30 January 2025
Our reference: 2024/2724
Glenn Hamiltonshire / Right to Know
By email only:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Hamiltonshire,
Freedom of Information Request – Decision
I refer to your email dated 1 December 2024, making a request under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act) for access to:
‘I request access to the Style Guides/Brand Guides/Writing Guides currently used for
the Seafarers Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Authority’
My FOI decision
I have decided to refuse access to your request under section 24A of the FOI Act, on the
basis that al reasonable steps have been taken to locate the documents and I am satisfied
they do not exist. Please see
Attachment A for the reasons behind this decision.
Publicly available documents
Following searches undertaken by the Seacare Authority and Comcare, who provide
administrative supports to the Seacare Authority, the only documents identified as relevant
to your request are publicly available guides issued for the whole of the Federal
Government. These documents are as fol ows:
•
Australian Government Style Manual: Australian Government Style Manual
•
Australian Government Branding Guidelines: Australian Government Branding
Guidelines | PM&C
•
Government Writing Handbook: Government writing handbook [PDF]
Review rights
If you disagree with any part of the decision you can ask for a review. There are two ways
you can do this. You can ask for an internal review from within the department, or an
external review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. See
Attachment B for more information about how arrange a review.
Contacts
Should you require clarification of any matter discussed in this letter, please contact the
Secretariat by email at
xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
o.b.o Barry Sherriff
Chairperson
Seacare Authority
Attachment A
REASONS FOR DECISION
What I considered
In reaching my decision I have considered:
• your request dated 1 December 2024;
• searches for the documents that would fal within the scope of your request;
• consultations with Comcare officers about:
o the nature of the documents, should they exist;
o Seacare and Comcare’s operating environment and functions;
• guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of
the FOI Act (
Guidelines); and
• the FOI Act.
My decision
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Relevant law and Guidelines – Section 24A
Section 24A of the FOI Act provides that:
(1) An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a) al reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b) the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i) is in the agency's or Minister's possession but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist.
Whilst the FOI Act is silent on what constitutes ‘all reasonable steps’ in s 24A(1)(a),
paragraphs 3.88 and 3.89 of the FOI Guidelines relevantly provides:
[3.88] … The meaning of ‘reasonable’ in the context of s 24A(1)(a) has been
construed as not going beyond the limit assigned by reason, not extravagant or
excessive, moderate and of such an amount, size or number as is judged to be
appropriate or suitable to the circumstances or purpose.
[3.89] Agencies and ministers should undertake a reasonable search on a flexible and
common-sense interpretation of the terms of the request. What constitutes a
reasonable search wil depend on the circumstances of each request and wil be
influenced by the normal business practices in the agency’s operating environment or
the minister’s office. At a minimum, an agency or minister should take
comprehensive steps to locate documents, having regard to:
•
the subject matter of the documents,
•
the current and past file management systems and the practice of destruction
or removal of documents,
•
the record management systems in place,
•
the individuals within an agency or minister’s office who may be able to assist
with the location of documents, and
•
the age of the documents.
Application of section 24A to your matter
Searches to locate any relevant documents were undertaken by Comcare’s Secretariat and
Scheme Support Services and Comcare’s Marketing and Communications team. Comcare’s
Secretariat and Scheme Support Services provide administrative support to the Seacare
Authority, while Comcare’s Marketing and Communications team are responsible for all
branding and writing guides for Comcare. I am accordingly satisfied that these two areas
were well-placed to advise on the existence of any documents fal ing within the scope of
your request.
Both business areas were unable to identify any documents that fal within the scope of
your request that are specific to the Seacare Authority. They did, however, helpfully provide
the details of the publicly available Australian Government guides which are linked on the
first page of this decision.
Conclusion
On the basis of these searches, I am satisfied that in accordance with section 24A of the FOI
Act:
1. al reasonable steps have been taken to find the documents; and
2. the documents do not exist.
Attachment B
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
Application for review of decision
The
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives you the right to apply for a review of
this decision. Under sections 54 and 54L of the FOI Act, you can apply for a review of this
decision by:
(i)
an internal review officer within Comcare; or
(ii)
the Information Commissioner.
Internal Review
If you apply for internal review, it will be carried out by a different decision-maker who
will make a fresh decision on your application. An application for review must be:
• made in writing;
• made within 30 days of receiving this letter; and
• sent to the postal or email address shown in this letter.
No particular form is required, but it is desirable to set out in the application the grounds
upon which you consider the decision should be reviewed.
If the internal review officer decides not to grant you access to al of the documents to
which you have requested access, you have the right to seek a review of that decision by
the Information Commissioner. You wil be further notified of your rights of review at the
time you are notified of the internal review decision.
Please note that if you apply for an internal review and a decision is not made by an
internal review officer within 30 days of receiving the application, you have the right to
seek review by the Information Commissioner for a review of the original FOI decision on
the basis of a 'deemed refusal' decision, An application for Information Commissioner
review in this situation must be made within 60 days of the date when the internal review
decision should have been made (provided an extension of time has not been granted or
agreed).
Information Commissioner review
You must apply in writing within 60 days of the receipt of the decision letter and you can
lodge your application in one of the fol owing ways:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
If a person has sought an internal review and no result of that review is provided within
30 days, then the applicant may apply to the Information Commissioner to review the
matter.
An application form is available on the website at
www.oaic.gov.au. Your application
should include a copy of the notice of the decision that you are objecting to (if one was
provided), and your contact details. You should also set out why you are objecting to the
decision.
Complaints to the Information Commissioner or the Commonwealth Ombudsman
You may complain to either the Commonwealth Ombudsman or the Australian
Information Commissioner about action taken by Comcare in relation to your request.
The Ombudsman wil consult with the Australian Information Commissioner before
investigating a complaint about the handling of an FOI request.
Your enquiries to the Ombudsman can be directed to:
Phone:
1300 362 072 (local cal charge)
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Your enquiries to the Australian Information Commissioner can be directed to:
Phone:
1300 363 992 (local cal charge)
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
No particular form is required to make a complaint to the Ombudsman or the Australian
Information Commissioner. The request should be in writing and should set out the
grounds on which it is considered that the action taken in relation to the request should
be investigated and identify Comcare as the relevant agency.
