FOI Delegations
Ben Fairless made this Freedom of Information request to High Court of Australia as part of a batch sent to 166 authorities
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear High Court of Australia,
Under section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act, the principal officer or minister can make arrangements to give their decision making powers to others.
I'm hoping you can provide me with a copy of the current arrangements if possible.
If it helps, I'm happy for you to process this request under "administrative release" (https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...). This would reduce the cost and time required to make a formal decision.
That said, I understand sometimes you want the request to be formal. If you won't process it informally, please process my request for the document as a formal FOI Request.
Please note - While I volunteer for Right to Know, this request is made in a personal capacity and not on behalf of Right to Know.
Yours faithfully,
Ben Fairless
Dear Mr Fairless,
Under s 23(1) of the Act, a decision in respect of a request made to an agency may be made, on behalf of the agency, by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of the agency or, subject to the regulations, by an officer of the agency acting within the scope of authority exercisable by him or her in accordance with arrangements approved by the responsible Minister or the principal officer of the agency.
I am an officer of the Court and have been approved by the principal officer to be the FOI decision-maker. There is no requirement in the Act that those arrangements be reduced to writing, and there is no written documentation of this arrangement of which I am aware.
Yours sincerely
Ben Wickham
Senior Executive Deputy Registrar
High Court of Australia
(02) 6270 6893