Documents relating to removal of FOI charges
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
I am seeking under the FOI Act:
- copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to government agencies discouraging the imposition of charges for FOI requests; and
- copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to the Attorney-General or his department which have suggested amendment to the FOI Act to remove the ability to impose charges for FOI requests
since Leo Hardiman’s Australian Government Solicitor FOI and Privacy Practitioners Update on 29 July 2022.
Yours faithfully,
Gary
Your email has been received by the Office of Australian Information
Commissioner.
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Our reference: FOIREQ24/00330
Dear Gary
Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request for access to documents made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
You FOI request was received by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on 19 June 2024. This means that a decision on your FOI request is currently due on 19 July 2024.
Scope of your request
Your FOI request was made in the following terms:
I am seeking under the FOI Act:
- copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to government agencies discouraging the imposition of charges for FOI requests; and
- copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to the Attorney-General or his department which have suggested amendment to the FOI Act to remove the ability to impose charges for FOI requests
since Leo Hardiman’s Australian Government Solicitor FOI and Privacy Practitioners Update on 29 July 2022.
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.
I will not identify you as the FOI applicant during any consultation process. However, documents that are within the scope of your request that the OAIC 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 the OAIC 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.
The current decision due date for your request is 19 July 2024. We will advise you if this timeframe is otherwise extended.
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 your FOI request, please contact me on my contact details set out below.
Yours sincerely
Tahlia
Tahlia Pelaccia (she/her)
Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Melbourne
E [OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
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OAIC ref: FOIREQ24/00330
Dear Gary
I hope you’re well.
Upon commencing processing your request, we would like to clarify the scope of your request to ensure that we best obtain the information you are seeking.
In relation to the first part of your request, documents related to the discouragement of fee imposition, this would include the following two types of documents:
1) Documents of general nature sent by the OAIC to agencies, such as newsletters, guideline consultations, and
2) Documents sent by the OAIC to specific respondent agencies in relation to individual Information Commissioner (IC) reviews, such as preliminary views or IC review decisions.
Would you please kindly advise whether you are looking for both of the above type of documents in the first part of your request, or would you be willing to exclude documents sent to agencies by the OAIC in relation to individual IC review matters in (2) above?
Please note that, due to the number of Information Commissioner reviews related to the scope of your request, there is a possibility that the processing of this request may result in a practical refusal decision, in accordance with s24A of the FOI Act.
Next Steps
Could you please provide your clarification by close of business Tuesday 25 June 2024? If we do not hear from you by this time, we will assume that you are seeking both types of documents above and will process the request accordingly.
Thank you in advance.
Kind regards
Tahlia
Tahlia Pelaccia (she/her)
Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Melbourne
E [OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Subscribe to Information Matters
Dear Tahlia
Thank you for your well wishes. I hope you are also well.
I had hoped to get such information but realise now that reviewing all IC review files in that period is a significant task and I do not wish to unnecessarily divert resources.
Would it assist to narrow the scope of that first point to a subset of government agencies? To that end, I propose a revised scope as per the below:
- copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to the ten government agencies that most frequently notified of charges in relation to FOI requests in the 2022/23 FY, being:
1. Department of Home Affairs;
2. Department of Health and Aged Care;
3. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water;
4. Civil Aviation Safety Authority;
5. Department of Employment and Workplace Relations;
6. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry;
7. Department of Education;
8. Department of Industry, Science and Resources;
9. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and
10. Federal Court of Australia;
discouraging the imposition of charges for FOI requests; and
- copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to the Attorney-General or his department which have suggested amendment to the FOI Act to remove the ability to impose charges for FOI requests
since Leo Hardiman’s Australian Government Solicitor FOI and Privacy Practitioners Update on 29 July 2022.
Please let me know if you consider that this might also result in a practical refusal decision, such that I might be able to further consider an amendment to the scope of the request.
Kind regards,
Gary
OAIC ref: FOIREQ24/00330
Good afternoon Gary
Thank you for your prompt reply.
