Thank you for contacting us.

This is an automatic response from the Australian Electoral Commission to confirm we have received your email.

For more information on enrolling to vote, federal elections or the AEC, visit www.aec.gov.au.

Please do not respond to this email.

Our reference: LEX2846

Dear Andrew

Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Request

I refer to your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) made in the following terms:

all documents, including but not limited to ministerial briefs and
internal and external correspondence, relating to the development of the
Electoral Legislation Amendment (COVID Enfranchisement) Bill 2022 and the
Commonwealth Electoral (COVID Enfranchisement) Regulations 2022

any advice to AEC social media staff and call-centre workers on how to
assist voters who are COVID-positive during the election period

any policy documents relating to the use of postal voting for
COVID-positive voters

a list of files from the AEC's record management systems whose titles or
descriptions contain the words "COVID", "COVID-19", "coronavirus" or
"pandemic"

Timeframe to process your request

Your request was received by the Australian Electoral Commission (the AEC)
on 18 May 2022, and the 30 day statutory timeframe for processing your
request commenced from the day after that date.  You should expect to
receive a decision from us by 17 June 2022.  The period of 30 days may be
extended if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons.  We
will advise you if this timeframe is extended.

Charges

We will advise you if any charge is payable to process your request and
the amount of any charge as soon as practicable.  No charge is payable for
providing a person with their own personal information.

Your address

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address to which we can
send notices.  You have advised that your electronic address is
[1][FOI #8921 email].  We will send all notices
and correspondence to this address.  Please advise us as soon as possible
if you wish for notices and correspondence to be sent to a different
address.  If you do not advise us of changes to your address, notices and
correspondence will continue to be sent to the address specified above.

Administrative release of documents

The AEC has administrative access arrangements for the release of certain
documents without the need for a formal freedom of information request.
Where appropriate we may offer you documents via the administrative access
scheme in lieu of processing under the FOI Act.  Information relating to
third parties cannot be released via administrative access.  You will be
notified when documents are released to you on an administrative access
basis.

Disclosure log

Documents released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log
on the AEC's website.  Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this
publication, however it is subject to certain exceptions, including where
publication of personal, business, professional or commercial information
would be unreasonable.

Further assistance

If you have any questions please email [2][email address], or contact our
enquiries line on 13 23 26.

Yours sincerely

Natalie

Australian Electoral Commission

T: 13 23 26

show quoted sections

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[5][FOI #8921 email]

Is [6][AEC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Australian Electoral Commission? If so, please contact us
using this form:

[7]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...

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:

[8]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

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.

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

DISCLAIMER:

If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
immediately by return email and delete all copies.  If this email or any
attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute
waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of
information in the email or attachments. 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #8921 email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email/
4. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email-promo/
5. mailto:[FOI #8921 email]
6. mailto:[AEC request email]
7. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
8. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

Dear Andrew

Your Freedom of Information Request – section 24AB consultation

I refer to your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), received on 18 May 2022 made in the
following terms:

o all documents, including but not limited to ministerial briefs and
internal and external correspondence, relating to the development of
the Electoral Legislation Amendment (COVID Enfranchisement) Bill 2022
and the Commonwealth Electoral (COVID Enfranchisement) Regulations
2022 (Category A);
o any advice to AEC social media staff and call-centre workers on how to
assist voters who are COVID-positive during the election period
(Category B);
o any policy documents relating to the use of postal voting for
COVID-positive voters (Category C);
o a list of files from the AEC's record management systems whose titles
or descriptions contain the words "COVID", "COVID-19", "coronavirus"
or "pandemic" (Category D).

I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make
decisions in relation to FOI requests. 

The Australian Electoral Commission (the AEC) believes that work involved
in processing your FOI request in its current form would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the AEC from its other operations,
and undermine the capacity of the AEC to discharge its functions,
including finalising the 2022 Federal Election, due to its size,
complexity and broad scope.

This is called a ‘practical refusal reason' under section 24AA of the FOI
Act.  On the basis of the practical refusal reason, I intend to refuse
access to the documents you requested.

However, before I make a final decision, you have the opportunity to
revise your FOI request. This is called a 'request consultation process',
and is set out in section 24AB of the FOI Act. You have 14 days to respond
to this notice in one of the ways set out below.

Why your request may be refused

In coming to a decision that a practical refusal reason exists, in
accordance with s24AA I have had regard to the resources that would have
to be used for:

o identifying, locating or collating the documents within the filing
system of the AEC
o deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document to
which the request relates, or to grant access to an edited copy of
such a document (including resources that would have to be used for
examining the document or consulting with any person or body in
relation to the request)
o making a copy or an edited copy, of the document
o notifying any interim or final decision on the request
o any other matters in addition to those specified, in deciding whether
a practical refusal reason exists

We have estimated the number of documents that would currently fall within
the scope of each category of your FOI request to be as follows:

o Category A: between 3,000 and 4,000 documents;
o Category B: between 10 and 15 documents;
o Category C: between 5 and 10 documents;
o Category D: one document.

