FOI charges from FY22 to 5/11/24
Dear Department of Education,
Please find my request below. In addition, please consider my Request for Administrative Arrangements below.
I request access to the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982:
1. All notices of a charge issued to FOI applicants between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024.
For the purposes of my request, a “notice of a charge” refers to a “written notice outlining the preliminary assessment of the charge”, as defined by FOI Guidelines [4.9]. Other terms synonymous with this definition include “charge notice” and “charge letter.”
Specifically, I request the following items from charge notices:
1.i - That the applicant is liable to pay a charge, the preliminary assessment of the charge and the basis for the calculation (FOI Guidelines [4.54a-b]),
1.ii - (if applicable) Any written explanation or justification as to whether the cost of calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the Commonwealth (FOI Guidelines [4.114(1)] and [4.4]), and
1.iii - The FOI reference number and date of the letter.
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the charge notice. I expect details such as applicant information, the scope of their request, and employee names, signatures, and details to be excluded (s 22).
If multiple charge notices were issued for a single request (e.g., following further review or scope reduction), all charge notices are in scope. Final charge notices (issued after a decision is provided (FOI Guidelines [4.78])) that differ from the previous charge are also in scope.
If your agency administers FOI requests on behalf of another entity (e.g., a minister or departmental sub-branch), such requests are included.
2. All notices of a charge decision issued to FOI applicants between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024.
For the purposes of my request, a “notice of a charge decision” refers to a “written notice of decision to the applicant as to whether the charge will be imposed, reduced or waived” as defined by FOI Guidelines [4.14]. Other terms that can be used synonymously include “charge decision notice” and “charge decision letter.”
Specifically, I request the following items from charge decision letters:
2.i - The decision to impose, reduce or waive a charge, as well as the charge amount,
2.ii - (if applicable) Any written explanation or justification as to whether the cost of calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the Commonwealth (FOI Guidelines [4.114(1)] and [4.4]), and
2.iii - The FOI reference number and date of the letter.
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the charge decision notice. I expect details such as applicant information, the scope of their request, contention reasons, decision-maker explanation of reasons (except part 2.ii), employee names, signatures, and details, or any information derived from the above (such as details about third parties or supporting evidence of a financial hardship contention) are to be excluded (s 22).
Some agencies, when deciding to waive a charge following an applicant’s contention, may simply state that they have “decided not to impose charges for this request”. Other agencies, in similar circumstances, provide a formal decision notice, including a statement of reasons and review rights. For the purposes of my request, both informal and formal decision notices are within scope.
Additionally, if multiple charge decision letters have been issued for a single request (e.g., following further review or scope changes), all such letters are included in the scope of this request. Charge decisions made under section 55G of the FOI Act are also included.
3. Any internal review decision letters regarding a charge notice or charge decision between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024
Specifically, I request the following items from internal review decision letters:
3.i - The decision to impose, reduce or waive a charge, as well as the charge amount,
3.ii - (if applicable) Any written explanation or justification as to whether the cost of calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the Commonwealth (FOI Guidelines [4.114(1)] and [4.4]), and
3.iii - The FOI reference number and date of the letter.
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the internal review decision letter, including any background information unrelated to the charge decision. I expect details such as applicant information, the scope of their request, review reasons, decision-maker explanation of reasons (except part 3.ii), employee names, signatures and details, or any information derived from the above, are to be excluded (s 22).
4. Any external review decisions regarding a charge notice or charge decision between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024. This includes decisions not to undertake an IC Review.
I expect details such as applicant information, the scope of their request, review reasons, employee names or details, or any information derived from the above, are to be excluded (s 22) from the scope of my request.
5. All confirmations of payment and refunds between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024.
Any document confirming receipt of payment or refund of payment is included in the scope of my request.
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the document. Details of the applicant and their payment details are to be excluded (s 22).
