Complaints regarding Recruitment in the NDIA
Dear National Disability Insurance Agency,
Under FOI I request that you provide -
1. Documentation outlining how many complaints the agency has received in the past 2 years related to the recruitment activities of the NDIA;
2. Documentation summarising the nature of these complaints;
3. Documentation that indicates how these complaints were resolved;
4. Documentation that advises how many recruitment activities have resulted in the outcome being appealed; and
5. Documentation that indicates the results of these appeals.
In addition I would like documentation that -
1. Advises how many staff currently work in Recruitment in the NDIA; and
2. Advises the experience of these staff - i.e. any qualifications held, experience in recruitment, the substantive and acting classifications of these staff.
Yours faithfully,
Red Williams
Dear Mr Williams
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your request for
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
If you require the attached documents in an alternative format, please
contact me.
Regards,
Ben Cheever
Lawyer
Legal Branch
National Disability Insurance Agency
Phone 03 5272 7507
Email [1][email address]
[2]Title: NDIS delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency
Dear Mr Williams
Please find attached correspondence initiation of a request consultation
process in relation to your request for documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth).
If you require the attached documents in an alternative format, please
contact me.
Regards,
Ben Cheever
Lawyer
Legal Branch
National Disability Insurance Agency
Phone 03 5272 7507
Email [1][email address]
[2]Title: NDIS delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency
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From: CHEEVER, Ben On Behalf Of foi
Sent: Wednesday, 11 May 2016 11:12 AM
To: Red <[FOI #1923 email]>
Cc: foi <[NDIA request email]>
Subject: HPRM: RE: Freedom of Information request - Complaints regarding
Recruitment in the NDIA [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Importance: High
Dear Mr Williams
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your request for
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
If you require the attached documents in an alternative format, please
contact me.
Regards,
Ben Cheever
Lawyer
Legal Branch
National Disability Insurance Agency
Phone 03 5272 7507
Email [3][email address]
[4]Title: NDIS delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency
Dear Mr Ford,
Thank you for your correspondence.Before I decide whether to possibly submit a revised request i wonder whether you might be able to tell me how you arrived at the figure of at least '515
working hours to process this request'? This seems an incredible amount of hours, given - I suspect - that the agency only has a small number of recruitment related mailboxes.
Any half credible IT department should be able to create a series of simple queries that can be run on each mailbox to detect keywords such as 'complaint', 'unhappy', 'dissatisfied', etc.
I might be prepared to revise my request, but before doing so I would like to be satisfied that you aren't trying to fob me off with your assertion that the work required to process my request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the Agency from its other operations.
Yours sincerely,
Red
Dear Mr Williams
Thank you for your enquiry regarding your request for documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
You have sought clarification on how the Agency estimated the number of
hours required to process your request to be 515 working hours.
Your Request
On 7 May 2016 you requested access under the FOI Act to the following
documents (current request):
1. “Documentation outlining how many complaints the agency has
received in the past 2 years related to the recruitment activities of the
NDIA;
2. Documentation summarising the nature of these complaints;
3. Documentation that indicates how these complaints were resolved;
4. Documentation that advises how many recruitment activities have
resulted in the outcome being appealed; and
5. Documentation that indicates the results of these appeals.
In addition I would like documentation that -
1. Advises how many staff currently work in Recruitment in the NDIA;
and
2. Advises the experience of these staff - i.e. any qualifications
held, experience in recruitment, the substantive and acting
classifications of these staff.”
Basis for Calculation
On 27 May 2016, I outlined to you in my request for consultation letter
the following:
1. The information you have requested is not contained within a
written document that is in the Agency’s possession and control;
2. To process your current request, the Agency would be required to
conduct reasonable searches for the information you have requested. This
includes such tasks as identifying, locating and collating any relevant
information. This Agency would be required to undertake searches for an
unknown number of complaints resulting from the Agency’s recruitment
activities.
