6 December 2024
CR
BY EMAIL: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request:
FA 24/11/00381
File Number:
FA24/11/00381
Dear CR
Freedom of Information (FOI) request – Decision
On 7 November 2024, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) received a request for
access to document under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
1
Scope of request
You have requested access to the following document:
I request access to the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982:
1. All notices of a charge issued to FOI applicants between 1 July 2022 and 7 November
2024.
For the purposes of my request, a “notice of a charge” refers to a “written notice outlining
the preliminary assessment of the charge”, as defined by FOI Guidelines [4.9]. Other
terms synonymous with this definition include “charge notice” and “charge letter.”
Specifically, I request the following items from charge notices:
1.i - That the applicant is liable to pay a charge, the preliminary assessment of the charge
and the basis for the calculation (FOI Guidelines [4.54a-b]),
1.ii - (if applicable) Any written explanation or justification as to whether the cost of
calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the
Commonwealth (FOI Guidelines [4.114(1)] and [4.4]), and
1.iii - The FOI reference number and date of the letter.
6 Chan Street Belconnen ACT 2617
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 • www.homeaffairs.gov.au
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the charge notice. I expect details
such as applicant information, the scope of their request, and employee names,
signatures, and details to be excluded (s 22).
If multiple charge notices were issued for a single request (e.g., following further review or
scope reduction), all charge notices are in scope. Final charge notices (issued after a
decision is provided (FOI Guidelines [4.78])) that differ from the previous charge are also
in scope.
If your agency administers FOI requests on behalf of another entity (e.g., a minister or
departmental sub-branch), such requests are included.
2. All notices of a charge decision issued to FOI applicants between 1 July 2022 and 7
November 2024.
For the purposes of my request, a “notice of a charge decision” refers to a “written notice
of decision to the applicant as to whether the charge will be imposed, reduced or waived”
as defined by FOI Guidelines [4.14]. Other terms that can be used synonymously include
“charge decision notice” and “charge decision letter.”
Specifically, I request the following items from charge decision letters:
2.i - The decision to impose, reduce or waive a charge, as well as the charge amount,
2.ii - (if applicable) Any written explanation or justification as to whether the cost of
calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the
Commonwealth (FOI Guidelines [4.114(1)] and [4.4]), and
2.iii - The FOI reference number and date of the letter.
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the charge decision notice. I expect
details such as applicant information, the scope of their request, contention reasons,
decision-maker explanation of reasons (except part 2.ii), employee names, signatures,
and details, or any information derived from the above (such as details about third parties
or supporting evidence of a financial hardship contention) are to be excluded (s 22).
Some agencies, when deciding to waive a charge following an applicant’s contention,
may simply state that they have “decided not to impose charges for this request”. Other
agencies, in similar circumstances, provide a formal decision notice, including a
statement of reasons and review rights. For the purposes of my request, both informal
and formal decision notices are within scope.
Additionally, if multiple charge decision letters have been issued for a single request (e.g.,
following further review or scope changes), all such letters are included in the scope of
this request. Charge decisions made under section 55G of the FOI Act are also included.
3. Any internal review decision letters regarding a charge notice or charge decision
between 1 July 2022 and 7 November 2024
Specifically, I request the following items from internal review decision letters:
3.i - The decision to impose, reduce or waive a charge, as well as the charge amount,
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3.ii - (if applicable) Any written explanation or justification as to whether the cost of
calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the
Commonwealth (FOI Guidelines [4.114(1)] and [4.4]), and
3.iii - The FOI reference number and date of the letter.
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the internal review decision letter,
including any background information unrelated to the charge decision. I expect details
such as applicant information, the scope of their request, review reasons, decision-maker
explanation of reasons (except part 3.ii), employee names, signatures and details, or any
information derived from the above, are to be excluded (s 22).
4. Any external review decisions regarding a charge notice or charge decision between 1
July 2022 and 7 November 2024. This includes decisions not to undertake an IC Review.
I expect details such as applicant information, the scope of their request, review reasons,
employee names or details, or any information derived from the above, are to be
excluded (s 22) from the scope of my request.
5. All confirmations of payment and refunds between 1 July 2022 and 7 November 2024.
Any document confirming receipt of payment or refund of payment is included in the
scope of my request.