We estimate that the total time to undertake each of these activities
would be a minimum of 120 days with 14 staff across a number of business
areas. These documents cross over a number of different business areas
within the AEC which would have to coordinate identifying, locating or
collating the documents and deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer
access to the documents.

Further details on the extent of each of these categories and whether we
are requesting you to narrow the scope, are discussed further below.

Category A: all documents, including but not limited to ministerial briefs
and internal and external correspondence, relating to the development of
the Electoral Legislation Amendment (COVID Enfranchisement) Bill 2022 and
the Commonwealth Electoral (COVID Enfranchisement) Regulations 2022

o The Electoral Legislation Amendment (COVID Enfranchisement) Bill 2022
and the Commonwealth Electoral (COVID Enfranchisement) Regulations
2022 (the COVID Enfranchisement Bill and Regulations) were under
development from early 2021.
o The types of documents that will fall within the scope of this
category are internal AEC emails, external emails with other
Commonwealth agencies, external emails with the Minister’s office,
other stakeholder correspondence, file notes of meetings, drafts of
legislation, drafts of explanatory material, policy tables, policy
papers, executive briefs and ministerial briefs. A large proportion of
the documents will be internal and external emails.
o We note that the Department of Finance Electoral Policy Unit would
hold a lot more policy documents and legislative drafts that the AEC
were not involved in. Any policy documents and legislative drafts that
the AEC were provided with, were for the purposes of comment or
information (not drafting).
o The COVID Enfranchisement Bill and Regulations formed part of the
AEC’s wider response to delivering an election in a COVID-19
environment, as such, there are a large number of documents relating
to these two pieces of legislation. A number of documents relating to
the COVID Enfranchisement Bill are already publicly available
including on the Australian Parliament House website, including the
transcripts of minister speeches and explanatory material, accessible
here:

o [1]https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Bus...

o We estimate that in its current form, this category would return
between 3,000 and 4,000 documents. This would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the AEC from its other
operations, including finalising the 2022 Federal Election.
o It would be manageable for the AEC to collate, review and prepare all
drafts of legislation, drafts of explanatory material, policy tables,
policy papers, executive briefs and ministerial briefs relating to the
COVID Enfranchisement Bill and Regulations.
o Please let us know whether you agree to narrow the scope to all drafts
of legislation, drafts of explanatory material, policy tables, policy
papers, executive briefs and ministerial briefs relating to the COVID
Enfranchisement Bill and Regulations.

Category B: any advice to AEC social media staff and call-centre workers
on how to assist voters who are COVID-positive during the election period

o All advice provided to AEC social media staff and call-centre workers
on how to assist voters who are COVID-positive during the election
period was in the form of formal, written advice such as scripts,
standard operating processes and manuals.
o We estimate that in its current form, this category would return
between 10 and 15 documents.
o This category is reasonably manageable in its current form and does
not need to be narrowed.

Category C: any policy documents relating to the use of postal voting for
COVID-positive voters

o The policy relating to the use of postal voting for those who are
seriously ill did not change in the lead up to the 2022 Federal
Election. There is a number of publicly available resources which
outlines the AEC policy on postal voting while seriously ill or COVID
positive, including on the AEC website accessible here:

o [2]https://www.aec.gov.au/faqs/postal-votin...

o We estimate that in its current form, this category would return
between 5 and 10 documents.
o This category is reasonably manageable in its current form and does
not need to be narrowed.

Category D: a list of files from the AEC's record management systems whose
titles or descriptions contain the words "COVID", "COVID-19",
"coronavirus" or "pandemic"

o We do not interpret this category to be requesting a list of each
document in the AEC’s record management system with a file name
containing the words "COVID", "COVID-19", "coronavirus" or "pandemic".
o Within the AEC’s official record management system, ObjectiveIM, users
are required to create a 'file' container object. Documents are then
stored inside the file, the name of that file reflects the contents of
the file.

o The AEC is able to prepare a schedule that lists each file in the
AEC’s record management system with a file name containing the words
"COVID", "COVID-19", "coronavirus" or "pandemic".
o This category is reasonably manageable in its current form and does
not need to be narrowed.

Request consultation process

You now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to
proceed.

You may wish to revise your request to narrow the scope of documents, or
explain in detail the specific documents that you wish to access.

Before the end of the 14 day consultation period, you must write to the
AEC Contact Officer below and either:

o withdraw your request;
o make a revised request; or
o tell us that you do not wish to revise your request.

The 14 day consultation period will start on the day after you receive
this notice.

During this period, you are welcome to seek assistance from AEC to revise
your request.  If you revise your request to adequately address the
practical refusal reasons outlined above, the AEC will recommence
processing it.

The time taken to consult you regarding the scope of your request is not
taken into account for the purposes of the 30 day time limit for
processing your request.

If you do not do one of the three things listed above during the
consultation period or you do not contact the AEC to discuss your request
during this period, your request will be taken to have been withdrawn.

