Contract and tender notices
Dear Commonwealth Ombudsman,
This is a request for documents. You are welcome to grant access to the documents pursuant to an administrative release. Otherwise, this request for documents should be construed as a request for documents under the FOI Act.
Documents may be provided in digital format (e.g. .pdf, .doc, .docx, and other generally accessible formats) by return email.
Background
I refer to an FOI decision made by Gregory Parkhurst, Senior Legal Officer in the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, on 14 February 2022. The reference number for the decision is FOI-2022-10013. The decision letter is accessible at https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a....
In his reasons for decision, Mr Parkhurst refers to “the relevant provider of information technology products and services”. This provider of products and services was responsible for designing a “computer system … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”. Mr Parkhurst claims that the “relevant provider of information technology products and services has expended considerable resources and time to develop its product.”
Presumably the effort that the “relevant provider of information technology products and services” went to was in response to a procurement request on the part of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
Request
A level of documentation commensurate with the scale, scope and risk of the procurement must be maintained.
I request access to the following documents:
a) any and all contract notices prepared pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”, including contract notifications prepared for publication on the AusTender website; and
b) any and all tender notices prepared pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”, including tender notifications prepared for publication on the AusTender website; and
c) any and all approaches to market pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
d) any purchase orders associated with the contract notice for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
e) any invoices issued by the supplier in relation to the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
f) any and all “request documentation”, as that term is defined in the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, associated with the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”.
Yours faithfully,
D
OFFICIAL
Dear Anonymous
I acknowledge receipt of the Freedom of Information request set out in your email below.
You should expect a decision from us within 30 days from the date we received your FOI request. This 30 day period may be extended if we need to consult third parties, impose a charge (a fee for processing your request) or for other reasons. We will let you know if this happens.
Yours sincerely
Gregory Parkhurst
Senior Legal Officer | Legal Team
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Ph: 1300 362 072 | Fax: 02 6276 0123
email: [CO request email]
-----Original Message-----
From: D <[FOI #8455 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 17 February 2022 11:08 PM
To: FOI requests at CO <[CO request email]>
Subject: [External] Freedom of Information request - Contract and tender notices
Dear Commonwealth Ombudsman,
This is a request for documents. You are welcome to grant access to the documents pursuant to an administrative release. Otherwise, this request for documents should be construed as a request for documents under the FOI Act.
Documents may be provided in digital format (e.g. .pdf, .doc, .docx, and other generally accessible formats) by return email.
Background
I refer to an FOI decision made by Gregory Parkhurst, Senior Legal Officer in the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, on 14 February 2022. The reference number for the decision is FOI-2022-10013. The decision letter is accessible at https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo....
In his reasons for decision, Mr Parkhurst refers to “the relevant provider of information technology products and services”. This provider of products and services was responsible for designing a “computer system … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”. Mr Parkhurst claims that the “relevant provider of information technology products and services has expended considerable resources and time to develop its product.”
Presumably the effort that the “relevant provider of information technology products and services” went to was in response to a procurement request on the part of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
Request
A level of documentation commensurate with the scale, scope and risk of the procurement must be maintained.
I request access to the following documents:
a) any and all contract notices prepared pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”, including contract notifications prepared for publication on the AusTender website; and
b) any and all tender notices prepared pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”, including tender notifications prepared for publication on the AusTender website; and
c) any and all approaches to market pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
d) any purchase orders associated with the contract notice for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
e) any invoices issued by the supplier in relation to the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
f) any and all “request documentation”, as that term is defined in the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, associated with the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”.
Yours faithfully,
D
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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #8455 email]
Is [CO request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to Commonwealth Ombudsman? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
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Caution: This email originated from outside of the organisation. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and present.
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COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN - IMPORTANT CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This e-mail message or an attachment to it is confidential, and it is intended to be accessed only by the person or entity to which it is addressed.
No use, copying or disclosure (including by further transmission) of this message, an attachment or the content of either is permitted and any use, copying or disclosure may be subject to legal sanctions. This message may contain information which is:
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If you have received this message in error, please call 1300 362 072 to inform the sender so that future errors can be avoided.