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the document. Details of the applicant
and their payment details are to be excluded (s 22).
If you are willing, I would prefer this information to be provided administratively, such as in
an appendix to the statement of reasons or as a note in a schedule of documents. I would
like the following information: whether any payment was made, the amount paid, whether
any amount was refunded, and the amount refunded for each request. Please let me
know if you are willing to pursue this administratively, and I will confirm withdrawing this
part (5) of my request.
6. A document that identifies whether any FOI requests, where a charge notice was
issued between 1 July 2022 and 7 November 2024, were either withdrawn or deemed
withdrawn.
To clarify, I am seeking information on whether a request was withdrawn or deemed
withdrawn after a charge notice was issued. This may be demonstrated through:
- Correspondence from your agency confirming the withdrawal or deemed withdrawal of a
request, or
- The applicant's email confirming their withdrawal of the request.
If no confirmation has been provided by your agency or the applicant, and the request
was deemed withdrawn due to non-response to the charge notice, I request that a
document be created under section 17 of the FOI Act, which shows that the request was
deemed withdrawn. This information is likely to exist in your FOI database or case
management systems in electronic form.
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To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the document beyond what is
necessary to show whether the request was withdrawn or deemed withdrawn after a
charge notice was issued.
If your agency is willing, I would prefer this information to be provided administratively,
such as in an appendix to the statement of reasons or as a note in a schedule of
documents. Please let me know if you are open to processing this request
administratively, and I will confirm the withdrawal of this part (6) of my request.
In addition to the document-specific exclusions listed above, please exclude the following:
i) Any details about FOI applicants, including, but not limited to personal information and
supporting evidence of personal circumstances in a financial hardship contention.
ii) Any details about a third party, business, or organisation, including but not limited to
their personal information, business information, and commercial affairs.
iii) Any information that may require third-party consultation under the FOI Act.
iv) Any details about any individual, including but not limited to APS staff and signatures.
v) Emails that merely attach charges notices or decision letters.
In many cases, agencies send charge notices and charge decision notices as formal
documents (such as PDFs or Word files) attached to an email. The emails themselves
typically contain little more than a message like "see attached," and these are not
relevant to my request and may be excluded.
However, if a charge notice or charge decision is provided directly in the body of an email
(without a formal attachment), the email itself would be in scope. In such cases, the
content of the email, as it serves the function of the notice, should be included in my
request.
vi) Duplicate documents.
vii) Background information unrelated to charges.
Request for Administrative Arrangements
In lieu of providing all documents requested in parts 1-3 and parts 5-6, I propose an
administrative arrangement. I request a table summarising charge estimates, decisions,
internal review decisions#, and payment information between 1 July 2022 and 7
November 2024. The table should contain the following columns:
FOI Reference | Charge Notice Date | Notice Estimate ($) | Charge Decision Date |
Charge Decision* | Internal Review Decision Date | Internal Review Decision* | Request
Status^ | Notes&
# Internal Review decisions that are unrelated to a charge are irrelevant and must not be
included.
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* Charge Decision & Internal Review Decision - These should be categorised as:
(1) Waive
(2) Reduce – $(new charge total)
(3) Affirm
(4) Deemed Affirm
(5) Cannot Impose (e.g., when a decision on the request is not made in time)
(6) Other (for complex cases, with notes).
^ Request Status - Enter as follows:
(1) Ongoing (still processing or within the 60-day IC Review timeframe)
(2) Finalised (request is no longer being processed and is outside the 60-day IC Review
timeframe)
(3) External Review (provide OAIC/AATA/FCA/FCAFC reference number)
(4) Withdrawn
(5) Deemed Withdrawn
(6) Other (for complex cases, with notes).
& Notes - Include whether any payment was made, the amount paid, whether any
amount was refunded, and the amount refunded. Additionally, if you would like to add any
submissions regarding a request you are free to add it here.
If multiple charge notices were issued for a single request (e.g., due to scope reduction),
each notice should be a new entry in the table. Please include the reason for additional
notices in the Notes section. A ‘final charge’ notice (the actual cost of processing) that
differs from the previous charge should also be included as a new entry, with an “actual
cost” note.