These searches will involve searching between 50-70 staff mailboxes,
including shared mailboxes (i.e. [1][email address]). The high
number of mailboxes represents the way the Agency undertook recruitment
activities in the past two years. As the Agency’s recruitment have not
always been controlled centrally by National Office, many staff email
mailboxes will need to be searched to locate documents within the scope of
your current request;
You are correct in outlining that it is possible to conduct key word
searches through the Agency’s ICT system. However, we find that to comply
with your current request this process will still be time intensive.
Firstly, deciding which set of key words to use will require some thought
on what constitutes a complaint. You have not provided a definition of
complaint in your current request. Complaints relating to recruitment
activities can range from dissatisfaction in the length of time between
interview stage to making offers, to a request for a review of action
(formal complaint). Further, once the key searches have been conducted,
each result (i.e. email/document) will need to be read to ensure
relevance, to assist in making a summary of each complaint and indicate
how each complaint was resolved (items 2 and 3 of Part 1 of your current
request).
Once all relevant complaints have been completed and the relevant
information has been collated in a spreadsheet, the Agency will need to
de-identify the data. This process adds additional time to process your
request.
Regarding part 2 of your request (information about the Agency’s
recruitment staff), we have estimated this to take 4-5 hours to process.
Accordingly, I still consider that the work required to process your
request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the
Agency from its other operations.
Extension of Consultation Period
According to s. 24AB of the FOI Act, you are required by 10 June 2016 to
do one of the following:
a. Withdraw your current request;
b. Make a revised request (I have provided in my letter to you dated
27 May 2016 a possible revised request that would not substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the Agency from its other
operations); or
c. Indicate that you do not wish to revise the request.
In light of the additional material I have provided above and pursuant to
s. 24AB(3) of the FOI Act, I will, if you agree, extend the consultation
period until 14 June 2016. This will allow you extra time to consider your
options in relation to this request.
If you do agree to this extension of time of the consultation period,
please indicate by return email by 10 June 2016. You will have until 14
June 2014 to do one of the actions outlined above and in s. 24AB of the
FOI Act.
If you have any questions about this matter, please do not hesitate to
contact me on 03 5272 7900.
Regards,
Andrew Ford
Corporate Counsel
National Disability Insurance Agency
Phone: 03 5272 7900
Email: [2][email address]
[3]Title: NDIS delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency
Visit [4]www.ndis.gov.au to find out how to get NDIS Ready
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From: CHEEVER, Ben On Behalf Of foi
Sent: Wednesday, 11 May 2016 11:12 AM
To: Red <[FOI #1923 email]>
Cc: foi <[NDIA request email]>
Subject: HPRM: RE: Freedom of Information request - Complaints regarding
Recruitment in the NDIA [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Importance: High
Dear Mr Williams
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your request for
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
If you require the attached documents in an alternative format, please
contact me.
Regards,
Ben Cheever
Lawyer
Legal Branch
National Disability Insurance Agency
Phone 03 5272 7507
Email [3][email address]
[4]Title: NDIS delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency
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[5][FOI #1923 email]
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References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.ndis.gov.au/
5. mailto:[FOI #1923 email]
6. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
Dear foi,
Apologies for my delay in responding to your last communication. Thank you for the additional information you have provided.
I wish to revise the scope of my request in accordance with your previous suggestion, to be “I would like documentation that -
1. Advises how many staff currently work in Recruitment in the NDIA; and
2. Advises the experience of these staff - i.e. any qualifications held, experience in
recruitment, the substantive and acting classifications of these staff.”
Yours sincerely,
Red
Dear Mr Williams
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your request for
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
If you require the attached documents in an alternative format, please
contact me.
Regards,
Ben Cheever
Lawyer
Legal Branch
National Disability Insurance Agency
Phone 03 5272 7507
Email [1][email address]
[2]Title: NDIS delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency
Laine left an annotation ()
Recruitment for NDIA/NDIS is outsourced to DFP Recruitment.