17 January 2025
FOI ref: 3766
Ms Dale Webster
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ms Webster,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – DECISION
I refer to your request to Treasury on 22 October 2024 for access, under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), to the following:
I request any correspondence or documents referencing the closure of the Katoomba,
Murwil umbah, Bega and Portland ANZ branches fol owing the signing of the Suncorp
acquisition deal on June 28, 2024.
I am an authorised decision maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Decision
The Treasury has identified 14 documents within scope of your request. I have decided to
grant access to one of these documents in full. I have also decided to grant access to the
remaining 13 documents in part. The documents for release are attached, edited under section
22 of the FOI Act to remove exempt and irrelevant material. The reasons for my decision
follow.
Material Considered
The material to which I have had regard in making this decision includes the scope of the
request and content of the documents subject to your request, the relevant provisions in the
FOI Act and Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (FOI Guidelines), and advice from subject matter experts within the Treasury.
Reasons for decision
Material deleted pursuant to Section 22
Section 22 of the FOI Act allows information that is irrelevant to your request to be deleted.
Langton Crescent
Parkes ACT 2600
Australia
P: +61 2 6263 2800

The documents in scope of your request contain the names of government employees. We
informed you in our acknowledgement email that it is our usual practice not to include the
personal information of government employees and invited you to inform us if you did not
agree with us processing the request on this basis. As we did not hear from you, the personal
information of government employees has been deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act.
The documents also contain material that is irrelevant to your request. This material has been
deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act.
Agency operations – section 47E(d)
Section 47E(d) of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure
would, or could reasonably be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on the proper
and efficient operations of an agency.
Documents 9 and 11 contain the preliminary views of the Treasury that relate to internal
decision-making processes. These preliminary views do not constitute the finalised views of
the Treasury. Further, I find that disclosure of this information would detract from the ability
of the Treasury to effectively deliberate over the nature and timing of its proposed policies and
reforms.
I am satisfied that disclosure of this information would have a substantial adverse effect on the
proper and efficient conduct of the operations of the Treasury. I therefore find that Documents
9 and 11 are conditionally exempt in part under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act.
Personal privacy – section 47F
Section 47F of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its release
would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person. The test
of unreasonableness implies a need to balance the public interest in disclosure of government-
held information, and the privacy of individuals.
Documents 2 to 10 contain the personal information of members of the public, and of
individuals employed in the private sector. Section 6.125 of the OAIC Guidelines notes that
personal information may include the names, addresses and contact details of private citizens.
It can also comprise information that could be used, or reasonably used, to identify an
individual.
This information contained in these documents is not well known, and is not available through
publicly accessible sources. Accordingly, I am satisfied that the information contained in the
documents constitutes personal information, and that documents 2 to 10 are conditionally
exempt in part under section 47F of the FOI Act.
My consideration of the public interest is set out below.
Public Interest Test
Section 11A(5) of the FOI Act provides that conditionally exempt material must be released
unless its disclosure would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest. Section 11B(3) sets
out public interest factors favouring release, and section 11B(4) sets out factors that must not
be taken into account. The FOI Guidelines set out factors in favour of, and against, releasing
conditionally exempt material.
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Paragraph 6.5 of the FOI Guidelines provides that the public interest test is considered to be
something that is of serious concern or benefit to the public, not merely of individual interest,
and related to matters of common concern or relevance to all members of the public, or a
substantial section of the public.
In favour of disclosure, I consider access to the conditionally exempt material under s47E(d)
would promote the objects of the FOI Act. However, I discern no specific public interest to be
served by disclosure of the personal information that is conditional y exempt under s47F of the
FOI Act.
Against release, I have considered the public interest in maintaining the Treasury’s ability to
deliberate before providing advice for government consideration. Against the release of
personal information, I have considered the public interest in protecting an individuals’ right to
privacy to be a significant factor against release.
On balance, I consider the public interest factors against disclosure outweigh the factors in
favour of disclosure. I have therefore decided Documents 9 and 11 are exempt in part under
section 47E(d) of the FOI Act, and that Documents 2 to 10 are exempt in part under 47F of the
FOI Act.
Rights of Review
A statement setting out your rights of review in this matter is attached.
Disclosure Log
The Treasury publishes documents disclosed in response to FOI requests on the Treasury
website. This is consistent with the arrangements established by section 11C of the FOI Act. In
this instance, I consider that the documents released to you are appropriate for publication on
the Treasury’s FOI disclosure log.
Yours sincerely,
Adam Woodstock-Mezhvinsky
A/g Assistant Secretary
Financial System Division
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INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW
1.
APPLICATION FOR INTERNAL REVIEW OF DECISION
Section 54 of the FOI Act gives you the right to apply for an internal review of the decision
refusing to grant access to documents in accordance with your request.
An application for a review of the decision must be made in writing within 30 days of receipt of
this letter.
No particular form is required but it would assist the decision-maker if you could set out in the
application the grounds on which you consider that the decision should be reviewed.
An application for a review of the decision should be emailed to xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
OR
2.
APPLICATION TO AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION COMMISSIONER (INFORMATION
COMMISSIONER) FOR REVIEW OF DECISION
Section 54L of the FOI Act gives you the right to seek a review of the decision from the
Information Commissioner. An application for review must be made within 60 days of
receiving the decision.
An application for review must be in writing and must:
– give details of how notices must be sent to you; and
– include a copy of the notice of decision.
You should send your application for review to:
The Information Commissioner
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
AND/OR
3.
COMPLAINTS TO THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
Section 70 of the FOI Act provides that a person may complain to the Information
Commissioner about action taken by an agency in the exercise of powers or the performance
of functions under the FOI Act.
A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be in writing and identify the agency the
complaint is about. It should be directed to the fol owing address:
The Information Commissioner
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
The Information Commissioner may decline to investigate the complaint in a number of
circumstances, including that you did not exercise your right to ask the agency, the
Information Commissioner, a court or tribunal to review the decision.
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Document Outline