“all documents the OAIC holds in relation to any exemptions or waivers the OAIC receives as a
superannuation provider created on or after 1 January 2017 up to date of your FOI request on 7
January 2022.”
On 3 February 2022 you confirmed this interpretation of your request.
Decision
I am an officer authorised under s 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to FOI
requests.
I have refused your request for documents under s 24A of the FOI Act on the basis that al
reasonable steps have been taken to find the documents you have requested and I am
satisfied that no documents exist.
Reasons for decision
Material taken into account
In making my decision, I have had regard to the fol owing:
• your freedom of information request of 7 January 2022
• the FOI Act, in particular s 24A
• the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under s 93A of the
FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines) and
• searches conducted within the agency and the AHRC.
Documents cannot be found or do not exist (s 24A)
I have refused your request for access to documents under s 24A of the FOI Act on the basis
that al reasonable steps have been taken to find the documents you have requested and no
documents exist.
Section 24A provides as follows:
Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or have not been
received
Documents lost or non-existent
(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
(i ) does not exist
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Searches undertaken
We conducted our searches within Human R area of the OAIC and the Australian Human Rights
Commission (AHRC) due to the nature of the request, i.e. documents regarding the
“
exemptions or waivers the OAIC receives as a superannuation provider” that are generally
stored within that area.
We conducted searches within AHRC as the agency providing payroll services for the OAIC and
potential y the documents containing information you are seeking access to would be stored
within the AHRC.
The AHRC did not locate any documents relevant to your request. The Human Resources area
of the OAIC did not locate any documents relevant to your request.
I also consulted with a Record Management Officer, within the OAIC who conducted “global
searches” in Resolve, Content Manager and other relevant computer drives.
The fol owing searches were conducted:
1. Resolve searches:
a. Search for Summary “
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” – No results
b. Search Client Name for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” - – No results
c. Search of Resolve Document Store for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” –
No results
d. Search for Summary “
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” – No results
e. Search Client Name for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” - – No results
f. Search of Resolve Document Store for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider”
– No results
g. Search for Summary “
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” – No results
h. Search Client Name for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” - – No
results
i. Search of Resolve Document Store for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation
exemption” – No results
2. Content Manager
a. Document Title Word search for “
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” – No
results
b. Document Content search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” – No
results
c. Document Title Word search for “
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” – No
results
d. Document Content search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” – No
results
e. Document Title Word search for “
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” –
No results
f. Document Content search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” – No
results
3. Other
a. H: Drive is a personal drive (Cannot search al H: Drives. ICT only can conduct those searches)
b. G: Drive - Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” – No results
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c. G: Drive - Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” – No result
d. G: Drive - Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” – No result
e. I: Drive - Search for “
Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” – No results
f. I: Drive - Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” – No results
g. I: Drive - Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” – No results
h. J: Drive - Search for “
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver”” – No Results
i. J: Drive - Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” – No Results
j. J: Drive - Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” – No Results
k. M: Drive- Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” – No Results
l. M: Drive- Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” – No Result
m. M: Drive- Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” – No Result
n. V: Drive- Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation waiver” – No Results
o. V: Drive- Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation provider” – No Results
p. V: Drive- Search for
“Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation exemption” – No Results
q. Outlook: Cannot search all Outlook email boxes (ICT only can conduct those searches)
r. Paper Files: OAIC does not have paper files except for Protected (and above) files
Based on the searches conducted above, we were unable to locate any document that fall
within scope of the request.
Findings
Based on the advice from the above-mentioned officers, the terms of your FOI request and the
searches undertaken, I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to find
documents that fal within the scope of your request and that the documents do not exist.
Therefore, I refuse your request for access to documents under s 24A of the FOI Act.
Your review rights are outlined on the following page.
Yours sincerely
Elena Elagina
Lawyer
7 February 2022
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If you disagree with my decision
Internal review
You have the right to apply for an internal review of my decision under Part VI of the FOI Act.
An internal review will be conducted, to the extent possible, by an officer of the OAIC who was
not involved in or consulted in the making of my decision. If you wish to apply for an internal
review, you must do so in writing within 30 days. There is no application fee for internal
review.
If you wish to apply for an internal review, please mark your application for the attention of
the FOI Coordinator and state the grounds on which you consider that my decision should be
reviewed.
Applications for internal reviews can be submitted to:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Alternatively, you can submit your application by email to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx, or by fax on
02 9284 9666.
Further Review
You have the right to seek review of this decision by the Information Commissioner and the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).
You may apply to the Information Commissioner for a review of my decision (IC review). If you
wish to apply for IC review, you must do so in writing within 30 days. Your application must
provide an address (which can be an email address or fax number) that we can send notices to,
and include a copy of this letter. A request for IC review can be made in relation to my
decision, or an internal review decision.
It is the Information Commissioner’s view that it will usually not be in the interests of the
administration of the FOI Act to conduct an IC review of a decision, or an internal review
decision, made by the agency that the Information Commissioner heads: the OAIC. For this
reason, if you make an application for IC review of my decision, and the Information
Commissioner is satisfied that in the interests of administration of the Act it is desirable that
my decision be considered by the AAT, the Information Commissioner may decide not to
undertake an IC review.
Section 57A of the FOI Act provides that, before you can apply to the AAT for review of an FOI
decision, you must first have applied for IC review.
Applications for IC review can be submitted online at:
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https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICR 10
Alternatively, you can submit your application to:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Or by email to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx, or by fax on 02 9284 9666.
Accessing your information
If you would like access to the information that we hold about you, please
contact xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx. More information is available on the Access our information page on
our website.
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