DEFENCE FOI 376/24/25
STATEMENT OF REASONS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
1.
I refer to the request by Daphne (the applicant), dated and received on
18 November 2024 by the Department of Defence (Defence), for access to the
following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act):
…the RAN version of the Guidelines for using RAN (Navy) emblems document as a
PDF...
FOI decision maker
2.
I am the authorised officer pursuant to section 23 of the FOI Act to make a decision on
this FOI request.
Documents identified
3.
I have identified one document as falling within the scope of the request.
Decision
4.
I have decided to partially release the document in accordance with section 22 [access
to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted] of the FOI Act on the
grounds that the deleted material is considered exempt under section 47E [Public
interest conditional exemptions – certain operations of agencies] of the FOI Act.
Material taken into account
5.
In making my decision, I have had regard to:
a. the terms of the request;
b. the content of the identified document in issue;
c. relevant provisions of the FOI Act; and
d. the Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (the Guidelines).
REASONS FOR DECISION
Section 22 – Access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted
6.
Section 22 of the FOI Act permits an agency to prepare and provide an edited copy of
a document where the agency has decided to refuse access to an exempt document or
that to give access to a document would disclose information that would reasonably be
regarded as irrelevant to the request for access.
7.
The identified document contains exempt material and I am satisfied that it is
reasonably practicable to remove this material and release the document to you in an
edited form.
2
Section 47E – Public interest conditional exemptions – certain operations of agencies
8.
Section 47E of the FOI Act states:
A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would, or
could reasonably be expected to, do any of the following:
(d) have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the
operations of the agency.
9.
The Guidelines, at paragraph 6.115, provide that:
The predicted effect must bear on the agency’s ‘proper and efficient’ operations,
that is, the agency is undertaking its operations in an expected manner.
10.
I find that disclosure of the material exempt under section 47E(d) of the Act would
have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the operations
of Defence. The document contains operational Defence email addresses and links to
internal Defence webpages that are not otherwise publicly available. Disclosure of the
operational contact details would allow members of the public to circumvent
established methods and dedicated points of contact, which would undermine the
operation of Defence’s established channels of communication. Further, disclosure
could reasonably be expected to expose operational areas to vexatious communication
and public inquiries, which they are not ordinarily resourced to manage.
11.
I am satisfied that were the operational contact details made publicly available, it
would have substantial adverse effects on the proper and efficient operation of existing
public communication channels. Further, I am satisfied of a reasonable expectation
that the information could be used inappropriately, in a manner which adversely
affects the proper and efficient conduct of Defence operations. Disclosure of
operational email addresses therefore, could reasonably be expected to prejudice the
operations of Defence.
12.
The Guidelines provide, at paragraph 6.112, that I should consider whether disclosure
of the information ‘would, or could reasonably be expected to, lead to a change in the
agency’s processes that would enable those processes to be more efficient.’ Given that
the operational email addresses and internal webpage links within the document are
not publicly available and that more appropriate communication channels are already
available, I am satisfied that release of the information could reasonably be expected
to lead to a change in Defence’s processes that would not lead to any efficiencies.
13.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the specified information is conditionally exempt
under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act.
Public interest considerations - section 47E
14.
Section 11A(5) of the FOI Act states:
The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document if it is
conditionally exempt at a particular time unless (in the circumstances)
access to the document at that time would, on balance, be contrary to the
public interest.