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OFFICIAL
Dear FOI Applicant
I am writing to clarify the terms of the Freedom of Information request set out in your email below.
A formal requirement of making an FOI request is that the request must provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency to identify the document or documents that is/are requested.
To assist us to search for and identify documents relevant to your request, I would be grateful if you could specify a date range on which you would like our Office to search for relevant documents.
I would be grateful for your response to this email by 1 March 2022.
Yours sincerely
Gregory Parkhurst
Senior Legal Officer | Legal Team
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Ph: 1300 362 072 | Fax: 02 6276 0123
email: [CO request email]
-----Original Message-----
From: D <[FOI #8455 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 17 February 2022 11:08 PM
To: FOI requests at CO <[CO request email]>
Subject: [External] Freedom of Information request - Contract and tender notices
Dear Commonwealth Ombudsman,
This is a request for documents. You are welcome to grant access to the documents pursuant to an administrative release. Otherwise, this request for documents should be construed as a request for documents under the FOI Act.
Documents may be provided in digital format (e.g. .pdf, .doc, .docx, and other generally accessible formats) by return email.
Background
I refer to an FOI decision made by Gregory Parkhurst, Senior Legal Officer in the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, on 14 February 2022. The reference number for the decision is FOI-2022-10013. The decision letter is accessible at https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo....
In his reasons for decision, Mr Parkhurst refers to “the relevant provider of information technology products and services”. This provider of products and services was responsible for designing a “computer system … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”. Mr Parkhurst claims that the “relevant provider of information technology products and services has expended considerable resources and time to develop its product.”
Presumably the effort that the “relevant provider of information technology products and services” went to was in response to a procurement request on the part of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
Request
A level of documentation commensurate with the scale, scope and risk of the procurement must be maintained.
I request access to the following documents:
a) any and all contract notices prepared pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”, including contract notifications prepared for publication on the AusTender website; and
b) any and all tender notices prepared pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”, including tender notifications prepared for publication on the AusTender website; and
c) any and all approaches to market pursuant to procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
d) any purchase orders associated with the contract notice for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
e) any invoices issued by the supplier in relation to the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”; and
f) any and all “request documentation”, as that term is defined in the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, associated with the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”.
Yours faithfully,
D
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #8455 email]
Is [CO request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to Commonwealth Ombudsman? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Caution: This email originated from outside of the organisation. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and present.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN - IMPORTANT CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This e-mail message or an attachment to it is confidential, and it is intended to be accessed only by the person or entity to which it is addressed.
No use, copying or disclosure (including by further transmission) of this message, an attachment or the content of either is permitted and any use, copying or disclosure may be subject to legal sanctions. This message may contain information which is:
* about an identifiable individual;
* subject to client legal privilege or other privilege; or
* subject to a statutory or other requirement of confidentiality.
If you have received this message in error, please call 1300 362 072 to inform the sender so that future errors can be avoided.
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Dear Mr Parkhurst,
In your email, you state:
A formal requirement of making an FOI request is that the request must provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency to identify the document or documents that is/are requested.
To assist us to search for and identify documents relevant to your request, I would be grateful if you could specify a date range on which you would like our Office to search for relevant documents.
Sadly, I am not privy to the inner workings of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman and do not know when the documents that I requested first came into existence. Accordingly, I am not in a position to provide you with the date range that you have requested.
As the Senior Legal Officer in the OCO, you would be aware that:
a) a request can be described quite broadly and must be read fairly by an agency or minister, being mindful not to take a narrow or pedantic approach to its construction: 'BI’ and Professional Services Review [2014] AICmr 20;
b) an applicant may not know exactly what documents exist and may describe a class of documents, for example: all documents relating to a particular person or subject matter; or all documents of a specified class that contain information of a particular kind; or all documents held in a particular place relating to a subject or person: FOI Guidelines, [3.110];
c) although a request under the FOI Act must be for ‘documents’, rather than for ‘information’, a request may be phrased by reference to the information that a document contains: FOI Guidelines, [3.110].
