Documents Related to Freedom of Information
Ben Fairless made this Freedom of Information request to National Health and Medical Research Council
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC),
I request a copy of:
1. All current policies, procedures, business rules, or other internal documents created by NHMRC which detail how Freedom of Information Requests are processed, by whom, and how they are to be treated.
2. Documents which show the training provided to NHMRC decision makers and employees within the Freedom of Information team at NHMRC.
3. Internal correspondence in relation to Freedom of Information requests made using the Right to Know service.
4. All recorded external qualifications, training certificates, or other Learning and Development records for employees in the Freedom of Information team and for all decision makers of the NHMRC.
5. A copy of the Authorisation made by the principal officer of the agency under section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Please consider processing all or part of this request under Administrative Access arrangements (https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...). If this is not possible, please process this as a formal Freedom of Information Request.
Yours faithfully,
Ben Fairless
Dear Mr Fairless,
Re - Freedom of Information Request: No. 2018/19-009
I refer to your request to the National Health and Medical Research
Council (NHMRC) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act)
seeking documents related to NHMRC Freedom of Information (FOI) process
and policies, including:
1. All current policies, procedures, business rules, or other internal
documents created by NHMRC which detail how Freedom of Information
Requests are processed, by whom, and how they are to be treated.
2. Documents which show the training provided to NHMRC decision makers
and employees within the Freedom of Information team at NHMRC.
3. Internal correspondence in relation to Freedom of Information
requests made using the Right to Know service.
4. All recorded external qualifications, training certificates, or
other Learning and Development records for employees in the Freedom of
Information team and for all decision makers of the NHMRC.
5. A copy of the Authorisation made by the principal officer of the
agency under section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Timeframe for receiving your decision
The statutory timeframe for processing a request is 30 days, starting from
the day after the day on which your application was received by NHMRC.
Therefore, the due date for a decision on your request is 11 February
2019.
This timeframe may be extended where:
· charges are levied as prescribed by the Freedom of
Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations 1982 (the FOI Regulations)(see
charges below);
· consultation with third parties is necessary (see
consultation with third parties below).
Charges
Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. These charges are set by the FOI
Regulations and are for search and retrieval of documents, decision making
and provision of access (for example, copying and postage).
If NHMRC decides to charge you in respect of this FOI request, we will
send you a preliminary assessment of the charges as soon as possible
following retrieval of any documents that may be relevant to your request.
Consultation with third parties
NHMRC may be required under the FOI Act to consult other parties (third
parties) where information relating to third parties arises in documents
sought by your request. The FOI Act prescribes a further 30 days
processing time for NHMRC to undertake this consultation. You will be
advised as soon as possible of any requirement to consult with a third
party.
Disclosure Log
s 11C of the FOI Act requires agencies to disclose documents released
under the FOI Act in a disclosure log, which is made publicly available.
There are exceptions to this requirement, such as where release of the
documents or parts of them would involve the unreasonable disclosure of
your or another person’s personal or business information. You may
choose to express a view on this issue and to identify personal or
business information that in your view would be unreasonable to publish.
However, you should be aware that s 11C of the FOI Act embodies a
pro-disclosure policy which agencies are required to follow, subject to
any exceptions provided for under the FOI Act.
Kind Regards,
Jess
____________________________________________________
NHMRC Freedom of Information
National Health & Medical Research Council
+61 (0) 2 6217 9000 | [1][NHMRC request email]| [2]www.nhmrc.gov.au
[3]Logo-inline-tagline-purple
Dear Mr Fairless
Please find attached correspondence from Dr Tony Willis in relation to FOI
Request 2018/19 009.
Kind Regards,
Jess
____________________________________________________
NHMRC Freedom of Information
National Health & Medical Research Council
[1][NHMRC request email]
+61 (0) 2 6217 9000
[2]nhmrc.gov.au
From: NHMRC FOI <[NHMRC request email]>
Sent: Friday, 11 January 2019 9:48 AM
To: Ben Fairless <[FOI #5211 email]>
Subject: NHMRC: FOI Request Notification 2018-19 009 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Mr Fairless,
Re - Freedom of Information Request: No. 2018/19-009
I refer to your request to the National Health and Medical Research
Council (NHMRC) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act)
seeking documents related to NHMRC Freedom of Information (FOI) process
and policies, including:
1. All current policies, procedures, business rules, or other internal
documents created by NHMRC which detail how Freedom of Information
Requests are processed, by whom, and how they are to be treated.
2. Documents which show the training provided to NHMRC decision makers
and employees within the Freedom of Information team at NHMRC.
3. Internal correspondence in relation to Freedom of Information
requests made using the Right to Know service.
4. All recorded external qualifications, training certificates, or
other Learning and Development records for employees in the Freedom of
Information team and for all decision makers of the NHMRC.
5. A copy of the Authorisation made by the principal officer of the
agency under section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Timeframe for receiving your decision
The statutory timeframe for processing a request is 30 days, starting from
the day after the day on which your application was received by NHMRC.
Therefore, the due date for a decision on your request is 11 February
2019.
This timeframe may be extended where:
· charges are levied as prescribed by the Freedom of
Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations 1982 (the FOI Regulations)(see
charges below);
· consultation with third parties is necessary (see
consultation with third parties below).
Charges
Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. These charges are set by the FOI
Regulations and are for search and retrieval of documents, decision making
and provision of access (for example, copying and postage).
If NHMRC decides to charge you in respect of this FOI request, we will
send you a preliminary assessment of the charges as soon as possible
following retrieval of any documents that may be relevant to your request.
Consultation with third parties
NHMRC may be required under the FOI Act to consult other parties (third
parties) where information relating to third parties arises in documents
sought by your request. The FOI Act prescribes a further 30 days
processing time for NHMRC to undertake this consultation. You will be
advised as soon as possible of any requirement to consult with a third
party.
Disclosure Log
s 11C of the FOI Act requires agencies to disclose documents released
under the FOI Act in a disclosure log, which is made publicly available.
There are exceptions to this requirement, such as where release of the
documents or parts of them would involve the unreasonable disclosure of
your or another person’s personal or business information. You may
choose to express a view on this issue and to identify personal or
business information that in your view would be unreasonable to publish.
However, you should be aware that s 11C of the FOI Act embodies a
pro-disclosure policy which agencies are required to follow, subject to
any exceptions provided for under the FOI Act.
Kind Regards,
Jess
____________________________________________________
NHMRC Freedom of Information
National Health & Medical Research Council
+61 (0) 2 6217 9000 | [3][NHMRC request email]| [4]www.nhmrc.gov.au
[5]Logo-inline-tagline-purple
Locutus Sum left an annotation ()
The agency wants a huge amount of money to consider releasing the documents. In my opinion this is completely wrong. The applicant asked the agency to consider releaseing the requested documents under administrative arrangements. This is completely appropriate for the reason that the documents relate to internal procedures that ought to be open, transparent, and publicly accountable. It should not be a secret how the NHMRC process FOI applications and how it trains its staff to do this. .... Instead of releasing the documents under administrative arrangements, and instead of being publicy accountable in an easy and open way, the agency wants $2000 without any guarantee that the documents will be released. In my opinion this is totally inappropriate and brings the agency into public disrepute..