Employee Conduct - Social media in the lead up to the Voice Referendum
Dear Australian Public Service Commission
1. Please provide a copy of the APSC’s current procedures for determining breaches of the APS Code of Conduct and the imposition of sanctions that is currently in force.
2. Please provide a copy of the APSC’s current social media policy (which covers departmental use and/or private use by employees in an individual capacity).
3. Provide a provide a copy of the APSC’s current guidance material which is available for employees to make informed decisions about their private social media use.
4. Provide a copy of guidance/information provided to your employees regarding expectations on their conduct in the lead up to the Voice Referendum.
5. Please advise:
A) In the last 6 months, have you received a complaint regarding social media post made by an employee of the APSC?
B) In the last 6 months, how many complaints have you received regarding social media post made by your employees?
6. Please advise:
A) In the last 6 months, have you received a complaint regarding social media post made by an Australian Public Service (APS) employee?
B) In the last 6 months, how many complaints have your received regarding social media post made by an APS employee?
C) Are you aware of any complaints made, in the last 6 months, to an agency regarding social media post made by an APS employee? If so, please list those agencies that you are aware a complaint has been made.
Yours faithfully
Gemma
OFFICIAL
Dear Gemma,
Please see attached an acknowledgement of your request.
Kind Regards,
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3720 w: www.apsc.gov.au
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or attachments to a third party.
OFFICIAL
OFFICIAL
Dear Gemma
LEX 558 - Parts 5 and 6 of your FOI Request
We refer to your freedom of information (FOI) request made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
On 24 May 2023, we identified publicly available documents which were responsive to parts 1-4 of your FOI request and sought your consent to release information and documents to you administratively for parts 4, 5 and 6 of your FOI request.
As we have not received a response from you in the requested timeframe, we will continue processing parts 1-4 of your request under the FOI Act. However, parts 5 and 6 of your request, in their current form, do not meet the requirements of a valid FOI request.
Why parts 5 and 6 of your request are invalid
Parts 5 and 6 are currently framed as a series of questions. These parts of your request do not provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the Commission to identify the documents you might be seeking.
Action required
We invite you to either:
• consent to the administrative release of answers to your questions and withdraw parts 5 and 6 of your FOI request (as set out in our email of 24 May 2023), or
• revise parts 5 and 6 to make a valid request by framing the request as a request for access to documents, rather than a series of questions seeking information. If you choose to revise those parts of your request, please provide sufficient detail about the documents you are seeking to enable the Commission to locate the documents.
Please provide us with a response by 5 June 2023. If you do not consent to the administrative release or revise parts 5 and 6 of your request to make a valid request, no further action will be taken in respect of parts 5 and 6 of your request as it is an invalid request.
Kind regards
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600 GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3720 w: www.apsc.gov.au
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or attachments to a third party.
OFFICIAL
Dear Applicant,
A decision notice is attached.
Regards,
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3720 w: www.apsc.gov.au
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or attachments to a third party.
OFFICIAL
Dear Gemma,
I am writing to advise you about a freedom of information (FOI) request
the Australian Public Service Commission (Commission) has received
containing your information.
The applicant requests access to:
I request access to all freedom of information decisions made by officials
in the Australian Public Service Commission between 1 April 2023 to 30
June 2023.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), where an
Australian Government agency receives a request for access to documents
containing another person’s personal information and the agency believes
that the other person may object to the release of the documents, the
agency is required to consult that person before making a decision to
grant access.
Please advise the Commission if you object to the release of the
information contained in the attached document by Monday 11 September
2023. If a response is not received by this date, the relevant FOI
decision maker within the Commission will assume you do not object to the
release of the documents.
Guidance to third party:
o Section 27A of the FOI Act requires an agency to consult a person
before deciding to grant access to a document containing their
personal information, if the person may wish to contend that the
document is conditionally exempt under s 47F (personal privacy) and
giving access would on balance be contrary to the public interest. A
third party consulted under s 27A of the FOI Act can contend only that
access should be refused under s 47F (personal privacy) of the FOI
Act.
o Further information can be found on the OAIC’s FOI Guidelines:
o [1]Exemptions and Conditional Exemptions under the FOI Act
o [2]Conditional exemptions
o [3]Personal and business information – third-party review rights
Kind Regards,
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
t: 02 6202 3813 w: [4]www.apsc.gov.au
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This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally
privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has
been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please
delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult
with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or
attachments to a third party.
______________________________________________________________________
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that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
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return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
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