The request adequately describes the classes of documents that I would like access to by reference to:
i. types of documents;
ii. the subject matter of the documents (procurement arrangements for the “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman”, which you referred to in your FOI decision FOI-2022-10013)
To the extent that you are suggesting that by failing to provide a date range to the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (OCO) I have not provided such information as is reasonable necessary to enable a responsible officer of the OCO to identify documents that are being requested, you are wrong.
While I doubt it will be of any utility, if it would make you more comfortable, you are welcome to provide me with relevant date information, so that I might incorporate that information into the request, by reviewing the records of the procurement process. The “computer system [developed] … for the purpose of managing complaint and investigation work performed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman” can’t be that old; after all, one of the grounds for refusing access to the document I sought was “the age of the information contained in the requested document”.
I look forward to the cooperation of the OCO.
Yours faithfully,
D
OFFICIAL
Dear Anonymous
I attach correspondence in relation to the Freedom of Information request
you submitted to the Ombudsman’s office on 17 February 2022.
Yours sincerely
Gregory Parkhurst
Senior Legal Officer | Legal Team
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Ph: 1300 362 072 | Fax: 02 6276 0123
email: [1][CO request email]
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional
owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to
land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and
present.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN - IMPORTANT CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This e-mail message or an attachment to it is confidential, and it is
intended to be accessed only by the person or entity to which it is
addressed.
No use, copying or disclosure (including by further transmission) of this
message, an attachment or the content of either is permitted and any use,
copying or disclosure may be subject to legal sanctions. This message may
contain information which is:
* about an identifiable individual;
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* subject to a statutory or other requirement of confidentiality.
If you have received this message in error, please call 1300 362 072 to
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OFFICIAL
Dear Anonymous
I attach correspondence in relation to your Freedom of Information request
of 17 February 2022.
Yours sincerely
Gregory Parkhurst
Senior Legal Officer | Legal Team
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Ph: 1300 362 072 | Fax: 02 6276 0123
email: [1][CO request email]
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional
owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to
land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and
present.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN - IMPORTANT CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This e-mail message or an attachment to it is confidential, and it is
intended to be accessed only by the person or entity to which it is
addressed.
No use, copying or disclosure (including by further transmission) of this
message, an attachment or the content of either is permitted and any use,
copying or disclosure may be subject to legal sanctions. This message may
contain information which is:
* about an identifiable individual;
* subject to client legal privilege or other privilege; or
* subject to a statutory or other requirement of confidentiality.
If you have received this message in error, please call 1300 362 072 to
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Dear Mr Parkhurst,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Commonwealth Ombudsman's handling of my FOI request 'Contract and tender notices'.
The last time I provided reasons for internal review, my request was ignored: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...
I do not intend to invest time in reasons only to be ignored again.
Suffice it to say that I disagree with your reasons for decision and believe that the decision is wrong.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
D
Dear Information Access,
I requested internal review of Mr Parkhurst's FOI decision (FOI 2022 50003) on 19 April 2022.
The internal review decision was due yesterday. Since a decision was not provided, a deemed approval decision is taken to have been made by the Commonwealth Ombudsman (or the acting Commonwealth Ombudsman in this case) under the FOI Act.
Before I apply for IC review, I will give you an opportunity to confirm whether the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman has any intention of providing a decision. Please respond by 5 pm Canberra time on 20 May 2022. In the absence of a response, I will apply for IC review and draw this correspondence to the attention of the OAIC.
It is disappointing that the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman does not appear to take its obligations under the FOI Act as seriously as an integrity agency should.
Yours sincerely,
D
OFFICIAL
Dear Anonymous,
Please see attached the internal review decision for your FOI request
FOI-2022-50003.
I note that the 30 day time period specified in section 54C(3) of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) for providing this to you
elapsed yesterday, 19 May 2022.
This delay was due to an administrative issue, and our Office is providing
this decision to you as soon as possible. I apologise for the delay.
We also preparing an application to the OAIC under s 54D of the FOI Act
with respect to this decision.
