Energy Market Transition Plan
Dan Monceaux made this Freedom of Information request to SA Department of State Development
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear SA Department of State Development FoI officer,
I am writing to request digital access (via downloadable .pdf file) to the Energy Market Transition Plan, as featured in the following 7 News item: https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/32...
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1991.
Yours faithfully,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux
Thank you for your Freedom of Information application to the Department of
State Development seeking access to the Energy Market Transition Plan.
Section 13 of the Freedom of Information Act states;
13—Applications for access to agencies' documents
An application for access to an agency's document—
(a) must be in writing; and
(b) must specify that it is made under this Act;
and
(c) must be accompanied by such application fee
as may be prescribed; and
(d) must contain such information as is
reasonably necessary to enable the document to be identified; and
(e) must specify an address in Australia to which
notices under this Act should be sent; and
(f) must be lodged at an office of the agency,
and may request that access to the document be given in a particular way.
I have attached a FOI Application Form for your convenience which meets
the above requirements of the Act.
Until the requirements for an application for access are met, the Agency
is unable to process your application. Please complete the attached
application form and return it, along with the application fee outlined in
the attached Fees and Charges document, to me at the details below.
Kind regards
Nicole Spencer
Senior Project Officer - FOI
Office of Coordination and Executive Services
Department of State Development
Ph: 8463 5593 Email: [email address]
GPO Box 320 Adelaide SA 5000
The information in this e-mail may be confidential and/or legally
privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, access to it is
unauthorised and any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or
omitted to be taken in reliance on it is prohibited and may be unlawful.
[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CE4743.A6ECF0D0
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Monceaux
[[2]mailto:[FOI #2243 email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 14 September 2016 12:41 AM
To: DSD:Reception
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Energy Market Transition Plan
Dear SA Department of State Development FoI officer,
I am writing to request digital access (via downloadable .pdf file) to the
Energy Market Transition Plan, as featured in the following 7 News item:
[3]https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/32...
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1991.
Yours faithfully,
Dan Monceaux
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[4][FOI #2243 email]
Is [5][SA Department of State Development request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to SA Department of State Development? If so, please contact us
using this form:
[6]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:
[7]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[FOI #2243 email]
3. https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/32...
4. mailto:[FOI #2243 email]
5. mailto:[SA Department of State Development request email]
6. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
7. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
I just rang the Department of State Development's FOI officer to clarify a couple of things.
1) Even though the document I'm requesting access to was released to another applicant in a previous FOI request, I will still have to pay a lodgement fee for my request.
2) The Department of State Development does accept card payments over the phone (in addition to standard cash, check or money order options).
Dear Ms Spencer,
Thanks for your response to my preliminary Freedom of Information request. I am writing to request that the lodgement fee of $33.50 in this case be waived, on the following basis:
If the 7 news report I referred to was accurate, the document in question, or closely associated documentation, has already been released to another applicant under the Freedom of Information Act 1991. I would effectively like to lodge a request identical to the former applicant's at this stage.
I am also providing below a copy of an email I sent to the Attorney-General's Department today which puts a case forward for departments publishing and maintaining FoI Disclosure Logs to avoid occurrences like this one, where a request is effectively being duplicated.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
---------------------
To the Attorney-General,
I am writing to share some observations with you and make some recommendations regarding the management of Freedom of Information requests and their results in South Australia.
As a public interest researcher and documentary filmmaker, I have come to appreciate the value of Freedom of Information Acts in South Australia and at a Federal level. I have also noticed that South Australia is lagging behind other jurisdictions with respect to processes of making an application, paying for it, and accessing documents which have already been released. I would describe my experiences with FoI requests made outside of South Australia to have been more applicant friendly, and more consistent with Premier Weatherill's interests in the principles of open government and open data. https://data.sa.gov.au/sites/default/fil...
1) PUBLISH & MAINTAIN DISCLOSURE LOGS
In other jurisdictions, public registers are kept and list lodged Freedom of Information requests, and their outcomes. These are commonly referred to as Disclosure Logs. These logs, best held on websites and updated frequently, allow potential applicants to see whether documentation relevant to their inquiry has already been released. Maintaining these logs improves the public perception of any department or agency with respect to its transparency and customer focus. It also eliminates opportunities for duplicate or coincidentally similar requests to be made by multiple applicants.
I was surprised to learn today that in order to re-request a document which had already been released by the Department of State Development to another applicant, I would be required to pay a fee of $33.50. I consider this to be unreasonable, given that the publication of a disclosure log, ideally linked to the disclosed documents, would facilitate my inquiry at negligible administrative cost to the Department.