If you are willing, I would prefer this information to be provided administratively, such as in an appendix to the statement of reasons or as a note in a schedule of documents. I would like the following information: whether any payment was made, the amount paid, whether any amount was refunded, and the amount refunded for each request. Please let me know if you are willing to pursue this administratively, and I will confirm withdrawing this part (5) of my request.
In addition to the document-specific exclusions listed above, please exclude the following:
i) Any details about FOI applicants, including, but not limited to personal information and supporting evidence of personal circumstances in a financial hardship contention.
ii) Any details about a third party, business, or organisation, including but not limited to their personal information, business information, and commercial affairs.
iii) Any information that may require third-party consultation under the FOI Act.
iv) Any details about any individual, including but not limited to APS staff and signatures.
v) Emails that merely attach charges notices or decision letters.
In many cases, agencies send charge notices and charge decision notices as formal documents (such as PDFs or Word files) attached to an email. The emails themselves typically contain little more than a message like "see attached," and these are not relevant to my request and may be excluded.
However, if a charge notice or charge decision is provided directly in the body of an email (without a formal attachment), the email itself would be in scope. In such cases, the content of the email, as it serves the function of the notice, should be included in my request.
vi) Duplicate documents.
vii) Background information unrelated to charges.
Request for Administrative Arrangements
In lieu of providing all documents requested in parts 1-3 and part 5, I propose an administrative arrangement. I request a table summarising charge estimates, decisions, internal review decisions#, and payment information between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024. The table should contain the following columns:
FOI Reference | Charge Notice Date | Notice Estimate ($) | Charge Decision Date | Charge Decision* | Internal Review Decision Date | Internal Review Decision* | Request Status^ | Notes&
# Internal Review decisions that are unrelated to a charge are irrelevant and must not be included.
* Charge Decision & Internal Review Decision - These should be categorised as:
(1) Waive
(2) Reduce – $(new charge total)
(3) Affirm
(4) Deemed Affirm
(5) Cannot Impose (e.g., when a decision on the request is not made in time)
(6) Other (for complex cases, with notes).
^ Request Status - Enter as follows:
(1) Ongoing (still processing or within the 60-day IC Review timeframe)
(2) Finalised (request is no longer being processed and is outside the 60-day IC Review timeframe)
(3) External Review (provide OAIC/AATA/FCA/FCAFC reference number)
(4) Withdrawn
(5) Deemed Withdrawn
(6) Other (for complex cases, with notes).
& Notes - Include whether any payment was made, the amount paid, whether any amount was refunded, and the amount refunded. Additionally, if you would like to add any submissions regarding a request you are free to add it here.
If multiple charge notices were issued for a single request (e.g., due to scope reduction), each notice should be a new entry in the table. Please include the reason for additional notices in the Notes section. A ‘final charge’ notice (the actual cost of processing) that differs from the previous charge should also be included as a new entry, with an “actual cost” note.
If you agree to this administrative arrangement, I will confirm withdrawing parts 1-3 (except parts 1.ii, 2.ii, 3.ii) and part 5 of my request. The remaining parts of my FOI request would be:
(Parts 1.ii, 2.ii, 3.ii): Any written explanation or justification as to whether the cost of calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the Commonwealth (FOI Guidelines [4.114(1)] and [4.4]), and
(Part 4): Any external review decisions regarding a charge notice or charge decision.
Public Interest Factor
I anticipate that some agencies may impose a charge for this request. To pre-empt this, I will provide the following public interest considerations. I allege that some government agencies are incorrectly imposing charges as a means to delay or discourage access to documents, while doing so at a net cost to the Commonwealth. I intend to raise these concerns in a complaint to the OAIC. Your assistance in providing this information will help determine whether your agency is meeting its statutory obligations under the FOI Act.
In CropLife Australia and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Freedom of information) [2024] AICmr 159, the Assistant FOI Commissioner set aside a charge of $701, agreeing that access to documents regarding the Department’s FOI processes was in the public interest, as it would assist in assessing whether the Department was fulfilling its obligations under the FOI Act.