Kind regards,
Sine Dellit
Senior Legal Officer | Legal Team
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Ph: 1300 362 072 | Fax: 02 6276 0123
Email: [1][CO request email]
[2][IMG]
Influencing systemic improvement in public administration
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional
owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to
land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and
present.
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional
owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to
land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and
present.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN - IMPORTANT CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This e-mail message or an attachment to it is confidential, and it is
intended to be accessed only by the person or entity to which it is
addressed.
No use, copying or disclosure (including by further transmission) of this
message, an attachment or the content of either is permitted and any use,
copying or disclosure may be subject to legal sanctions. This message may
contain information which is:
* about an identifiable individual;
* subject to client legal privilege or other privilege; or
* subject to a statutory or other requirement of confidentiality.
If you have received this message in error, please call 1300 362 072 to
inform the sender so that future errors can be avoided.
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[1]Office of the Australian Information Reference Code:
Commissioner ICR_10-48826672-2571
You submitted a form called: FOI Review_
Your form reference code is: ICR_10-48826672-2571
To check the progress of your submission and/or confirm it has been
received you should contact the agency that provides the form. These
details are displayed below.
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[2]http://www.oaic.gov.au | [3]1300 363 992 | [4][email address]
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Note: Please do not reply to this auto-generated email.
References
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3. file:///tmp/tel:1300 363 992
4. mailto:[email address]
[1]Office of the Australian Information Reference Code:
Commissioner ICR_10-48826672-2571
You submitted a form called: FOI Review_
Your form reference code is: ICR_10-48826672-2571
To check the progress of your submission and/or confirm it has been
received you should contact the agency that provides the form. These
details are displayed below.
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[2]http://www.oaic.gov.au | [3]1300 363 992 | [4][email address]
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
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4. mailto:[email address]
Our reference: MR22/00818
By email: [FOI #8455 email]
Receipt of your IC review application
Thank you for your application for Information Commissioner Review (IC
review).
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is
considering your application.
If you wish to advise the OAIC of any changes to your circumstances,
including your contact details or if your FOI request has been resolved,
please write to [email address] and quote MR22/00818.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Regulatory Group
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
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D left an annotation ()
IC review submitted on 20 May 2022.
The summary of the request for review was worded as follows:
As I noted, an internal review has not, in the strictest, been made. Nonetheless, I will address the internal review decision that was provided after the due date by Sine Dellit.
Ms Dellit claims that s 45 of the FOI Act applies. I take issue with this because Ms Dellit has not set out how it is that an equitable obligation of confidence applies to the documents requested. In Corrs Pavey Whiting & Byrne v Collector of Customs (Vic) (1987) 14 FCR 434, Gummow J identified a criteria to be satisfied in order to make out a case for protection in equity of allegedly confidential information (and his Honour did so in the context of his interpretation of the equivalent of s 45 of the FOI Act). His Honour said at p 87:
A general formulation apt for the present case of an equitable obligation of confidence has four elements: (i) the plaintiff must be able to identify with specificity, and not merely in global terms, that which is said to be the information in question, and must be able to show that; (ii) the information has the necessary quality of confidentiality (and is not, for example, common or public knowledge); (iii) the information was received by the defendant in such circumstances as to import an obligation of confidence; and (iv) there is actual or threatened misuse of that information, without the consent of the applicant.
Ms Dellit has not done that.
Ms Dellit claims that s 47 applies, but Ms Dellit has not particularised how it is that s 47 applies to the documents she claims that exemption over.
Ms Dellit claims that s 47G applies, but Ms Dellit has not particularised how it is that s 47G applies to the documents she claims that conditional exemption over. Nor has Ms Dellit engaged in a public interest assessment under section 11A(5) of the FOI Act, as she is required to do.
Finally, Ms Dellit has not even addressed the terms of my FOI request. In her reasons she claims that:
Your original request was worded 'any documents held by the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman that set out how it is that positions/roles in the Office may be classified over more than one classification depending on the complexity of the group of duties to be performed and [emphasis added] where one of those classifications is an SES classification'.
That was not my FOI request. Clearly Ms Dellit's response was a slapdash piece of work put together at the last minute.