  documents in part, subject to the deletion of exempt or
irrelevant material
A schedule setting out the documents relevant to your request, with my decision in
relation to those documents, is at ATTACHMENT A.
My reasons for not providing access to material that has been deleted from the
documents are set out in ATTACHMENT B.
Legislative provisions
The FOI Act, including the provisions referred to in my decision, is available on the
Federal Register of Legislation website: www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562.
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), can also be accessed from the Federal
Register of Legislation website here: www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A03712.

link to page 14 - 4 -
I have set out your review rights at ATTACHMENT C.
Publication
Where I have decided to release documents to you, the department may also publish
the released material on its Disclosure Log, as required by section 11C of the FOI Act.
The department will not publish personal or business affairs information where it
would be unreasonable to do so.
For your reference the department’s Disclosure Log can be found at:
www.health.gov.au/resources/foi-disclosure-log.
Contacts
If you require clarification of any matters discussed in this letter you can contact the
FOI Section on (02) 6289 1666 or at xxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely

Authorised and electronically signed by

J. Kwong
Principal Lawyer
Legal Advice and Legislation Branch
Legal Division

30 October 2024

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ATTACHMENT A.
SCHEDULE OF DOCUMENTS
FOI REQUEST 25-0035 LD

Document  Pages
Date
Description
Decision on
Relevant
access
provision/s
of FOI Act
1
4
4 July  FOI 3826 - Notice of liability to pay a
granted in
s22
2022
charge
part
s47F
2
12
10 Sept  FOI 3826 - Notice of Decision
granted in
s22
2022
part
s47F
3
4
4 July  FOI 3827 - Notice of liability to pay a
granted in
s22
2022
charge
part
s47F
4
11
10 Sept  FOI 3827 - Notice of Decision
granted in
s22
2022
part
s47F
5
5
5 July  FOI 3804 - Notice of Liability to Pay a
granted in
s22
2022
Charge
part
s47F
6
4
5 Aug  FOI 3835 - Notice of Liability to pay a
granted in
s22
2022
Charge
part
s47F
7
8
5 Sept  FOI 3835 - Notice of Decision - Charges
granted in
s22
2022
part
s47F
8
7
12 Oct  FOI 3835 - Internal Review Notice of
granted in
s22
2022
Decision - Charges
part
s47F
9
4
14 Sept  FOI 3838 - Notice of Liability to Pay a
granted in
s22
2022
Charge
part
s47F
10
8
13 Oct  FOI 3838 - Charges Decision
granted in
s22
2022
part
s47F
11
4
29 Aug  FOI 3870 - Notice of Liability to Pay a
granted in
s22
2022
Charge
part
s47F
12
4
10 Oct  FOI 3870 - Charges Decision
granted in
s22
2022
part
s47F
13
3
25 Aug  FOI 3912 - Estimate of Charges
granted in
s22
2022
part

- 6 -
14
7
28 Sept  FOI 3912 - Notice of Decision
granted in
s22
2022
part
s47F
15
4
29 Sept  FOI 3944 - Notice of Liability to Pay a
granted in
s22
2022
Charge
part
s47F
16
5
2 Nov  FOI 3959 - Notice of Liability to Pay
granted in
s22
2022
Charge
part
s47F
17
4
23 Nov  FOI 4058 - notice of charge
granted in
s22
2022
part
s47F
18
15
20 Jan  FOI 4058 - notice of decision
granted in
s22
2023
part
s47F
19
4
22 Nov  FOI 4068 - Notice of charges
granted in
s22
2022
part
s47F
20
5
24 Jan  FOI 4116 - Charge estimation
granted in
s22
2023
part
s47F
21
11
10 Feb  FOI 4116 - Notice of Decision
granted in
s22
2023
part
s47F
22
5
01 Feb  FOI 4134 - Notice of Liability to Pay a
granted in
s22
2023
Charge
part
s47F
23
2
20 Feb  FOI 4134 Email to applicant - charge
granted in
s22
2023
waived
part
24
5
1 June  FOI 4311 - Notice of Liability to Pay a
granted in
s22
2023
Charge
part
s47F
25
5
6 June  FOI 4420 - Notice of Liability to Pay a
granted in
s22
2023
Charge
part
s47F
26
6
6 July  FOI 4420 - Notice of Decision on
granted in
s22
2023
Liability to Pay a Charge
part
s47F
27
4
19 June  FOI 4372 - Notice of Liability to Pay a
granted in
s22
2023
Charge
part
s47F
28
4
3 July  FOI 4372 - notice of decision on charge
granted in
s22
2023
waiver
part
s47F
29
4
17 Aug  FOI 4530 - notice of liability to pay
granted in
s22
2023
charge
part
s47F