The Assistant Commissioner, Freedom of Information, noted at [24]:
"where there are concerns about whether an agency is carrying out its statutory obligations appropriately with respect to a particular process (such as under the FOI Act), providing access to documents relating to the conduct of those obligations would go beyond merely enhancing transparency by assisting inquiry into whether the agency is adequately fulfilling those obligations. Accordingly, I accept the applicant’s submission that giving access to information that might reveal any deficiencies with respect to the Department’s administration of FOI requests under the FOI Act would be in the general public interest."
Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please let me know if you agree to the administrative arrangement at your earliest convenience.
Yours faithfully,
CR
You have contacted the Freedom of Information Team at the Commonwealth
Department of Education (the department). If your email relates to a
Freedom of Information (FOI) application made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act), the department will respond as soon
as possible.
This email address is only for applications for access to documents under
the FOI Act. The department is unable to respond to non-FOI related
enquiries sent to this email address, and accordingly, emails sent to this
email address that are not FOI related will not be responded to or
forwarded.
CRICOS Codes
If you are seeking information relating to the Commonwealth Register of
Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS), information about
Australian education providers offering courses to people studying in
Australia on student visas and the courses offered, including CRICOS
codes, is available at [1]http://cricos.education.gov.au//. Monthly CRICOS
data exports are available at [2]https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cricos.
The department is unable to respond to non-FOI related CRICOS enquiries
sent to this email address.
Non-FOI Enquiries
If you have a non-FOI related enquiry for the department, you can contact
the department by using the online enquiry form at
[3]https://www.education.gov.au/about-us/co....
Regards,
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education
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 566 046 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. http://cricos.education.gov.au/
2. https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cricos
3. https://www.education.gov.au/about-us/co...
Dear Department of Education,
By way of illustration, please find the table created from the information provided by another agency for your reference. You can view this image via WeTransfer here: https://we.tl/t-b0JnQGOLUv (please note this link expires in 7 days.) This table represents the exact level of information I am requesting.
The only information I am requesting beyond this table is:
1.ii, 2.ii, 3.ii: Any written explanation or justification regarding whether the cost of calculating and collecting the charge might exceed the cost to the agency or the Commonwealth.
4. Any external review decisions concerning a charge notice or decision.
Yours faithfully,
CR
You have contacted the Freedom of Information Team at the Commonwealth
Department of Education (the department). If your email relates to a
Freedom of Information (FOI) application made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act), the department will respond as soon
as possible.
This email address is only for applications for access to documents under
the FOI Act. The department is unable to respond to non-FOI related
enquiries sent to this email address, and accordingly, emails sent to this
email address that are not FOI related will not be responded to or
forwarded.
CRICOS Codes
If you are seeking information relating to the Commonwealth Register of
Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS), information about
Australian education providers offering courses to people studying in
Australia on student visas and the courses offered, including CRICOS
codes, is available at [1]http://cricos.education.gov.au//. Monthly CRICOS
data exports are available at [2]https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cricos.
The department is unable to respond to non-FOI related CRICOS enquiries
sent to this email address.
Non-FOI Enquiries
If you have a non-FOI related enquiry for the department, you can contact
the department by using the online enquiry form at
[3]https://www.education.gov.au/about-us/co....
Regards,
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education
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 566 046 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. http://cricos.education.gov.au/
2. https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cricos
3. https://www.education.gov.au/about-us/co...
Dear FOI Officer,
I amend my request to add part 6.
6. A document that identifies whether any FOI requests, where a charge notice was issued between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024, were either withdrawn or deemed withdrawn.
To clarify, I am seeking information on whether a request was withdrawn or deemed withdrawn after a charge notice was issued. This may be demonstrated through:
- Correspondence from your agency confirming the withdrawal or deemed withdrawal of a request, or
- The applicant's email confirming their withdrawal of the request.
