Employee information provided to ballot agents in Enterprise Agreement bargaining

James Smith made this Freedom of Information request to Comcare as part of a batch sent to 42 authorities

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was successful.

Dear Comcare,

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

I request the document(s) which describe the data provided to the external organisation(s) responsible for conducting the ballot(s) for all Enterprise Agreements put to staff for a vote.

The scope of this request is limited only to those ballots undertaken for enterprise agreements which were proposed to take effect after 30 June 2014.

The document shall describe the data given to the ballot agent. For example, employee name, employee identification number, employee email address, etc. I exclude the data for specific employees here; I am only after the 'meta-data'.

If it assists you to treat this as an administrative request for information I encourage you to do so. Otherwise, please consider this a formal FOI request.

Yours faithfully,

James Smith

foi, Comcare

Thank you for your email to Freedom of Information (FOI) at Comcare. If
your request meets the requirements for a valid FOI request, an
acknowledgement letter will be sent to you within 14 days. Otherwise, FOI
staff will contact you to discuss your request.

 

 

NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments may contain confidential,
personal or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use or disclose any information in the message or
attachments. If received in error, please notify the sender by return
email immediately, if possible, or [email address].
Comcare does not waive any confidentiality or privilege.

For information about how we handle personal information, please visit
www.comcare.gov.au/privacy or contact us on 1300 366 979 and request a
copy of our Privacy Policy.

foi, Comcare

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Smith,

 

Thank you for your email of 16 February 2017, seeking access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the following:

 

I request the document(s) which describe the data provided to the external
organisation(s) responsible for conducting the ballot(s) for all
Enterprise Agreements put to staff for a vote.

 

The scope of this request is limited only to those ballots undertaken for
enterprise agreements which were proposed to take effect after 30 June
2014.

 

The document shall describe the data given to the ballot agent. For
example, employee name, employee identification number, employee email
address, etc.  I exclude the data for specific employees here; I am only
after the 'meta-data'.

 

Your request has been assigned reference number 2017/1364 and you are
asked to cite that number in any communication you have with Comcare
concerning the request. Information on processing of your request is set
out below.

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

The statutory timeframe for processing your request is 30 days from the
date on which it was received by Comcare, which makes the due date for the
decision on your request is 18 March 2017.

 

This timeframe may be extended where:

 

a)            charges are levied as prescribed by the Freedom of
Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations 1982 (the FOI Regulations)(see
charges below);

b)            consultation with third parties is necessary (see
consultation with third parties below);

c)            by agreement from you, under section 15AA of the FOI Act; or

d)            by approval of the Information Commissioner, under section
15AB of the FOI Act.

 

Disclosure Log

 

Please note that information released under FOI Act may be published in a
disclosure log on the Comcare’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.

 

Exclusion of employee details

 

Where the full name and contact details of staff members are included in
the scope of a request, this may add to processing time and applicable
charges as it may be necessary to consider whether the details are exempt
under the FOI Act. On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will
assume that these details are out of scope of your request and they will
be redacted under section 22 of the FOI Act.

 

Consultation with third parties

 

The FOI Act requires Comcare to undertake consultation prior to making any
decision to grant access to documents (subject to exemptions) that
contain:

•             information that originated with, or was received from, a
State or an authority of a State;

•             information that originated with, or was received from, a
foreign government, an authority of a foreign government or an
international organisation;

•             information concerning a person's business or commercial
affairs, or the business, commercial or financial affairs of an
organisation or undertaking; or

•             personal information about a person (including a deceased
person).

 

You will be advised as soon as possible if external consultation is
required.

 

Charges

 

The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your
request. No charge is payable for providing a person with their own
personal information. 

 

Contact

 

Should you require clarification of any of the matters discussed in this
email, or have any queries throughout the process, please contact the FOI
team  by email to  [Comcare request email] or by telephone 1300 366 979.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

FOI Delegate

Freedom of Information

Phone: 1300 366 979

Email: [Comcare request email]

www.comcare.gov.au

 

121 Marcus Clarke St, Canberra City, ACT 2600

GPO Box 9905, CANBERRA ACT 2601

 

 

show quoted sections

foi, Comcare

2 Attachments

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Smith,

 

Please find attached decision letter in response to your FOI request.

Kind regards,

FOI Delegate
Freedom of Information
121 Marcus Clarke St, Canberra City, ACT 2600
GPO Box 9905, Canberra, ACT 2601
P 02 6112 9680 | [1]www.comcare.gov.au

 

NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments may contain confidential,
personal or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use or disclose any information in the message or
attachments. If received in error, please notify the sender by return
email immediately, if possible, or [email address].
Comcare does not waive any confidentiality or privilege.

For information about how we handle personal information, please visit
www.comcare.gov.au/privacy or contact us on 1300 366 979 and request a
copy of our Privacy Policy.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.comcare.gov.au/