190 Visa Information
Dear Department of Home Affairs,
Please provide a list of all EOI’s that were issued an invitation to apply for a 190 Visa and nominated by NSW for the period between 01 January 2019 and 31 August 2020 showing:
a) Date of Invitation
b) ANZSCO code of occupation
c) Occupation description
d) Total points (including those points for NSW state nomination)
e) Primary applicants English proficiency
f) Date of lodgement of the EOI
This level of detail is not available in the EOI Skillset data available online so please do not refer to me to this source of data, so kindly provide the information above. You previously provided information like this in another EOI request, so kindly present the information in the same format - I believe the reference for this request was “FA 20/02/00092”.
Yours faithfully,
Alex
** This is an automated response. Please do not reply to this email **
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
OFFICIAL
02 September 2020
Dear Alex,
Freedom of Information (FOI) request – FA 20/09/00043 – Access Decision
I refer to the following requests for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), received by the Department
of Home Affairs (the Department) on 31 August 2020.
Please provide a list of all EOI’s that were issued an invitation to apply
for a 190 Visa and nominated by NSW for the period between 01 January 2019
and 31 August 2020 showing:
a) Date of Invitation
b) ANZSCO code of occupation
c) Occupation description
d) Total points (including those points for NSW state nomination)
e) Primary applicants English proficiency
f) Date of lodgement of the EOI
The purpose of this email is to provide you with a decision on your
requests for access under the FOI Act.
Authority to make decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make
decisions in respect of requests to access document or to amend or
annotate records.
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
· the terms of your request
· the document relevant to the request
· the FOI Act
· Guidelines published by the Office of the Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines)
· advice from Departmental officers with responsibility for
matters relating to the document to which you sought access
Document in scope of request
Section 4 of the FOI Act provides that a document for the purpose of the
Act does not include:
(d) material maintained for reference purposes that is otherwise publicly
available
The Department has undertaken reasonable searches in relation to the
documents you have requested access to. The information you have requested
is available publically and as such the Department and has not located a
document, for the purposes of the Act.
Decision
Section 24A of the FOI Act provides that the Department may refuse a
request for access to a document if all reasonable steps have been taken
to find the document and the Department is satisfied that the document
does not exist. As such I am refusing access to the documents requested by
you based on the application of section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act.
Reasons for Decision
Detailed reasons for my decision are set out below.
Section 4 of the FOI Act provides that a document for the purpose of the
FOI Act does not include material maintained for reference purposes that
is otherwise publically available.
As you may be aware, earlier this year the Department launched a dashboard
on its SkillSelect website to provide visa Expression of Interest (EOI)
statistics. The Department has undertaken a review of the SkillSelect
Dashboard to ensure that there is no reasonable chance of an individual
being re-identified from the EOI statistics.
The dashboard is now available again and can be accessed via the
Department’s SkillSelect [1]web page and comprises a comprehensive library
of historic and current statistics in relation to Expressions of Interest
(EOIs). The dashboard is a one-stop shop for SkillSelect EOI statistics
and is freely available on demand, without any need to formally request
the statistics and wait for such a request to be processed. Bypassing the
FOI process will significantly reduce delays in obtaining the same
information as has previously been provided in response to FOI requests.
Privacy
The Department’s handling of personal information is regulated by the
Privacy Act 1988 (the Privacy Act). Guidance published by the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner is that information will be
de-identified, and therefore not subject to the protections in the Privacy
Act, where the risk of an individual being re-identified is very low.
De-identification is not a fixed state. Rather, re-identification risks
and their controls require ongoing monitoring and review.
The Department’s view is that the current controls are appropriate to
reduce the risk that an individual can be re-identified from the
statistics accessible from the SkillSelect Dashboard to very low.
Legislation
A copy of the FOI Act is available at
[2]https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2.... If you are unable to
access the legislation through this website, please contact our office for
a copy.