If no confirmation has been provided by your agency or the applicant, and the request was deemed withdrawn due to non-response to the charge notice, I request that a document be created under section 17 of the FOI Act, which shows that the request was deemed withdrawn. This information is likely to exist in your FOI database or case management systems in electronic form.
To assist with processing, you may omit the rest of the document beyond what is necessary to show whether the request was withdrawn or deemed withdrawn after a charge notice was issued.
If your agency is willing, I would prefer this information to be provided administratively, such as in an appendix to the statement of reasons or as a note in a schedule of documents. Please let me know if you are open to processing this request administratively, and I will confirm the withdrawal of this part (6) of my request.
Yours sincerely,
CR
You have contacted the Freedom of Information Team at the Commonwealth
Department of Education (the department). If your email relates to a
Freedom of Information (FOI) application made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act), the department will respond as soon
as possible.
This email address is only for applications for access to documents under
the FOI Act. The department is unable to respond to non-FOI related
enquiries sent to this email address, and accordingly, emails sent to this
email address that are not FOI related will not be responded to or
forwarded.
CRICOS Codes
If you are seeking information relating to the Commonwealth Register of
Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS), information about
Australian education providers offering courses to people studying in
Australia on student visas and the courses offered, including CRICOS
codes, is available at [1]http://cricos.education.gov.au//. Monthly CRICOS
data exports are available at [2]https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cricos.
The department is unable to respond to non-FOI related CRICOS enquiries
sent to this email address.
Non-FOI Enquiries
If you have a non-FOI related enquiry for the department, you can contact
the department by using the online enquiry form at
[3]https://www.education.gov.au/about-us/co....
Regards,
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education
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 566 046 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. http://cricos.education.gov.au/
2. https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cricos
3. https://www.education.gov.au/about-us/co...
Dear CR
I refer to your request, received by the Department of Education (department) on 5 November 2024, for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Due to the detailed nature of your request, we have summarised your request as follows (noting your commentary about the information you are seeking and any exclusions you have specified for each part of your request also comprise the scope of your request):
1. “All notices of a charge issued to FOI applicants between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024.” [Part 1]
2. “All notices of a charge decision issued to FOI applicants between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024.” [Part 2]
3. “Any internal review decision letters regarding a charge notice or charge decision between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024.” [Part 3]
4. “Any external review decisions regarding a charge notice or charge decision between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024. This includes decisions not to undertake an IC review.” [Part 4]
5. “All confirmations of payment and refunds between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024.” [Part 5]
Excluding:
“In addition to the document-specific exclusions listed above, please exclude the following:
i) Any details about FOI applicants, including, but not limited to personal information and supporting evidence of personal circumstances in a financial hardship contention.
ii) Any details about a third party, business, or organisation, including but not limited to their personal information, business information, and commercial affairs.
iii) Any information that may require third-party consultation under the FOI Act.
iv) Any details about any individual, including but not limited to APS staff and signatures.
v) Emails that merely attach charges notices or decision letters.”
Additional ‘Part 6’ of your request
On 7 November 2024 you contacted the department, seeking to amend your request to add an additional ‘Part 6’ (which we have summarised below):
6. “A document that identifies whether any FOI requests, where a charge notice was issued between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024, were either withdrawn or deemed withdrawn.”
As this addition broadens the scope of your request, the department will treat your request (as amended on 7 November 2024) to be a new request received on 7 November 2024. The department will therefore treat your 5 November 2024 request as being withdrawn.
As such, the 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after 7 November 2024. The period of 30 days may be extended through operation of the FOI Act and we will advise you if this happens.
Interpretation of ‘Part 5’ of your request
In Part 5 of your request, you have requested:
“All confirmations of payment and refunds between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024.
Any document confirming receipt of payment or refund of payment is included in the scope of my request…”
For completeness, given the scope of your FOI request more broadly, we have interpreted Part 5 of your request as relating to payments and refunds of FOI related charges only.