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30
5
15 Dec FOI 4773 - Notice of liability to pay
granted in
s22
2023
charge
part
s47F

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ATTACHMENT B.
REASONS FOR DECISION
FOI 25-0035 LD
1.  Material taken into account
In making my decision, I had regard to the following:
•  the FOI Act
•  guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under
section 93A of the FOI Act (FOI Guidelines)
•  the terms of your FOI request as outlined above
•  the content of the documents sought, and
•  advice from departmental officers with responsibility for matters relating to
the documents sought.
2.  Finding of facts and reasons for decision
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemptions identified in the
schedule of documents apply to the relevant documents are set out below.
3.  Section 22 – deletion of irrelevant and exempt material
Section 22 of the FOI Act applies to documents containing exempt material
(subparagraph 22(1)(a)(i)) and irrelevant information (subparagraph 22(1)(a)(ii)) and
allows an agency to delete such material from a document.
I have deleted material in the documents which can reasonably be regarded as
irrelevant to your request as the information in the documents does not fall within the
scope of your FOI request. This includes:
•  personal information regarding other FOI applicants,
•  details regarding third parties, and
•  the names and contact details of public service employee names below Senior
Executive Service Level which you were advised would be excluded unless you
advise otherwise.
An edited copy has been prepared and the information has been marked ‘s22’ in the
documents released to you.
4.  Section 47F – Documents affecting personal privacy
Section 47F of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its
disclosure would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about
any person (including a deceased person).

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Personal Information
Personal information has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act. Specifically, section
6 of the Privacy Act provides that personal information means information or an opinion
about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable whether
the information or opinion is true or not; and whether the information or opinion is
recorded in a material form or not.
Paragraph 6.125 of the FOI Guidelines states that personal information can include a
person’s name, address, telephone number, date of birth, medical records, bank
account details, taxation information and signature.
Paragraph 6.132 of the FOI Guidelines states that an individual is a natural person and
does not include a corporation, trust, body politic or incorporated association. Section
47F specifically extends to the personal information of deceased persons.
I am satisfied that the  parts of the documents marked ‘s47F’ includes personal
information  of Australian Public Service staff who are below the  Senior Executive
Service level.
Unreasonable Disclosure of Personal Information
Subsection 47F(2) of the FOI Act provides that in determining whether the disclosure
would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information, I must have
regard to the following matters:
(a)  the extent to which the information is well known
(b) whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have
been) associated with the matters dealt with in the document
(c)  the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources
(d) any other matters that the agency or Minister considers relevant.
Paragraph 6.133 of the FOI Guidelines states that:
The personal privacy exemption is designed to prevent the unreasonable invasion of
third parties’ privacy. The test of ‘unreasonableness’ implies a need to balance the public
interest in disclosure of government-held information and the private interest in  the
privacy of individuals. The test does not, however, amount to the public interest test of
s 11A(5), which follows later in the decision making process. It is possible that the
decision maker may need to consider one or more factors twice, once to determine if a
projected effect is unreasonable and again when assessing the public interest balance.
I note that the AAT, in Re Chandra and Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs [1984]
AATA 437 at paragraph 51-52, stated that:
... whether a disclosure is ‘unreasonable’ requires … a consideration of all the
circumstances, including the nature of the information that would be disclosed, the
circumstances in which the information was obtained, the likelihood of the information
being information that the person concerned would not wish to have disclosed without
consent, and whether the information has any current relevance … it is also necessary in
my view to take into consideration the public interest recognised by the Act in the

