Dear Mr Norwood,
 
Request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act
1982  
 
I refer to your Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) request dated
and received on 6 May 2023, in which you sought access to “a complete copy
of the departments' Freedom of Information (FOI) logs for the period
2013-2023, including any secondary departments controlled by the agency.”
 
Scope of your request
I note that you have sought access to a complete copy of the ACMA’s FOI
logs for the period 2013-2023. If you are seeking access to the FOI
Disclosure Log that the ACMA is required to maintain under the FOI Act, I
can confirm that we have checked and the Disclosure Log that appears on
the ACMA website ([1]www.acma.gov.au) is a complete record of all FOI
matters since 2011, in relation to which the ACMA was required to publish
documents released under the FOI Act on the Disclosure Log. All log
entries since 2013 are still on the website and have not been removed.
 
The Disclosure Log on the ACMA website contains a description of each FOI
request and the documents released. For log entries that are less than 12
months old, the documents released as part of the request can be accessed
directly from the website. Documents that relate to log entries that are
more than 12 months old have been removed from the website in accordance
with guidance from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC). 
 
In addition to the matters listed in the Disclosure Log, the ACMA receives
several other FOI requests a year which are not included in the Disclosure
Log for a number of reasons, including where the FOI request was:
        -       withdrawn by the applicant,
        -       held to be invalid,
        -       refused on the grounds that the documents sought do not
exist,
        -       transferred to another agency for processing, or
        -       solely for personal information about the applicant or
another person.
 
There are also instances where the ACMA, in line with OAIC guidance,
provides access to documents outside of the FOI Act.
 
Other than the Disclosure Log, the ACMA does not maintain another ‘log’ of
FOI requests received as such. Further, I can confirm that the ACMA does
not control any other entities.
 
Given the above information, could you please confirm whether you wish to
clarify or reduce the scope of your request?
 
It would be appreciated if you could please provide any clarification of
the scope of your request by Friday 19 May 2023.  If the ACMA does not
receive a response by this time, we will proceed to process your request
as currently framed.
 
Charges
The processing charges which the ACMA is entitled to charge are prescribed
in the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019. 
 
These charges include:
        - searching and retrieving ($15.00 per hour)
        - making a decision on access ($20.00 per hour after the first
five hours, which are for free)
        - photocopying a written document (10 cents per page)
        - making a copy of a written document other than a photocopy
($4.40 per page)
        - postage or delivery (an amount not exceeding cost of postage or
delivery)
        - transcribing ($4.40 per page)
        - supervising, if the applicant wishes to inspect ($6.25 per half
an hour, or part thereof).
 
The ACMA will, in accordance with section 29 of the Act, advise you if you
are liable to pay any charge and provide a preliminary assessment of those
charges.]
 
Time for processing
The statutory timeframe for responding to your request under the FOI Act
is generally 30 days, commencing the day following the day on which the
ACMA received the valid application. 
In accordance with subsection 15(5) of the FOI Act, we will notify you of
a decision regarding your request as soon as practicable, but in any event
by 5 June 2023 unless the timeframe is extended under the FOI Act. 
 
Further information
Further information about the FOI Act, including the ACMA’s publication
obligations, is available on the ACMA’s website at
[2]www.acma.gov.au/freedom-information.
 
Please do not hesitate to contact me by email: [3][ACMA request email] if you
have any questions. 
 
Yours sincerely
 
Dharshi
 
 
 

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Dear Watson Norwood,

Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request.

Regards
Dharshi

Dharshi Jeyaseelan
Senior Lawyer

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