As the remaining parts of your request relate to FOI charge notices and decisions issued between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024, we have interpreted this part of your request as relating to payments and refunds relating to charge notices and decisions issued between 1 July 2022 and 5 November 2024. If this interpretation is incorrect, please let us know by Monday 18 November 2024. If you do not respond by this date, we will proceed on the assumption that this interpretation is correct.
We understand from your reference to “any document confirming receipt of payment or refund of payment” that you may intend for Part 5 of your request to be limited to any document that confirms receipt of payment or refund of payment, rather than all such documents. The Department of Finance’s Service Delivery Office (SDO) provides the department with formal confirmation of payment of charges and charge deposits in the form of receipts. Confirmation of refunds of charges and charge deposits is provided to the department by way of an email from the SDO.
However, the reference to “all confirmations” in Part 5 of your request is very broad and would capture internal departmental correspondence, correspondence between the department and the SDO and correspondence between the department and applicants, in addition to receipts of payment and confirmations of refunds from the SDO. On a preliminary view, this may capture a large number of documents.
To assist in processing your request, please confirm by Monday 18 November 2024 whether you wish to limit the scope of Part 5 of your request to:
• receipts of payment of charges and charge deposits, and
• emails from the SDO confirming refunds of charges and/or charge deposits.
If we do not hear from you by Monday 18 November 2024, we will proceed on the basis that you are seeking “all” confirmations of payments and refunds, noting that this would increase the scope of your request.
Overlap with your previous FOI request (LEX 1202)
On 1 October 2024 you made an FOI request to the department (LEX 1202) that overlaps with the scope of your current request. On 31 October 2024, the department provided you with the 30 most recent charge notices and corresponding charge decisions issued by the department, which were issued during the period from 11 October 2023 to 1 October 2024.
The department has therefore interpreted the scope of your new FOI request to exclude any documents that you have already been provided. If this interpretation is incorrect, please let us know by Monday 18 November 2024. If you do not respond by this date, we will proceed on the assumption that this interpretation is correct.
Charges
The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request and the amount of any such 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 that we can send notices to. You have advised your electronic address is [FOI #12293 email]. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Disclosure log
Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions include where publication of personal, business, professional or commercial information would be unreasonable.
Further assistance
If you have any questions about your request, please email [email address].
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education
Dear FOI Team,
I have contacted you via my personal email for further correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
CR
You have contacted the Freedom of Information Team at the Commonwealth
Department of Education (the department). If your email relates to a
Freedom of Information (FOI) application made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act), the department will respond as soon
as possible.
This email address is only for applications for access to documents under
the FOI Act. The department is unable to respond to non-FOI related
enquiries sent to this email address, and accordingly, emails sent to this
email address that are not FOI related will not be responded to or
forwarded.
CRICOS Codes
If you are seeking information relating to the Commonwealth Register of
Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS), information about
Australian education providers offering courses to people studying in
Australia on student visas and the courses offered, including CRICOS
codes, is available at [1]http://cricos.education.gov.au//. Monthly CRICOS
data exports are available at [2]https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cricos.
The department is unable to respond to non-FOI related CRICOS enquiries
sent to this email address.
Non-FOI Enquiries
If you have a non-FOI related enquiry for the department, you can contact
the department by using the online enquiry form at
[3]https://www.education.gov.au/about-us/co....
Regards,
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education
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 566 046 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. http://cricos.education.gov.au/
2. https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/cricos
3. https://www.education.gov.au/about-us/co...
Dear CR
Please see the attached decision in relation to your FOI request (LEX 1274).
Due to the large file size, the documents will be provided in a separate email. Please let us know if you do not receive the additional email containing the documents.
Kind regards
Freedom of Education Team
Department of Education
Dear CR
Please find attached the documents in relation to your FOI request (LEX 1274). We have sent you a separate email containing the decision for this request.
Kind regards
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education