Background
The OAIC has received two substantive requests for information from yourself:
1) Your initial FOI application dated 19 June 2024, requesting the following:
a. copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to government agencies discouraging the imposition of charges for FOI requests; and
b. copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to the Attorney-General or his department which have suggested amendment to the FOI Act to remove the ability to impose charges for FOI requests
since Leo Hardiman’s Australian Government Solicitor FOI and Privacy Practitioners Update 29 July 2022.
2) In response to our scope clarification email sent on 21 June 2024, you provided the following amendments received 21 June 2024
a. copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to the ten government agencies that most frequently notified of charges in relation to FOI requests in the 2022/23 FY, being:
1. Department of Home Affairs;
2. Department of Health and Aged Care;
3.Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; 4. Civil Aviation Safety Authority; 5. Department of Employment and Workplace Relations; 6. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; 7. Department of Education; 8. Department of Industry, Science and Resources; 9. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and 10. Federal Court of Australia; discouraging the imposition of charges for FOI requests; and
b. copies of any documents, including correspondence, sent by OAIC to the Attorney-General or his department which have suggested amendment to the FOI Act to remove the ability to impose charges for FOI requests
since Leo Hardiman’s Australian Government Solicitor FOI and Privacy Practitioners Update on 29 July 2022.
Scope of your request
Based on your scope amendment dated 21 June 2024, we have interpreted the scope of your request as follows:
1) any documents, inclusive of correspondence, sent by the OAIC to:
1. Department of Home Affairs;
2. Department of Health and Aged Care;
3. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; 4. Civil Aviation Safety Authority; 5. Department of Employment and Workplace Relations; 6. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; 7. Department of Education; 8. Department of Industry, Science and Resources; 9. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and 10. Federal Court of Australia; discouraging the imposition of charges for FOI requests
discouraging the imposition of charges, during the 2022/23 financial year.
2) any documents, inclusive of correspondence, to the Attorney-General’s Department relating to amending the FOI Act to remove the ability to impose charges for FOI requests, since Leo Hardiman’s Australian Government Solicitor FOI and Privacy Practitioners Update on 29 July 2022.
Next Steps
Please confirm whether our abovementioned understanding of scope is correct by close of business tomorrow, 25 June 2024. If you do not respond we will proceed on the basis of the above interpretation.
Kind regards
Tahlia
Tahlia Pelaccia (she/her)
Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Melbourne
E [OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Subscribe to Information Matters
Dear Tahlia,
My interpretation of my Friday 21 June clarification is:
1) any documents, inclusive of correspondence, sent by the OAIC to:
1. Department of Home Affairs;
2. Department of Health and Aged Care;
3. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; 4. Civil Aviation Safety Authority; 5. Department of Employment and Workplace Relations; 6. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; 7. Department of Education; 8. Department of Industry, Science and Resources; 9. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and 10. Federal Court of Australia; discouraging the imposition of charges for FOI requests since 29 July 2022
2) any documents, inclusive of correspondence, to the Attorney-General’s Department relating to amending the FOI Act to remove the ability to impose charges for FOI requests, since 29 July 2022.
I hope the above makes sense. The references to other dates and statistics were made for context which have caused some confusion.
I appreciate your attempts to understand my request and I apologise for causing misunderstandings which I understand count towards the 30 day timer.
Please let me know if you have any further questions or require an extension given the time that has elapsed while seeking clarification.
Yours sincerely,
Gary
Good afternoon Gary
Thank you for your reply.
Scope
I confirm we will process your request based on the following scope:
1) any documents, inclusive of correspondence, sent by the OAIC to:
1. Department of Home Affairs;
2. Department of Health and Aged Care;
3. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water;
4. Civil Aviation Safety Authority;
5. Department of Employment and Workplace Relation;
6. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry;
7. Department of Education;
8. Department of Industry, Science and Resources;
9. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and
10. Federal Court of Australia;
discouraging the imposition of charges for FOI requests since 29 July 2022
2) any documents, inclusive of correspondence, to the Attorney-General’s Department relating to amending the FOI Act to remove the ability to impose charges for FOI requests, since 29 July 2022.
