FOI charges from FY22 to 7/11/24

CR made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Home Affairs

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Currently waiting for a response from Department of Home Affairs, they should respond promptly and normally no later than December 09, 2024 (details).

Dear Department of Home Affairs,

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 7 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 7 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 7 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 7 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 7 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.

6. A document that identifies whether any FOI requests, where a charge notice was issued between 1 July 2022 and 7 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.

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 parts 5-6, I propose an administrative arrangement. I request a table summarising charge estimates, decisions, internal review decisions#, and payment information between 1 July 2022 and 7 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 parts 5-6 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,

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OFFICIAL: Sensitive
Personal-Privacy

In reply please quote:

FOI Request: FA 24/11/00381

File Number: FA24/11/00381

Dear CR (Right to Know)

Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information Access request

This letter acknowledges that on 7 November 2024 the Department of Home
Affairs (the Department) received your request to access documents held
by the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI
Act). This letter also provides important information about your request.

Scope of request

You have requested access to the following:

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 7 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 7 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 7 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 7 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 7
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.

6. A document that identifies whether any FOI requests, where a charge
notice was issued between 1 July 2022 and 7 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.

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

# 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 parts 5-6 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.

Your request has been allocated FOI request number FA 24/11/00381. Please
include your FOI request number in all correspondence with the Freedom of
Information Section.

Timeframe

The timeframe for processing a request is 30 days from the day we receive
your request, as set out in the FOI Act.

Your review rights in relation to your request are available on [1]Freedom
of information reviews | OAIC.

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Charges do not apply to requests from individuals seeking access to
documents about themselves. However, a charge may apply to all other
requests for access to documents.

Charges are based on the amount of time the Department spends on your
request. Charges can range from $10 to over $1,000 depending on the
complexity and scope of your request. The Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner reported that across the public service, the
average charge notified was $335.50 in 2020-21.

If a charge applies, you will be issued with a Notice of Charge that
explains the charge and your options.

Detailed information about FOI charges that may apply to your FOI request
is available on [2]the Department’s website.

We do not provide personal details of staff or non-public facing
operational email addresses

The Department’s practice is to exclude the personal details of Government
employees, including contractors, not in the Senior Executive Service
(SES), as well as the direct contact details of SES staff, contained in
documents that fall within scope of an FOI request. If you require
personal details of non-SES officers, or direct contact details of SES
staff, please inform us so the decision maker may consider your request.
Otherwise we will take it that you agree to that information being
excluded from the scope of your request as irrelevant under section
22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act. However names of staff that have previously
been released in departmental correspondence may be disclosed.

We do not provide duplicated documents

If the FOI decision-maker deems a document to be a duplicate, they will
not assess those pages as part of your FOI request. This means that if a
there is a decision to release the document to you, you will receive only
one copy, even if multiple copies of that document exist.

Publication of document

Released documents you request may be published to our website.

Where documents are released to you in response to your request, the
Department may be required to publish these documents on its website
within 10 working days in accordance with section 11C of the FOI Act.
Publication will not be required where the documents contain personal or
business affairs information.

How to reduce or withdraw your request

Reducing the scope of your request can reduce the time and charges
associated with processing your FOI request.

To reduce or withdraw your request, contact the FOI section at
[3][Department of Home Affairs request email] and include your FOI request number.

Contacting the FOI Section

Should you wish to discuss your request you may contact the FOI Section at
[Department of Home Affairs request email].

Kind Regards

David
Team Leader – Authorised FOI Officer, Freedom of Information
Position Number 60157647

Privacy, FOI and Records Management Branch

Legal Group

Department of Home Affairs

E: [4][Department of Home Affairs request email]

Personal-Privacy
OFFICIAL: Sensitive

-----Original Message-----
From: CR <[FOI #12305 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 7 November 2024 1:49 PM
To: FOI <[Department of Home Affairs request email]>
Subject: CM: Freedom of Information request - FOI charges from FY22 to
7/11/24

Dear Department of Home Affairs,

Please find my request below. In addition, please consider my Request for
Administrative Arrangements below.