23 Marcus Clarke Street
Canberra ACT 2601
GPO Box 3131
Canberra ACT 2601
Our ref:
PRJ1007809
tel: (02) 6243 1111
Contact officer:
FOI Team
fax: (02) 6243 1199
Contact phone:
02 6243 1244
www.accc.gov.au
24 December 2024
Nosey
Right to know
Sent via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Nosey
Notice of intention to refuse access because a practical refusal reason exists –
insufficient information provided – ACCC cannot identify requested documents
I refer to your email of 14 December 2024 in which you request access to
documents.
The ACCC is considering refusing your request, as currently framed, under s.24 of
the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) because a practical refusal
reason exists.
The practical refusal reason is that the request does not provide enough information
to enable the ACCC to identify the documents you are seeking. In particular, we note
that you have not specified names of agencies and authorities in your request. It is
also unclear to us what you mean by “DVA client information”.
Before making a final decision you have an opportunity to revise your request to
provide sufficient information to enable us to identify the documents you are seeking.
This is called the ‘request consultation process’. Before
7 January 2024 you must
either:
• revise your request,
• tell us that you do not wish to revise your request, or
• withdraw your request.
If you do not respond in one of these ways in that timeframe your request is taken to
be withdrawn.
What should you do
I am the ACCC officer to contact to try to remove the ground for refusal. Please email
me vi
a xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx to make a time to discuss your request. I am happy to help
you to revise your request to remove the practical refusal ground.
I strongly encourage you to contact me before submitting a revised request. Once
you submit a revised request, the request consultation process ends and we wil
make a decision regarding whether the practical refusal ground stil exists based on
the terms of your revised request.
If you need more time to respond, please contact me within the 14 day period to
request an extension of time.
During this period of consultation, the statutory timeframe for the processing of your
request is on hold.
I have also attached an extract from the FOI Act for your information (Attachment A).
Yours sincerely
Sonya Petreski
FOI Officer
Specialist Advice and Services Division
Sent by email 24/12/2024
2
Attachment A
Extracts of the Freedom of Information Act
15 Requests for access
Requirements for request
(2) The request must:
(a) be in writing; and
(aa) state that the request is an application for the purposes of this Act; and
(b) provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably
necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency, or the Minister,
to identify it; and
(c) give details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the applicant (for
example, by providing an electronic address to which notices may be sent by
electronic communication).
24AB What is a request consultation process?
(1) This section sets out what is a
request consultation process for the
purposes of section 24.
Requirement to notify
(2) T
he agency or Minister must give t
he applicant a writ en notice stating the
following:
(a) an intention to refuse access to a
document in accordance with a
request;
(b) th
e practical refusal reason;
(c) the name of an
officer of the
agency or member of staff of the Minister (the
contact person ) with whom t
he applicant may consult during a period;
(d) details of how the
applicant may contact the contact person;
(e) that the period (the
consultation period ) during which t
he applicant may
consult with the contact person is 14 days after the day t
he applicant is given
the notice.
Assistance to revise request
(3) If t
he applicant contacts the contact person during the consultation period in
accordance with the notice, t
he agency or Minister must take reasonable steps to
assist t
he applicant to revise th
e request so that t
he practical refusal reason no
longer exists.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3),
reasonable steps includes the following:
3
(a) giving the
applicant a reasonable opportunity to consult with the contact
person;
(b) providing t
he applicant with any information that would assist t
he applicant
to revise t
he request.
Extension of consultation period
(5) The contact person may, with t
he applicant's agreement, extend the
consultation period by written notice to t
he applicant.
Outcome of request consultation process
(6) T
he applicant must, before the end of the consultation period, do one of the
following, by writ en notice to the
agency or Minister:
(a) withdraw t
he request;
(b) make a revis
ed request;
(c) indicate that the
applicant does not wish to revise t
he request.
(7) T
he request is taken to have been withdrawn under subsection (6) at the end
of the consultation period if:
(a) th
e applicant does not consult the contact person during the consultation
period in accordance with the notice; or
(b) th
e applicant does not do one of the things mentioned in subsection (6)
before the end of the consultation period.
Consultation period to be disregarded in calculating processing period
(8) The period starting on the day an
applicant is given a notice under
subsection (2) and ending on the day the
applicant does one of the things
mentioned in paragraph (6)(b) or (c) is to be disregarded in working out the 30
day period mentioned in paragraph 15(5)(b).
Note: Paragraph 15(5)(b) requires that an
agency or Minister take all reasonable
steps to notify
an applicant of a decision on the
applicant's request within 30 days
after t
he request is made.
No more than one request consultation process required
(9) To avoid doubt, this section only obliges t
he agency or Minister to undertake a
request consultation process once for any particular
request.
4
Document Outline