Timeframes for dealing with your request
Section 15 of the FOI Act requires the OAIC 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.
The current decision due date for your request is 19 July 2024. Thank you for your offer for an extension of time at this stage; we will advise you if this timeframe is otherwise extended.
Kind regards
Tahlia
Tahlia Pelaccia (she/her)
Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
E [OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Subscribe to Information Matters
OAIC ref: FOIREQ24/00330
Dear Gary
I am emailing to obtain further clarity regarding the scope of your request in relation to your FOI matter, FOIREQ24/00330.
I note that some of the documents which fall within scope of your FOI request contain information of individual Information Commissioner (IC) review applicants and private individuals or businesses which sought a review of these agencies decisions.
We would be grateful if you can please kindly advise whether you are willing to exclude this type of information from the scope of your request? The reason we are seeking clarification with you on this particular point is because if you are indeed seeking this information, before the OAIC can release material affecting personal privacy or business documents to you, sections 27 and 27A of the FOI Act provides that ‘the agency or Minister must not decide to give the applicant access to the document unless the person/business concerned is given a reasonable opportunity to make submissions in support of the exemption contention.’ This means in order to release that information to you, the OAIC will need to undertake third party consultation with these individuals/businesses prior to release of this information to you, which may extend the processing time by a further 30 days from the original due date.
If you are not seeking this information, and are willing to exclude this information from the scope of the request, then consultation will not be required.
We would be grateful if you could please let us know by 12 noon on Monday 8 June 2024 how you would like to proceed.
If we do not hear from you by this time, we will assume that you are indeed seeking this information, and we will continue to process your FOI request accordingly.
Kind regards
Tahlia
Tahlia Pelaccia (she/her)
Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Melbourne
E [OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Subscribe to Information Matters
Good evening Tahlia
Thank you for your email.
I understand that exclusion of this type of information from the scope of my request would mean that those documents would be released, but the information of individual Information Commissioner (IC) review applicants and private individuals or businesses which sought a review of the agencies' decisions, to the extent that this information appears in those documents, would be marked as outside the scope of my request and would be redacted.
On that understanding, I am willing to exclude this information from the scope of my request.
Thank you for seeking such clarification - I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Yours sincerely,
Gary
OAIC ref: FOIREQ24/00330
Good afternoon Gary
I hope you are well.
Thank you for further amending scope to exclude individual information of IC review applicants, and private individuals or business who sought review of agency decisions.
Request for an extension of time
At this stage, the due date of your FOI request is 19 July 2024.
Having regard to the documents at hand and remaining scope, I kindly ask whether you are willing to provide the OAIC with a 14-day extension of time to finalise the processing of your request, in accordance with section 15AA of the FOI Act?
If agreed, this will extend the time for the OAIC to process your request by 14 days until Friday 2 August 2024.
Please note that we will continue to process your request as efficiently as possible. We will endeavour to make a decision on your request earlier than this extended date, if we are in a position to do so.
We would be grateful if you can please let us know if you are agreeable to this extension of time request, by no later than close of business Thursday, 11 July 2024.
Thank you in advance for your ongoing assistance in the processing of your matter.
Kind regards
Tahlia
Tahlia Pelaccia (she/her)
Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Melbourne
E [OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Subscribe to Information Matters
OAIC Ref: FOIREQ24/00330
Good morning Gary
Thank you for your prompt response to, and for your agreement to, our extension of time request.
I confirm that the due date for a decision on your request is now 2 August 2024.
Please note that we will continue to process your request as efficiently as possible. We will endeavour to make a decision on your request earlier than this extended date, if we are in a position to do so.
Thank you
Tahlia
Tahlia Pelaccia (she/her)
Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
E [OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Subscribe to Information Matters
Dear Gary
Please see attached correspondence related to your FOI request,
FOIREQ24/00330.
Kind regards
Tahlia
[1][IMG] Tahlia Pelaccia (she/her)
Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
E [2][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
[3]Subscribe to Information Matters
Notice:
The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
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2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...