GPO Box 9887
Melbourne VIC 3001
20 December 2024
Glenn Hamiltonshire
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Reference number: IA-2347
Notice of Decision – Freedom of Information request
Dear Mr Hamiltonshire
I refer to your request submitted to the office of the Fair Work Ombudsman (
OFWO) on 29 November
2024 under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act).
This letter sets out my decision in relation to the documents relevant to your request which I am
authorised to make under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Scope of Request
“I request access to the Style Guides/Brand Guides/Writing Guides currently used for the Fair
Work Ombudsman.”
Timeframe for processing the request
The statutory period for processing Freedom of Information requests under the FOI Act is 30 days. The
due date for processing this request is 29 December 2024.
Matters taken into account in making this decision on access
In making my decision, I took the following matters into account:
• The scope of the request
• The documents
• The FOI Act
• The Australian Information Commissioner’s FOI Guidelines
• Internal consultation
Searches
I arranged for searches of OFWO records to identify any documents falling within the scope of the FOI
request. Records searched included those held by the Communications team and Digital Experience team.
The search identified 4 relevant documents with attachments (95 pages in total).
www.fairwork.gov.au | Fair Work Infoline: 13 13 94 | ABN: 43 884 188 232
DECISION
I have determined that the documents can be released in full.
The relevant documents are outlined in the schedule at
Attachment A to this letter.
Access to the documents
The documents are being released to you with the decision.
Website Publication
Subject to certain exceptions, section 11C of the FOI Act requires agencies to publish any information
released in response to FOI requests on the online Disclosure Log. Section 11C contains some exceptions
to this general requirement. These exceptions include when the document contains business or personal
information that it would be unreasonable to publish.
As the documents do not contain personal and business information I propose to release the material
via the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Disclosure Log.
Review rights
I have attached a document setting out your rights of review of this decision at
Attachment B.
Contact details
For further information, please email
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Stefania Giannopoulos
Assistant Director Information Governance
Fair Work Ombudsman
Attachment A – Schedule of Documents
Document Number
No. of Pages
Date
Description
Decision
Applicable Provision (s)
1
001-022
2019
Fair Work Ombudsman Visual Style Guide
Release in full
N/A
2
023-026
Undated
Virtual Assistant Content Style Guide
Release in full
N/A
3
027-093
May 2024
FWO Language Supplement
Release in full
N/A
4
094-095
Undated
Writing cheat sheet
Release in full
N/A
link to page 4 link to page 4
Attachment B
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW & COMPLAINTS
Rights of review
If you are dissatisfied with this decision, you can apply for internal review by this agency (Option 1 below) or
external review by the Australian Information Commissioner (IC Review) (Option 2 below).
You do not have to apply for internal review before seeking IC review. However, the Information Commissioner
has expressed the view that it is preferable for a person to seek internal review by the agency before applying for
IC Review. If you choose Option 1 (internal review), you can also apply for IC review of the internal review decision
within 60 days after receiving notice of our review decision.
Option 1 – Internal review
You can seek internal review of the decision. An application for internal review must be made in writing within 30
days after the date you were notified of the decision, or within such further period as the Fair Work Ombudsman
allows. The internal review will be conducted by a senior officer who had no involvement in the initial decision.
There is no particular form required to make a request for internal review. However, it would help the reviewer if
you said, in writing, why you think the decision should be reviewed. An application for an internal review of the
decision should be sent to:
Em
ail: xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
FOI Manager
GPO Box 9887
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Option 2 – Review by the Australian Information Commissioner
Alternatively, you can apply to the Australian Information Commissioner for IC review of the decision.
An application for IC Review must be made within 30 days after the day you were given notice of this decision and
the decision relates to an access grant decision (s 54M(2)(a
))1 or 60 days where the decision relates to an ‘access
refusal decision’ (s 54L(s)(
a)):2
In making your application, you need to provide an address for notices to be sent (this can be an email address)
and a copy of this decision. It would also help the Australian Information Commissioner if you set out the reasons
for seeking IC review in your application.
To apply for IC review, you can file your application via th
e Information Commissioner review application form.
Complaints
You can complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action taken by the Fair Work Ombudsman in
relation to your freedom of information request. Your complaint must be in writing and it is the Information
Commissioner’s preference that an online complaint form is completed. You can lodge your compliant via the
OAIC’s
FOI complaint form.
1 An
“access grant decision” is defined in s 53B of the FOI Act to mean a decision to grant access to a document
where there is a requirement to consult with a third party under ss 26A, 27 or 27A.
2 An
“access refusal decision” is defined in s 53A of the FOI Act and Part 10 of the FOI Guidelines at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-guidelines/part-10-review-by-the-information-
commissioner/
