Contraventions of the FOI Act by PM&C
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
I refer to my FOI request made of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) here:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/c...
PM&C has not made a decision on that request and has presumably, therefore, contravened s.15(5)(b) of the FOI Act.
I’ve been advised, by a staff member at PM&C, that PM&C’s senior management group has implemented a practice whereby PM&C decision-makers are not allowed to make decisions on applications made under the FOI Act unless and until the Prime Minister’s Office agrees with the decision proposed to be made, and agrees that the decision should be made.
In respect of my FOI application, a staff member at PM&C advised me that they’re unable to make a decision on my request unless and until they’re directed to by the Prime Minister’s Office - something which has apparently yet to occur.
I’ve lodged a complaint and a request for IC review (with the OAIC) in respect of PM&C’s access refusal decision and contravention of the FOI Act but I’m aware that as a result of systemc underfunding of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by the Government (which was the course of action pursued by this Government after it failed in its efforts to abolish the OAIC) IC review decisions and investigation of FOI complaints likely take in excess of 2 years to finalise.
That being so, under the FOI Act, I seek access to a copy of any document held by the OAIC (rather than PM&C) that falls within the terms of my FOI request made of PM&C here: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
L Cameron
Our reference: FOIREQ22/00045
Dear L Cameron
Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request for access to documents made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI Act) and received by the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on 16 February 2022.
Scope of your request
In your email you seek access to the following:
… under the FOI Act, I seek access to a copy of any document held by the
OAIC (rather than PM&C) that falls within the terms of my FOI request made
of PM&C here:
[1]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
The terms of your FOI request made to PM&C are as follows:
“Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I refer to documents released by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) finding that the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet acted illegally by reference to its obligations under the FOi Act
as available here: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/8 ...
(https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/8...
se.pdf)
I note the recommendations of the Acting Freedom of Information
Commissioner flowing from the illegalities engaged in by the Department
and stated as follows:
"Pursuant to s 88 of the FOi Act, I make the following formal
recommendations to the
Department that I believe the Department ought to implement within the
timeframes specified below:
1. The Department appoint an Information Champion by 5 November 2021.
The Information Champion may be supported by an information governance
board to provide leadership, oversight and accountability necessary to
promote and operationalise the Department's compliance with the FOi Act.
2. The Department provide training to FOi Section staff and relevant
Senior
Executives by 5 January 2022 about the obligations under the FOi Act to
comply with statutory processing periods.
I request that the Department advise the OAIC of the implementation of
each
recommendation within the timeframes specified."
Under the FOi Act, I seek access to a copy of any document given by the
Department to the OAIC that advises the OAIC of the implementation of the
above statutory recommendations as made by the Acting Freedom of
Information Commissioner in response to the illegalities engaged in by the
Department.
There is a wide public interest in whether the Prime Minister's Department
and its Secretary have complied with the statutory recommendations of the
regulator or whether the Department has thumbed its nose at those
recommendations - not least because the latter course constitutes a clear
contravention of the APS Code of Conduct on the part of the Head of the
APS, Mr Phil Gaetjens.
Yours faithfully,
L Cameron”
In order to process your request as efficiently as possible, I will
exclude duplicates and early parts of email streams that are captured in
later email streams from the scope of this request, unless you advise me
otherwise.
We will not identify you as the FOI applicant during any consultation
process. However, documents that are within the scope of your request that
we may need to consult third parties about may contain your personal
information.
Timeframes for dealing with your request
Section 15 of the FOI Act requires this office to process your request no
later than 30 days after the day we receive it. However, section 15(6) of
the FOI Act allows us a further 30 days in situations where we need to
consult with third parties about certain information, such as business
documents or documents affecting their personal privacy.
As we received your request on 16 February 2022, we must process your
request by 18 March 2022.
Disclosure Log
Documents released under the FOI Act may be published online on our
disclosure log, unless they contain personal or business information that
would be unreasonable to publish.
If you would like to discuss this matter please contact me on my contact
details set out below.
Regards
[2][IMG] Elena Elagina | Lawyer
Legal Services
Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |
[3]oaic.gov.au
[4]1300 363 992| [5][email address]
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Dear L Cameron
Freedom of Information request no. FOIREQ22/00045
I refer to your request, made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(Cth) (FOI Act) and received by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) on 16 February 2022.
Because your request covers documents which contain information concerning
personal information of a third party, the OAIC is required to consult the
individual under s 27A of the FOI Act before making a decision on the
release of the documents.
For this reason, the period for processing your request has been extended
by 30 days to allow time to consult (see s 15(6) of the FOI Act). Your
request is now due on 18 April 2022.
The consultation mechanisms under s 27A apply when we believe the person
concerned may wish to contend that the requested documents are exempt for
reasons of personal privacy. We will consider any comments we receive,
however the final decision about whether to grant you access to the
documents you requested rests with the OAIC.
We will not identify you as the FOI applicant during any consultation
process. However, documents that are within the scope of your request that
we may need to consult third parties about, may contain your personal
information.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on my
details below.
Kind regards
Emma.
[1]O A I C logo Emma Liddle | Director, Legal
Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |
oaic.gov.au
+61 2 9284 9717 |
[2][email address]
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Dear Cameron L,
I refer to your request for access to documents made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI Act) and received by the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on 16 February 2022.
Please find attached:
o Notice of decision and schedule of documents.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Yours sincerely
[1]O A I C logo Emily Elliott | Senior Lawyer
Legal Services
Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |
[2]oaic.gov.au
+61 2 9284 9852|
[3][email address]
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