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disclosure of information … and to weigh that interest in the balance against the public
interest in protecting the personal privacy of a third party ...
Paragraphs 6.137 and 6.138 of the FOI Guidelines state:
6.137
Key factors for determining whether disclosure is unreasonable include:
•  the author of the document is identifiable
•  the documents contain third party personal information
•  release of the documents would cause stress on the third party
•  no public purpose would be achieved through release
6.138
As discussed in the leading s 47F IC review decision of ‘FG’ and National
Archives of Australia [2015] AICmr 26, other factors considered to be relevant include:
•  the nature, age and current relevance of the information
•  any detriment that disclosure may cause to the person to whom the
information relates
•  any opposition to disclosure expressed or likely to be held by that person
•  the circumstances of an agency’s collection and use of the information
•  the fact that the FOI Act does not control or restrict any subsequent use or
dissemination of information released under the FOI Act
•  any submission an FOI applicant chooses to make in support of their
application as to their reasons for seeking access and their intended or likely
use or dissemination of the information, and
•  whether disclosure of the information might advance the public interest in
government transparency and integrity
Paragraph 6.152 of the FOI Guidelines states:
When considering whether it would be unreasonable to disclose the names of
public servants, there is no basis under the FOI Act for agencies to start from the
position that the classification level of a departmental officer determines whether
their name would be unreasonable to disclose. In seeking to claim the exemption,
an agency needs to consider the factors identified above at [6.135] – [6.138] in the
context of the document, rather than start from the assumption that such
information is exempt. However, I note that in Chief Executive Officer, Services
Australia and Justin Warren [2020] AATA 4557 (Warren), at paragraph 83, Deputy
President S A Forgie noted:
The whole of the FOI Act is a finely tuned balance between two interests. In one side of
the balance is the facilitation and promotion of access to a national resource that is
information held by Government, which enables increased public participation in
Government processes and increased scrutiny, discussion, comment, and review of the
Government’s activities. In the other is the protection of the national interest, the
essential operation of government and the privacy of those who deal with government.
It is most important, therefore, that its provisions be read very carefully and that
presumptions should not be introduced that are not expressed, or necessarily implicit,
in the words Parliament has chosen to achieve the balance that it wants. Those words
should be the starting point of any consideration rather than any presumption that

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agencies and ministers should start from the position that the inclusion of the full names
of staff in documents increases transparency and increases the objects of the FOI Act.
I am satisfied that the disclosure of personal information contained within the
documents would, in the circumstances, constitute an unreasonable disclosure of
personal information for the following reasons:
•  the individuals whose personal information is contained in the documents are
identifiable
•  release of this information would cause anxiety to the individuals concerned
•  no further public purpose would be achieved through the release of the
personal information, noting that the personal information is included in the
document as a result of their employment circumstance
•  the information is current and has not lost its sensitivity through the passage of
time
•  the individuals would not expect the information to be placed in the public
domain, and detriment may be caused to the individuals to whom the
information relates, and
•  the FOI Act does not control or restrict any subsequent use or dissemination of
information released under the FOI Act.
For the reasons outlined above, I have decided that the parts of the documents marked
‘s47F’ are conditionally exempt from disclosure under section 47F of the FOI Act.
Where a document is found to be conditionally exempt, the department must give
access to that document unless access to the document at this time would, on balance,
be contrary to the public interest. I have addressed the public interest considerations
below.
5.  Disclosure is not in the public interest
Pursuant to subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act, the department must give access to
conditionally exempt documents unless access to the documents at that time would,
on balance, be contrary to the public interest. I have therefore considered whether
disclosure of the documents would be contrary to the public interest.
Paragraph 6.224 of the FOI Guidelines states:

The public interest test is considered to be:
•  something that is of serious concern or benefit to the public, not merely
of individual interest
•  not something of interest to the public, but in the interest of the public
•  not a static concept, where it lies in a particular matter will often depend
on a balancing of interests
•  necessarily broad and non-specific and