If you agree to this administrative arrangement, I will confirm withdrawing parts 1-3
(except parts 1.ii, 2.ii, 3.ii) and parts 5-6 of my request. The remaining parts of my FOI
request would be:
(Parts 1.ii, 2.ii, 3.ii): Any written explanation or justification as to whether the cost of
calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the
Commonwealth (FOI Guidelines [4.114(1)] and [4.4]), and
(Part 4): Any external review decisions regarding a charge notice or charge decision.
Public Interest Factor
I anticipate that some agencies may impose a charge for this request. To pre-empt this, I
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will provide the following public interest considerations. I allege that some government
agencies are incorrectly imposing charges as a means to delay or discourage access to
documents, while doing so at a net cost to the Commonwealth. I intend to raise these
concerns in a complaint to the OAIC. Your assistance in providing this information will
help determine whether your agency is meeting its statutory obligations under the FOI
Act.
In CropLife Australia and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Freedom of
information) [2024] AICmr 159, the Assistant FOI Commissioner set aside a charge of
$701, agreeing that access to documents regarding the Department’s FOI processes was
in the public interest, as it would assist in assessing whether the Department was fulfilling
its obligations under the FOI Act.
The Assistant Commissioner, Freedom of Information, noted at [24]:
"where there are concerns about whether an agency is carrying out its statutory
obligations appropriately with respect to a particular process (such as under the FOI Act),
providing access to documents relating to the conduct of those obligations would go
beyond merely enhancing transparency by assisting inquiry into whether the agency is
adequately fulfilling those obligations. Accordingly, I accept the applicant’s submission
that giving access to information that might reveal any deficiencies with respect to the
Department’s administration of FOI requests under the FOI Act would be in the general
public interest."
Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please let me know if you agree to the
administrative arrangement at your earliest convenience.
On 22 November 2024 you agreed to revise the scope of your request to the following
information:
Part 1: FOI Reference, Notice date, Notice amount; exclude everything else
Part 2: FOI Reference, Decision date, Decision; exclude everything else
Part 3: FOI Reference, Internal Review decision date, Internal Review decision; exclude
everything else
Part 4: (deleted)
Part 5: (deleted)
Part 6: Whether a request was withdrawn, deemed withdrawn, or neither, exclude
everything else
Parts 1.ii, 2.ii, 3.ii: (deleted)
2
Authority to make decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in respect of
requests to access document or to amend or annotate records.
3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
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• the terms of your request
• the document relevant to the request
• the FOI Act
• Guidelines published by the Office of the Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines)
• advice from Departmental officers with responsibility for matters relating to the
document to which you sought access
4
Document in scope of request
In accordance with section 17 of the FOI Act, the Department has used its computer system to
produce one document that contain[s] information that falls within the scope of your request. The
data produced in the document existed in the possession of the Department on 7 November
2024 when your FOI request was received.
5
Decision
The decision in relation to the document in the possession of the Department which fall within
the scope of your request is as follows:
• Release one document in full
6
Legislation
A copy of the FOI Act is available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562. If you
are unable to access the legislation through this website, please contact our office for a copy.
7
Your review rights
If you disagree with this decision, you have the right to apply for either an internal review or an
Information Commissioner review of the decision.
Internal review
If you want the Department to review this decision, you must make your internal review request
within 30 days of being notified of this decision.
When making your internal review request, please provide the Department with the reasons why
you consider this decision should be changed.
You can send your internal review request to:
Email: xxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Or
Postal mail:
Freedom of Information
Department of Home Affairs
GPO Box 241 MELBOURNE VIC 3001
The internal review will be carried out by an officer who is more senior than the original decision
maker. The Department must make its decision on the review within 30 days of receiving your
request for internal review.
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Information Commissioner review
If you want the Australian Information Commissioner to review this decision, you must make your
request to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) within 60 days of being
notified of this decision.
You can apply for an Information Commissioner review using the Information Commissioner
review application form on the OAIC website.
You can find more information about Information Commissioner reviews on the OAIC website.
8
Making a complaint
You may make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner if you have concerns
about how the Department has handled your request under the FOI Act. This is a separate
process to the process of requesting a review of the decision as indicated above.
You can make an FOI complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) at: FOI Complaint Form on the OAIC website.
9
Contacting the FOI Section
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Section at
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
Electronically signed Carmen
Position number: 60040191
Authorised Decision Maker
Department of Home Affairs
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