Released by the Department of Finance
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
FOI 22-85 - Document 05
Borg, Stacey
From:
Bruce Tonkin <xxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Sent:
Monday, 5 September 2022 9:17 AM
To:
s 22
Cc:
Vickers, Marc; s 22
Subject:
RE: FOI 22/54 - Third Party Consultation - Business Information [SEC=OFFICIAL]
Thanks s 22 – good luck with it.
Regards,
Bruce Tonkin
From: s 22
@finance.gov.au>
Sent: Monday, 5 September 2022 8:19 AM
To: Bruce Tonkin <xxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Cc: Vickers, Marc <xxxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx>; s 22
@finance.gov.au>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] ‐ RE: FOI 22/54 ‐ Third Party Consultation ‐ Business Information [SEC=OFFICIAL]
SEC=OFFICIAL
Hello Bruce
Thank you for providing this comprehensive advice. We’ll let you know how it goes!
Regards
s 22
| Government Domain Name Administrator
IT Security | ICT Division
Department of Finance
M: s 22
E: s 22
@finance.gov.au
A: 1 Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
SEC=OFFICIAL
From: Bruce Tonkin <xxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Sent: Friday, 2 September 2022 4:39 PM
To: FOI Requests <xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx>
Cc: s 22
@finance.gov.au>; s 22
@finance.gov.au>;
Vickers, Marc <xxxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx>; s 22
@finance.gov.au>; Ws 22
@finance.gov.au>; s 22
@auda.org.au>; Patricks 22
@identity.digital) s 22
@identity.digital>; s 22
@auda.org.au>; s 22
@saintylaw.com.au>
Subject: RE: FOI 22/54 ‐ Third Party Consultation ‐ Business Information [SEC=OFFICIAL]
Hello s 22
,
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Released by the Department of Finance
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
FOI 22-85 - Document 05
Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission on the request made under the FOI Act asking for the
“master list” of gov.au public domain names by a member of the public.
auDA submits that disclosure of an edited copy of the Master List would not be appropriate due to the nature
of the information in the Master List.
Please see attached for our detailed response.
Regards,
Bruce Tonkin Chief Operating Officer
xxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
0411 072 530
.au Domain Administration
www.auda.org.au
From: FOI Requests <xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx>
Sent: Monday, 22 August 2022 11:16 AM
To: Bruce Tonkin <xxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx>
Cc: FOI Requests <xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx>; s 22
@finance.gov.au>; s 22
@finance.gov.au>; Vickers, Marc <xxxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx>; s 22
@finance.gov.au>; s 22
@finance.gov.au>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] ‐ FOI 22/54 ‐ Third Party Consultation ‐ Business Information [SEC=OFFICIAL]
SEC=OFFICIAL
Dear Bruce
Freedom of Information request and opportunity to make a submission – FOI 22/54
The Department of Finance (Finance) has received a request for the following under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act).
You operate the site https://www.domainname.gov.au/about which is the gov.au domain name registration portal.
This portal in turn supplies registration data to the .au registry operator (Afilias Australia Pty Ltd) who maintains a “master list” of
gov.au public domain names.
Please supply the current "master list", preferably in machine‐readable format.
Finance has identified the Registry/Registrant Data of the complete list of all 2LD licenced domain names, in this
case, gov.au, (now referred to as “Master List”), as falling within the scope of the request that may contain
information relating to auDA.
Under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), where an agency receives a request covering documents of
this kind and the agency believes that the person or organisation concerned may wish to contend that the
documents are exempt from release, the agency is required to consult the person or business before releasing the
documents, if it is reasonably practicable to do so.
Document
We have
not attached a copy of the ‘Master List’ as we understand that you have access to this document. The
version of the ‘Master List’ is the version that was in existence as at 18:16 Monday 25 July 2022.
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Released by the Department of Finance
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
FOI 22-85 - Document 05
Opportunity to make a submission
Finance would like to provide an opportunity for you to make any comments regarding any objection you may have
to the release of the Master List under either of the following exemptions in the FOI Act (paraphrased):
Section 47(1) – disclosure of the documents would disclose
a) trade secrets or
b) any other information having a commercial value that would be, or could reasonably be expected to
be, destroyed or diminished if the information were disclosed.
Section 47G(1) – disclosure of the documents would disclose information concerning a person in respect of
his or her business or professional affairs or concerning the business, commercial or financial affairs of an
organisation or undertaking, in a case in which the disclosure of the information
a) would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect that person adversely in respect of
his or her lawful business or professional affairs or that organisation or undertaking in respect of its
lawful business, commercial or financial affairs, or
b) could reasonably be expected to prejudice the future supply of information to the Commonwealth,
Norfolk Island or an agency for the purpose of the administration of a law of the Commonwealth or
of a Territory or the administration of matters administered by an agency.
If section 47(1) applies, documents are fully exempt from release. However, if section 47G(1) applies access must be
given to documents unless this would be contrary to the public interest. If you consider that the documents fall
within the scope of section 47G(1) you must also indicate whether you believe that disclosure would be contrary to
the public interest.
If it is your view that one or more of the documents falls within the scope of the exemptions outlined above, would
you please consider whether deletion of any specific information from the documents (under section 22) would
address your objections.
More information about these exemptions is available in the
Guidelines issued by the Australian Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, Parts 5 and 6
(Exemptions and Conditional
exemptions), available at www.oaic.gov.au/freedom‐of‐information/applying‐the‐foi‐act/foi‐guidelines/.
Additional consideration – breach of contract
We note that Finance is considering the application of section 45 of the FOI Act, that is, to refuse to release, given
the disclosure of the Master List may give rise to an action for breach of confidence. Our preliminary view is
supported by the existing confidentiality of the Master List, as access has only been granted to a limited number of
authorised people in the course of business as Registry, Registrar or an affected party. We have also had regard to
existing contractual arrangements which require notification of any potential, suspected or actual unauthorised
access, use, copying or disclosure; and limit actions which may adversely affect or compromise integrity or stability
of the Internet domain name system.
We seek your views as to whether you support this position?
We note that while your comments will be taken into account, the final decision about whether to release the
documents rests with the decision maker in our agency. If the decision maker decides to grant access to any
documents whose release you opposed, you will be given written notice of the decision and the opportunity to seek
review of the decision before those documents are released.
Disclosure log
You should be aware that if we decide to grant access to the requested documents we are generally obliged to
publish that information our disclosure log. However we will not publish information (such as personal or business
information) where this would be unreasonable. If you have any queries about this requirement, please contact the
FOI team on the details below.
How to make your submission
Please provide any submissions you wish to make, in writing, by
COB Friday 2 September 2022.
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Released by the Department of Finance
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
FOI 22-85 - Document 05
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