Thank you for contacting us.

This is an automatic response from the Australian Electoral Commission to confirm we have received your email.

For more information on enrolling to vote, federal elections or the AEC, visit www.aec.gov.au.

Please do not respond to this email.

Jareth Head
Right to Know Organisation

Dear Mr Head

I refer to your email dated 29 August 2017 12:02 PM to the Australian
Electoral Commission (‘AEC’) in which you request (your ‘FOI Request’)
access under the [1]Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the ‘FOI Act’) to
documents about details for new electoral enrolments.

2                    I am writing today to acknowledge receipt of your FOI
Request and to give you a decision about access to documents that you
requested in your FOI Request.

Summary

3                    I, Owen Jones, Senior Lawyer of the AEC, am an
officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in
relation to FOI requests.

4                    Specifically you sought access to:

an elector count by division, age and gender for all States/Territories
(like those that are published quarterly on the AEC website,
[2]http://aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/Enro...)
that only includes all new enrolments made in the period between 8 and 24
August 2017.

5                    I have noted your suggestion that a machine-readable
CSV file would be the optimal format.

6                    I directed inquiries about the whereabouts of a
document that fell within the scope of your FOI Request (the ‘Requested
Document’) to the AEC’s Roll Management Branch which has responsibility
for enrolment matters. I ascertained that the document described in the
attached Acrobat file LS6239 Schedule of Released Documents.pdf
(Attachment A) is the Requested Document.

7                    The Requested Document is an Excel Binary Workbook
(*.xlsb) file. I describe the Requested Document in the entry for Document
No. 1 in Attachment A.

8                    I have decided to give access to the Requested
Document.

9                    More information, including my reasons for my
decision, is set out below.

Decision and reasons for decision

Decision

10                 I have decided to give access to the Requested
Document.

Material taken into account

11                 I have taken the following material into account in
making my decision:

(a)        the content of the Requested Documents;

(b)        the FOI Act, specifically 11; and

(c)        the guidelines (‘[3]FOI Guidelines’] issued by the Australian
Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act, specifically
paragraphs 5.207 – 5.209;

Reasons

12                 My reasons for giving access to the Requested Document
are given below.

13                 The Requested Document contains no exempt material. It
follows that there is no qualification to your right of access under
section 11 of the FOI Act.

14                 Accordingly, I decided to give you access to the
Requested Document.

Your review rights

15                 If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply
for internal review or Information Commissioner review of the decision. We
encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it may provide a
more rapid resolution of your concerns.

Internal review

16                 Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in
writing to the AEC for an internal review of my decision. The internal
review application must be made within 30 days of the date of this email.

17                 Where possible please attach reasons why you believe
review of the decision is necessary. The internal review will be carried
out by another officer within 30 days.

Information Commissioner review

18                 Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the
Australian Information Commissioner to review my decision. An application
for review by the Information Commissioner must be made in writing within
60 days of the date of this email, and be lodged in one of the following
ways:

online:                             
[4]https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/oaic/f...

email:                     [5][email address]

post:                      GPO Box 52189, Sydney NSW 2001

in person:               Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW

19                 More information about Information Commissioner review
is available on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
website. Go to [6]www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-reviews.

Questions about this decision

20                 If you wish to discuss this decision, please contact me
at:

email: [7][email address]

fax: 02 6293 7657

post: Locked bag 4007, Canberra ACT 2601

Regards

Owen Jones

Owen Jones | Senior Lawyer

Legal Services Section | Legal and Procurement Branch

Australian Electoral Commission

T: (02) 6271 4528 | F: (02) 6293 7657

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privilege. Care should be taken to avoid unintended waiver of that
privilege. The Australian Electoral Commission’s Chief Legal Officer
should be consulted prior to any decision to disclose the existence or
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