Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) team in Services
Australia (the Agency).

This email acknowledges your correspondence and provides some general
information in relation to FOI.

Administrative release of documents   

The Agency has administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements') for
the release of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI
request. If you agree to the release of documents under these
arrangements, we may provide you with documents under the arrangements,
where appropriate.  

Any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents being
released under the arrangements will be considered withdrawn. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties.
You will be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements. 

Personal information of Agency staff 

We consider staff details to be personal information of those staff
members. As part of the FOI application process, we will seek your consent
to exclude the following information from documents that may be captured
by your request:  

* names of Services Australia staff below the Senior Executive level
(junior staff) 
* direct staff telephone numbers, signatures, logon identifiers and
email addresses. 

If you consent to exclude this information, we will treat it as outside
the scope of your request and therefore irrelevant under Section 22 of the
FOI Act. 

Charges 

No charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information.
If you are requesting non-personal information the Agency will advise you
as soon as practicable if a charge is payable to process your request, and
the amount of any such charge. 

How we will send documents to you 

Unless you have requested to receive correspondence and documents relating
to your FOI request via post we will communicate with you via this email
address. Some documents may be too large to send to you via email. If
applicable, we will seek your consent to provide the requested documents
to you electronically via a secure file sharing platform. Please advise us
as soon as possible if you wish correspondence or documents to be sent to
another address, or if your email address changes. 

How long do I have to wait? 

We are required to answer your request within 30 days unless the time
frame is extended under the FOI Act.  

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Dear Phoebe

I refer to your request received by Services Australia on 9 September 2024
for access to the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act
1982:

I am requesting rates of and internal documents of or related to incidents
of customer aggression since 2005 to present at the Department of Social
Services and Services Australia, especially where they may relate to
government policies, such as debt collections and denials of claims.

I have determined the subject matter of part of your request (highlighted
in yellow) is more closely related to the functions of the Department of
Social Services (the department), than Services Australia. For this
reason, the Department’s part of your request has been transferred to
them, pursuant to section 16 of the FOI Act.

The Department have accepted partial transfer of this request, and will
contact you regarding your request. For further information, please
contact [1][email address]

If you have any questions, please reply by return email.

Kind regards

Alexander, A/g Senior FOI Officer

FOI & Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division

[2]Visual brand element showing Services Australia progress symbol to left
with Services Australia wording to the right of the symbol. Underneath is
servicesaustralia.gov.au and icons representing our social media accounts.
To follow us on social media go to servicesaustralia.gov.au/socialmedia
Aligning the bottom of the signature block is the Services Australia
indigenous artwork strip consisting of cultural elements depicting our
agency’s progress story for First Nations people.

Services Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands we
live on. We pay our respects to all Elders, past and present, of all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.

This email and any attachments may contain information subject to legal
professional privilege or information that is otherwise sensitive or
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are
prohibited from using or disseminating this communication. If you have
received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately
and permanently delete this email.

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References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Good morning Phoebe

I refer to your correspondence received by Services Australia  on 9
September 2024, in which you made a request under the Commonwealth Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). On 18 September 2024, Services
Australia transferred the below part of the request to the Department of
Social Services (the Department):

‘..rates of and internal documents of or related to incidents of customer
aggression since 2005 to present at the Department of Social Services,
especially where they may relate to government policies, such as debt
collections and denials of claims.’

The decision for this request is currently due on 9 October 2024. This
timeframe may be extended, for example, where the Department decides to
consult with third parties. We will inform you if this occurs.

Removal of certain information from the scope of your request

The Department is seeking your agreement to remove the following
information from the scope of your request where it is not available from
public sources:

o group email addresses used for internal departmental purposes;
o all personal information of members of the public;
o all personal information of non-Senior Executive Service (SES)
government staff; and
o all personal information of SES level government staff with the
exception of the names of the Department’s SES staff.

If you agree to the above amendment the names of the Department’s SES
staff will be released where they are present in the documents and do not
attract an exemption.

Could you please respond to this email by Thursday 26 September 2024 to
confirm your agreement to this change.

Should you have any queries about this matter, please do not hesitate to
contact the FOI team via email at [1][email address].

Kind regards

DSS FOI Team

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freedom of Information | Information Law

Legal Services Group

Department of Social Services
E: [2][email address]

The Department of Social Services acknowledges the traditional owners of
country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land,
water and community.

We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders both past
and present. 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]

Dear Phoebe,

I refer to your Freedom of Information request received by Services
Australia (the Agency) on 9 September 2024.

Following the partial transfer of your request to the Department of Social
Services on 19 September 2024, under section 16 of the FOI Act, you
request reads as follows:

I am requesting rates of and internal documents of or related to incidents
of customer aggression since 2005 to present at Services Australia,
especially where they may relate to government policies, such as debt
collections and denials of claims.

Section 12(1)(c) of the FOI Act

Your request does not meet the requirements for the Agency to release
documents to you under the FOI Act. This is because a person is not
entitled to obtain access to a document if it is available elsewhere
(section 12(1)(c) of the FOI Act).

Access Data

Preliminary searches undertaken have identified that the data you have
requested is not held by the Agency in existing reports/documents.
However, searches can be conducted by the Agency’s External Information
Release team to obtain the statistical data requested.

On this basis, your request does not meet the requirements for the Agency
to release documents to you through the FOI Act, as a person is not
entitled to obtain access to a document if it is available elsewhere
(section 12(1)(c)).  

You can submit a request for statistical data by contacting the External
Information Release team via email at:
[1][email address].

Further information

The Agency also makes a range of statistical information and data
available to the public. Further information is available on our website
regarding public statistical information and lodging requests for
statistics and data. Please find the link to the Agency website below.

[2]Statistical information and data - Services Australia

I trust this information will assist you.

Kind regards,

Alexander, A/g Senior FOI Officer

FOI & Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division

[3]Visual brand element showing Services Australia progress symbol to left
with Services Australia wording to the right of the symbol. Underneath is
servicesaustralia.gov.au and icons representing our social media accounts.
To follow us on social media go to servicesaustralia.gov.au/socialmedia
Aligning the bottom of the signature block is the Services Australia
indigenous artwork strip consisting of cultural elements depicting our
agency’s progress story for First Nations people.

Services Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands we
live on. We pay our respects to all Elders, past and present, of all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.

This email and any attachments may contain information subject to legal
professional privilege or information that is otherwise sensitive or
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are
prohibited from using or disseminating this communication. If you have
received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately
and permanently delete this email.

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/sta...