Contact officer

If you would like to revise your request or have any questions, please
contact me at [3][email address], or contact our enquiries line on 13 23
26.

Yours sincerely

Mel

Legal & Procurement Branch

Australian Electoral Commission

T: 13 23 26

show quoted sections

Dear Andrew,
 
Thank you for submitting an FOI request to the Australian Electoral
Commission (AEC).
 
Based on your request on 18 May 2022, and subsequent narrowing of scope on
6 June 2022, we understand that the scope of your FOI request is now as
follows:
 
•       all drafts of legislation, drafts of explanatory material, policy
tables, policy papers, executive briefs and ministerial briefs relating to
the development of the COVID Enfranchisement Bill and Regulations;
•       any advice to AEC social media staff and call-centre workers on
how to assist voters who are COVID-positive during the election period;
•       any policy documents relating to the use of postal voting for
COVID-positive voters;
•       a list of files from the AEC's record management systems whose
titles or descriptions contain the words "COVID", "COVID-19",
"coronavirus" or "pandemic".
 
We hope you can appreciate that the AEC’s resources are limited currently
as a result of the finalising of the 2022 Federal Election and that the
scope of your request covers a number of areas across the AEC and could
take some time to finalise. Therefore, to allow time to identify and
assess the documents and correspondence you have requested, the AEC seeks
your agreement to extend the timeframe of this FOI request by agreement
under s 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act, until 20 July 2022. This
period may be extended if we need to consult third parties or for other
reasons. We will advise you if this timeframe is extended.
 
We would be grateful if you could please confirm via reply email:
a.      the scope of your FOI request as outlined above (including
clarifying that Category A relates to development of the Bill and
Regulations, which we apologise for omitting from our request consultation
email); and
b.      your agreement to extend the timeframe until 20 July 2022.
 
You are welcome to seek assistance from the AEC to revise your request. 
If you have any questions please email [1][email address], or contact our
enquiries line on 13 23 26.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Natalie
 
Legal & Procurement Branch
 
 
 
Australian Electoral Commission
 
 
 
T: 13 23 26
 
 

show quoted sections

Dear Andrew,

The Australian Electoral Commission is processing your FOI request (our ref: LEX2848) for the following documents:

all drafts of legislation, drafts of explanatory material, policy tables, policy papers, executive briefs and ministerial briefs relating to the development of the COVID Enfranchisement Bill and Regulations (Category A);

any advice to AEC social media staff and call-centre workers on how to assist voters who are COVID-positive during the election period (Category B);

any policy documents relating to the use of postal voting for COVID-positive voters (Category C);

a list of files from the AEC's record management systems whose titles or descriptions contain the words "COVID", "COVID-19", "coronavirus" or "pandemic" (Category D).

Unfortunately, resourcing constraints combined with an unexpectedly broad and complex range of documents indicate to us that we will not be able to finish processing your FOI request by the current due date, being 20 July 2022.

We have been able to retrieve and process the documents relating to three of the categories relating to this request. We will endeavour to provide you with a decision and the documents in relation to Categories B, C & D by 20 July 2022. However, we are still in the process of retrieving and processing documents in relation to Category A.

We are writing to inform you that we have requested an extension of time from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on the grounds that the request is complex and voluminous. We have requested an additional 30 days which, if granted, will extend the due date to 19 August 2022.

We appreciate your understanding and flexibility in previously agreeing to an extension. We hope that this further extension request does not cause you any inconvenience.

It is our understanding that the OAIC will be in contact with you to seek your views as to whether or not the extension should be granted.

Any issues or queries in the meantime and please let us know.

Kind regards,

Natalie

Australian Electoral Commission

T: 13 23 26

show quoted sections

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[FOI #8921 email]

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://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

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.

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

DISCLAIMER:
If you have received this transmission in error please notify us immediately by return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the email or attachments.

Dear Andrew,
 
Please find attached Part 1 of the decision letter, attachments and 6
released documents relating to your FOI request (our ref LEX2846) made on
18 May 2022.
 
Attached are the following PDFs:

* Decision letter LEX2846 (Part 1)
* Attachment A: Schedule of released documents LEX2846 (Part 1)
* Attachment B: Reasons for decision LEX2846 (Part 1)
* Attachment C: Review rights LEX2846
* Released documents: No. 1-6

 
If you have any further queries or difficulties accessing the attached
documents please let us know.
 
Kind regards,
Natalie
FOI Team
Australian Electoral Commission
T: 13 23 26
 
 
 

DISCLAIMER:

If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
immediately by return email and delete all copies.  If this email or any
attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute
waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of
information in the email or attachments. 

Dear Andrew

I refer to your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982.

I attach a letter to you dated 19 August 2022 with the decision regarding
this request, as well as the relevant documents.

If you have any questions please email [1][email address] or contact our
enquiries line on 13 23 26.

Yours sincerely

Mel

Australian Electoral Commission

T: 13 23 26

show quoted sections