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OFFICIAL 
 
Ref: FOI 25/45 
18 December 2024 
Nir 
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx   
Dear Nir, 
Notice of Decision - Freedom of Information (FOI) Request FOI 25/45 
The purpose of this letter is to advise you of my decision following your request 
to the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s (Commission) for documents under 
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).  
Authorised decision-maker 
I am an authorised decision maker under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act to 
make a decision on this FOI request. 
Decision 
I have decided to grant access in full to the document created under section 
17 of the FOI Act (Attachment A). 
Your request 
I refer to your application of 5 December 2024 in which you sought access to:  
[…] any and all documents showing the number of corruption referrals 
pending assessment that were received by the NACC in each of: 
i) July 2023; 
ii) August 2023; 
 
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iii) September 2023. 
If a document does not exist but is able to be generated in line with 
section 17 of the FOI Act 1982 (Cth), please provide access to the 
generated document. 
If possible, I would like a document in which the pending assessment are 
organised by reference to each month in which the referrals were received 
(i.e. X referrals received in July 2023 still pending assessment; Y referrals 
received in August 2023 still pending assessment; Z referrals received in 
September 2023 still pending assessment).  
On 6 December 2024, an FOI officer of the Commission responded stating:   
1) Informal invitation to revise scope 
After preliminary consultation with the relevant team within the 
Commission, it appears likely that a document can be created under 
section 17 of the FOI Act in response to your request for the statistical 
data sought. However, we note that your request also makes reference to 
'access to any and all documents'. We take this opportunity to informally 
invite you to revise your request by removing references to 'any and all 
documents' if this is not the intention of the request. We note that the 
OAIC's FOI Guidelines at [3.115] states that a broadly worded request is 
more likely to constitute an unreasonable diversion of resources than a 
request that is narrowly focused.   
2) Clarification of request  
With respect to your references to 'corruption referrals pending 
assessment', please clarify whether this is intended to mean, either:  
              a) 'Pending assessment' - i.e. when a case has passed through 
triage but has not yet been assigned to an assessment officer, or  
              b) 'Under assessment' - i.e. when a case has passed triage and 
has been assigned to an assessment officer.  
[…] 
 
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OFFICIAL 
On 8 December 2024, you responded stating:  
1) Informal revision of scope 
Thank you for confirming that it is likely that a document can be created 
under section 17 of the FOI Act in response to my FOI request. In the light 
of your email, I will revise my FOI request so that it no longer extends to 
“any and all documents”. I am more than happy for the section 17 
document to be provided to me in response to my request, so long as that 
document contains the that I am seeking. 
2) Clarification of request 
Thank you for drawing a distinction between the references that are 
reasonably contained within the terms “corruption referrals pending 
assessment”. Specifically, you have noted that those terms may mean: 
a) a referral that has passed through triage but has not yet been 
assigned to an assessment officer; and 
b) a referral that has passed triage and has been assigned to an 
assessment officer. 
I would very much appreciate being provided with data in respect of both 
categories (a) and (b) in respect of each of July 2023, August 2023 and 
September 2023. 
To avoid misunderstanding, I would appreciate being provided with the 
following data: 
July 2023 
a) referrals received in July 2023 that have passed through triage 
but have not yet been assigned to an assessment officer; and 
b) referrals received in July 2023 that have passed triage and have 
been assigned to an assessment officer, 
August 2023 
 
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a) referrals received in August 2023 that have passed through 
triage but have not yet been assigned to an assessment officer; and 
b) referrals received in August 2023 that have passed triage and 
have been assigned to an assessment officer, 
September 2023 
a) referrals received in September 2023 that have passed through 
triage but have not yet been assigned to an assessment officer; and 
b) referrals received in September 2023 that have passed triage 
and have been assigned to an assessment officer. 
On 10 December 2024, an FOI officer of the Commission acknowledged the 
revised scope of your request. 
Documents identified within the scope of the request  
A document was created under section 17 of the FOI Act matching the 
description of the request:  
a) document was produced containing the information by using ‘a 
computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the agency for 
retrieving or collating stored information’ s17(1)(c)(i), and  
b) producing the document did not substantially and unreasonably divert 
resources of the agency from its other operations s17(2). 
Material taken into account 
I have taken the following material into account in making my decision: 
•  the terms of your original FOI request of 5 December 2024 and revised 
request of 8 December 2024, 
•  the FOI Act (specifically section 17),  
•  the FOI guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner 
under section 93A of the FOI Act, and 
•  responses to internal requests for searches. 
 