Your Review Rights
Internal Review
If you disagree with this decision, you have the right to apply for an
internal review by the Department of this decision. Any request for
internal review must be provided to the Department within 30 days of you
being notified of the decision. Where possible please attach reasons why
you believe a review of the decision is necessary. The internal review
will be carried out by an officer other than the original decision maker
and the Department must make a review decision within 30 days.
Applications for review should be sent to:
By email to: [3][email address]
OR
By mail to:
Freedom of Information Section
Department of Home Affairs
PO Box 25
BELCONNEN ACT 2617
Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
You may apply directly to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) for a review of this decision. You must apply in
writing within 60 days of this notice. For further information about
review rights and how to submit a request for a review to the OAIC, please
see Fact Sheet 12 "Freedom of information – Your review rights", available
online at
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....
Making a Complaint
You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action
taken by the Department in relation to your request.
Your enquiries to the Australian Information Commissioner can be directed
to:
Phone 1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Email [5][email address]
There is no particular form required to make a complaint to 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 the Department
of Home Affairs as the relevant agency.
Contacting the FOI Section
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to
contact the FOI Section at [6][DIBP request email].
Signed electronically
Position number 60081621
Authorised Decision Maker | Freedom of Information Section
FOI and Records Management Branch
Data Division | Strategy and Law Enforcement Group
Department of Home Affairs
OFFICIAL
Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately. This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited.
The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.
Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.
References
Visible links
1. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/wo...
2. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2...
3. mailto:foi.reviews@
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[DIBP request email]
Dear Department of Home Affairs,
I kindly request a review of your decision as the level of detail required is not available through the online EOI data portal, as mentioned in my previous request (and hence why this request was made). Please action my FOI request as originally requested, thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Alex
** This is an automated response. Please do not reply to this email **
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
UNOFFICIAL
To Alex,
Thank you for your email requesting an Internal Review of your original
FOI request.
Could you please provide the FA identifier (FAXX/XX/XXXXX) associated with
your FOI request. You can locate this in the decision record you received.
Please reply to [1][email address].
Kind Regards,
Karen
FOI and Records Management Branch
Data Division
Strategy & Law Enforcement Group
Department of Home Affairs
Email: [2][email address]
UNOFFICIAL
Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately. This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited.
The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.
Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
Hello,
I believe the reference you require is: FA 20/09/00043
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/1...
Please let me know should you require anything else.
Yours faithfully,
Alex
UNOFFICIAL
In reply please quote:
FOI request: FA 20/09/00043-R1
File number: ADF2020/61138
Dear Alex,
This email is to acknowledge that the Department of Home Affairs (the
Department) has received your request for an internal review of an access
refusal decision under section 54 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(the FOI Act).
The decision under review is the Department’s decision of 2 September
2020.
Timeframe for receiving your decision
The statutory timeframe for processing an internal review request is 30
days from the date on which the request was received by the Department.
The Department received the internal review request on 2 September 2020.
Review rights
Your review rights in relation to your internal review request are
available on the website of the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner [1]here.
Contacting the FOI Section
Should you wish to discuss your request you may contact the FOI Section at
[2][email address].
Kind Regards,
Karen
FOI and Records Management Branch
Data Division
Strategy & Law Enforcement Group
Department of Home Affairs
Email: [3][email address]
UNOFFICIAL
Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately. This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited.
The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.
Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
OFFICIAL
In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA 20/09/00043-R1
File Number: ADF2020/61138
Decision on Internal Review – Freedom of Information Act 1982
Dear Alex,
I refer to your correspondence dated 4 September 2020 in which you
request that the Department of Home Affairs review its decision on access
to documents dated 2 September 2020 under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (the FOI Act).
Please find attached decision letter.
Kind Regards,
Karen
FOI and Records Management Branch
Data Division
Strategy & Law Enforcement Group
Department of Home Affairs
Email: [1][email address]
OFFICIAL
Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately. This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited.
The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.
Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]