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•  relates to matters of common concern or relevance to all members of the
public, or a substantial section of the public.
Factors favouring disclosure
Section 11B of the FOI Act provides that factors favouring access to documents in the
public interest include whether access to the documents would do any of the
following:
•  promote the objects of the FOI Act
•  inform debate on a matter of public importance
•  promote effective oversight of public expenditure, or
•  allow a person to access his or her own personal information.
Having regard to the above, I consider that disclosure of the conditionally exempt
information at this time:
•  would provide access to documents held by an agency of the Commonwealth
which would promote the objects of the FOI Act by providing the Australian
community with access to information held by the Australian Government.
•  would not inform debate on a matter of public importance
•  would not promote effective oversight of public expenditure, and
•  would not allow you access to your own personal information.
Factors weighing against disclosure
I consider that the following public interest factors weigh against disclosure of the
conditionally exempt information at this time, on the basis that disclosure:
•  could reasonably be expected to prejudice the protection of the relevant
individuals’ right to personal privacy, noting that the substance of the
documents has been released to you and disclosure of the personal information
would not provide you with any further insight into the workings of
government.
•  would not achieve any public purpose and, on balance, would harm the
individuals’ right to personal privacy, which would be contrary to the objects
of the Privacy Act 1988 and therefore against the public interest.
In forming my decision, I  confirm that I have not taken into account any of the
irrelevant factors set out in subsection 11B(4) of the FOI Act, which are:
(a) access to the document could result in embarrassment to the
Commonwealth Government, or cause a loss of confidence in the
Commonwealth Government;

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(b) access to the document could result in any person misinterpreting or
misunderstanding the document;
(c) the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to
which the request for access to the document was made;
(d) access to the document could result in confusion or unnecessary debate.
Conclusion
For the reasons set out above, after weighing all public interest factors for and against
disclosure, I have decided that, on balance, disclosure of the conditionally exemption
information would be contrary to the public interest. I am satisfied that the benefit to
the public resulting from disclosure is outweighed by the benefit to the public of
withholding the information. I have therefore redacted the conditionally exempt
information from the documents released to you.

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ATTACHMENT C.
YOUR REVIEW RIGHTS
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for a review.
Internal review
You can request internal review within 30 days of you receiving this decision. An
internal review will be conducted by a different officer from the original decision
maker.
No particular form is required to apply for review although it will assist your case to
set out the grounds on which you believe that the original decision should be changed.
Applications for internal review can be made by:
Email:
xxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xx
Mail:
FOI Unit (MDP 516)
Department of Health and Aged Care
GPO Box 9848
CANBERRA ACT 2601
If you choose to seek an internal review, you will also have a right to apply for
Information Commissioner review (IC review) of the internal review decision once it
has been provided to you.
Information Commissioner review or complaint
You have the right to seek Information Commissioner (IC) review of this decision. For
FOI applicants, an application for IC review must be made in writing within 60 days
of the decision. For third parties who object to disclosure of their information, an
application for IC review must be made in writing within 30 days of the decision.
If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your FOI request, you can lodge
a complaint with the OAIC. However, the OAIC suggests that complaints are made to
the agency in the first instance.
While there is no particular form required to make a complaint to the OAIC, the
complaint should be in writing and set out the reasons for why you are dissatisfied
with the way your request was processed. It should also identify the Department of
Health and Aged Care as the agency about which you are complaining.
You can make an IC review application or make an FOI complaint in one of the
following ways:
•  online at www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-
complaints/
•  via email to xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
•  by mail to GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001, or
•  by fax to 02 9284 9666.

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More information about the Information Commissioner reviews and complaints is
available on the OAIC website here: www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-
review-process.
Complaint
If you are dissatisfied with action taken by the department, you may also make a
complaint directly to the department.
Complaints to the department are covered by the department’s privacy policy. A form
for lodging a complaint directly to the department is available on the department’s
website here: www.health.gov.au/about-us/contact-us/complaints

Document Outline