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My findings of fact and reasons for the decision are set out below. 
Reasons for decision  
Section 17 of the FOI Act provides that:  
(1) Where: 
 (a) a request (including a request in relation to which a practical 
refusal reason exists) is made in accordance with the requirements 
of subsection 15(2) to an agency; 
 (b) it appears from the request that the desire of the applicant is 
for information that is not available in discrete form in written 
documents of the agency; and 
 (ba) it does not appear from the request that the applicant wishes 
to be provided with a computer tape or computer disk on which the 
information is recorded; and 
 (c) the agency could produce a written document containing the 
information in discrete form by: 
 (i) the use of a computer or other equipment that is 
ordinarily available to the agency for retrieving or collating 
stored information; or 
 (ii) the making of a transcript from a sound recording held in 
the agency; 
the agency shall deal with the request as if it were a request for access to 
a written document so produced and containing that information and, for 
that purpose, this Act applies as if the agency had such a document in its 
possession. 
 (2) An agency is not required to comply with subsection (1) if compliance 
would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency 
from its other operations. 
 
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After consultation with the relevant business area within the Commission it was 
determined that information relevant to your request was not held by the 
Commission in a discrete document form.  
In order to provide you access to the information sought in your request, the 
relevant business area extracted the data from the appropriate system and 
created the table at Attachment A. 
Review rights 
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may seek review of it. Your review 
rights are outlined in Attachment B. 
FOI Disclosure Log 
The details of this request will be published on the Commission's website. 
 
 
Further information 
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this decision, please respond 
in one of the following ways: 
Email  xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx  
Post  FOI Coordinator 
National Anti-Corruption Commission 
GPO Box 605 
CANBERRA ACT  2601 
Phone (02) 6141 2300 (request to speak with an FOI Officer) 
Yours sincerely 
FOI Officer 
 
 
 
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Attachment B: Review rights 
You are entitled to: 
•  apply to the Commission for an internal review of the decision 
•  apply to the Information Commissioner for a review of the decision, 
and/or 
•  make a complaint to the Information Commissioner about the conduct of 
an agency under the FOI Act. 
Internal review 
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Commission for an 
internal review of this decision. 
An application must be made in writing within 30 days of receiving this notice. 
No particular form is required to apply although it will assist your case if you set 
out your reasons for seeking a review. 
If you intend to seek an internal review of this decision, please email your 
application to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx. 
Information Commissioner review 
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Information 
Commissioner for a review of this decision. 
An application for Information Commissioner review must be made in writing 
within 60 days of the date of the notice.  
If you intend to seek an Information Commissioner review of this decision, you 
can apply in one of the following ways: 
•  Apply online to seek an Information Commissioner review of this decision 
•  Email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx 
•  Post: Director of FOI Dispute Resolution 
 
GPO Box 5218 
 
Sydney NSW 2001 
More information about Information Commissioner review is available on the 
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website. Go to 
 
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https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-
rights/freedom-of-information-reviews/information-commissioner-review. 
 
FOI complaints 
Under section 70 of the FOI Act, you may lodge a complaint with the Information 
Commissioner about an action taken by an agency in the performance of 
functions or exercise of powers under the FOI Act. 
A complaint must be made in writing and identify the agency (and NACC, if your 
complaint relates to the conduct of a different agency). 
The Information Commissioner has discretion within section 73 of the FOI Act to 
investigate the complaint. 
You can lodge a complaint in one of the following ways: 
•  Lodge a complaint online 
•  Email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx 
•  Post:  Director of FOI Dispute Resolution 
 
GPO Box 5218 
 
Sydney NSW 2001 
More information about complaints is available on the Office of the Australian 
Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/reviews-and-complaints/make-an-foi-complaint/. 
 
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