Ben Little
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Ben
Freedom of Information Request 53354 – Decision on access
I refer to the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act) request made to the Department of Social
Services (
the Department) on 28 March 2025. The request seeks access to:
The Foundational Supports report from the consultations held by the Social Deck in 2024. My
request is for both the summary and the full version.
I am authorised to make decisions in respect of FOI requests under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act.
Decision – No documents exist
Section 24A of the FOI Act provides in part that an agency may refuse a request for access to a
document if al responsible steps have been taken to find it and the agency is satisfied that it does not
exist.
The FOI request seeks the summary and ful version of the Foundational Supports Report (the report).
The Department has not yet finalised the report and therefore, the full version does not currently
exist. The summary reports are intended to be excerpts of the ful report, and so without the report in
existence, the summary reports also do not currently exist. The Department’s intention is to release
final and summary reports in full on the Department’s Engage website at https://engage.dss.gov.au.
Noting that the decision to release the summary and full version of the report will be a decision of the
incoming government.
As a result, we do not have possession of the documents sought by this request and have decided to
refuse it under section 24A of the FOI Act.
Review rights and complaints
Information concerning how you may seek a review of this decision or make a complaint about the
handling of this request is at
Attachment A.
Contact
If you would like to discuss any aspect of my decision, please contact me at xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Heather D
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
24 April 2025
Attachments
A – Review Rights
GPO Box 9820 Canberra ACT 2601
Email Facsimile Telephone 1300 653 227
National Relay Service: TTY: 133 677, Speak and listen: 1300 555 727, Internet relay: www.relayservice.com.au
www.dss.gov.au
ATTACHMENT A
INFORMATION ON REVIEW RIGHTS
You may seek review of this decision via:
(a) an internal review; or
(b) the Australian Information Commissioner (
Information Commissioner).
Internal review
If you apply for internal review, a fresh decision will be made by a different decision-maker within the
Department. An application for internal review must be:
(a) made in writing;
(b) made within 30 days of receiving this letter; and
(c) sent to xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
The application should also include the reasons why you think this decision should be reviewed.
If the internal review decision results in you not being provided access to all of the documents to which
you have requested access, you have the right to seek a further review by the Information
Commissioner.
Information Commissioner review
You can apply for the Information Commissioner to review this decision either immediately or following
an internal review decision. You must apply to the Information Commissioner within 60 days of the
receipt of this decision letter.
Further details on this process can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
COMPLAINTS TO THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
You may also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner concerning actions taken by the
Department while exercising its powers or performing its functions under the FOI Act.
Further details on this process can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