Two examples of Disclosure Logs maintained in other jurisdictions are provided for your consideration. I consider the latter, maintained by the Australian Institute of Sport to be best practice, as it links to the released documents and makes them readily available to the wider public:
http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/resources/acce...
http://www.ausport.gov.au/legals/foi/foi...
I wish to recommend that Disclosure Logs be established and maintained by all South Australian government departments and agencies on their respective websites.
2) FACILITATE ONLINE PAYMENT
I have also been frustrated by the antiquated nature of standard payment mechanisms offered by South Australian departments and agencies. These are currently: cash (though locations for payment to be made are not clearly stated), check or money order (for which the recipient also requires confirmation of the recipient to be made via phonecall or written request.
I would like to recommend that an online payment portal is established to make payment of lodgement fees simpler, and credit card payment possible. While I can appreciate that FoI requests are handled by different departments and agencies, therefore complicating billing, I do not believe this problem to be insurmountable. I note that in my experiences with Federal departments, BPay options are offered and invoices are sent to the applicant after the applicant has agreed to accept the costs associated with the request.
I hope that you will consider my observations and recommendations and advise me on any actions likely to arise from them.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Ms Spencer,
Could you please confirm that my email to you of 22 September 2016, including a copy of my related correspondence to the Attorney-General, has been received?
I hope that you have given it some consideration and that I can expect a response soon.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux
Thank you for your email dated 10 October 2016. I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 22 September 2016. In response to your request for an application fee waiver, the agency considers the $33.50 application fee is a fee for the processing of each application, therefore the application fee is required to be paid in order to initiate the processing of your request.
Should you wish to discuss your application or arrange for fee payment please contact the Department's FOI team on 8226 3821.
Kind regards
Freedom of Information Team
Department of State Development
[email address]
The information in this e-mail may be confidential and/or legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, access to it is unauthorised and any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it is prohibited and may be unlawful.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Monceaux [mailto:[FOI #2243 email]]
Sent: Monday, 10 October 2016 10:54 AM
To: DSD:FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Energy Market Transition Plan
Dear Ms Spencer,
Could you please confirm that my email to you of 22 September 2016, including a copy of my related correspondence to the Attorney-General, has been received?
I hope that you have given it some consideration and that I can expect a response soon.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
-----Original Message-----
Dear Mr Monceaux
Thank you for your Freedom of Information application to the Department of State Development seeking access to the Energy Market Transition Plan.
Section 13 of the Freedom of Information Act states;
13—Applications for access to agencies' documents
An application for access to an agency's document—
(a) must be in writing; and
(b) must specify that it is made under this Act; and
(c) must be accompanied by such application fee as may be prescribed; and
(d) must contain such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the document to be identified; and
(e) must specify an address in Australia to which notices under this Act should be sent; and
(f) must be lodged at an office of the agency, and may request that access to the document be given in a particular way.
I have attached a FOI Application Form for your convenience which meets the above requirements of the Act.
Until the requirements for an application for access are met, the Agency is unable to process your application. Please complete the attached application form and return it, along with the application fee outlined in the attached Fees and Charges document, to me at the details below.
Kind regards
Nicole Spencer
Senior Project Officer - FOI
Office of Coordination and Executive Services
Department of State Development
Ph: 8463 5593 Email: [email address]
GPO Box 320 Adelaide SA 5000
The information in this e-mail may be confidential and/or legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, access to it is unauthorised and any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it is prohibited and may be unlawful.
[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CE4743.A6ECF0D0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #2243 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...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Henare Degan left an annotation ()
Hi Dan,
NSW has similar requirements to SA. You can see all the hoopla I had to go through to make a formal application in NSW:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/m...
Here's the important points:
# Application form
There's no legal requirement to use their application form. You just need to give them all the information specified.
# Postal address
You do need to provide a postal address but you should explicitly specify you want all correspondence sent via email, to the @righttoknow.org.au address from your original message. You should provide your address outside of Right To Know so that it's not published on the internet. Here's what I wrote in my request - you could also provide your address over the phone:
>"I’ll email you my postal address from my personal email account. Please continue to use this email address for correspondence and do not use my personal email address or postal address for correspondence. Please also ensure not to include the postal address I've provided on any correspondence you send to this email address."
# Application fee
You will need to arrange payment somehow. To pay mine I provided my credit card details over the phone. In the application form you've been sent they say:
>"Generally agencies accept payment by cash, money order or cheque. If you would like to pay by credit card you will need to ask the agency if they are able to accept credit card payments."
so I'd ask them how you can pay and ask about credit card payment. Never provide your credit card details using Right To Know or by email.
Good luck and thanks for being the first person to put in requests to South Australian public authorities on Right To Know!
Cheers,
Henare
Right To Know administrator