Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,

Under s 17 of the FOI Act I seek a one page document to be complied from information held in your HR information system and any other applicable data systems or holdings, detailing the APS level and DVA office location of all current department FOI delegates (and seperately, reconsideration delegates, if there are any who have no original decision duties).

If a delegate also has duties other than FOI duties, can you also provide a estimated percentage proportion of their time spent on FOI activities.

Details such as names re not required, just APS employment level, office location, and proportion of FOI duties if employee performs other roles as well.

Yours faithfully,

Verity Pane

Dear Unnamed FOI delegate of DVA (but typically Alexander Gent),

Thank you for your acknowledgement. I will await your FOI decision.

Yours sincerely,

Verity Pane

Dear Position Number No Names No Pack Drill,

I apply for internal review, before IC Review if required, for your decision, which is contrary to the FOI Act.

You admit the information sought is available in your HR information system, and therefore is an obligation under s 17 to compile, but refuse on invalid grounds that there is no predefined report to produce that information sought at a push of a button.

The key part of s 17 is *produce* (or compile) - it obliges the agency whether or not an existing report query template exists. While an agency can argue that to manually compile would be an excessive burden (and would have to provide evidence to that effect), you have not done so, you simply refuse on the basis you can’t press one button and spit out something that mets some or all of the information sought (and I find it ridiculous that that a claim that a position report in your HRIS system of the Information Law area where all your FOI staff reside couldn’t meet at least some of the scope, for partial satisfaction). That is unlawful.

Yours sincerely,

Verity Pane

This completes this FOI. No further action required.