You have contacted the Freedom of Information Team at the Commonwealth
Department of Education, Skills and Employment (the department).  If your
email relates to an 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. If you have a non-FOI related enquiry for the department, you
can contact the department by using the online enquiry forms at
[1]https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/contact...
or
[2]https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/contact....

Regards,

Freedom of Information Team
Department of Education, Skills and Employment

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 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/contact...
2. https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/contact...

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

Legal privilege

Dear Ms Jones,

We acknowledge receipt of your two attached emails seeking access under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) to the following
documents:

“… a dollar figure for the last 5 financial years general ledger for the
department. We are not asking for the details being the GL just the
expenditure by line item for the department for the 5 years.”

We note that you have addressed your requests to the former Department of
Education and the former Department of Jobs and Small Business. The
Department of Education, Skills and Employment (the department) was formed
on 1 February 2020 following machinery of government changes. The
department is treating your two requests as one request made to the
department.

Invalid FOI request

It appears that you are seeking to make a request under the FOI Act. To
assist you to make a valid request, we note that the FOI Act sets out the
following requirements for valid FOI requests:

•             the request be in writing;

•             state that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI
Act;

•             provide such information concerning the document as is
reasonably necessary to identify the document; and

•             provide an address (eg an email address) for the purposes of
correspondence.

The scope of your request is unclear and we are unable to identify the
particular documents you are seeking to request access to.  Noting the
above, if you wish to proceed to make a valid FOI request, please provide
further information regarding the documents you wish to seek access to.

Publicly available information

For your assistance, we note that we have been advised by the relevant
business area within the department that the total departmental
expenditure is contained in the financial statements published in the
department’s Annual Report. Similarly, information regarding the total
departmental expenditure for the former Department of Education and
Training and the former Department of Jobs and Small Business is contained
in the respective annual reports for those departments. We have also been
advised by the business area that the Annual Reports contain a
departmental ‘total expenses’ line for each financial year and a breakdown
of expenditure. The Annual Reports for the department, the former
Department of Education and Training and the former Department of Jobs and
Small Business in their various iterations over the last several years are
publicly available at the following hyperlink:
[1]https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/corpora....

If, having regard to the financial statements available in the Annual
Reports, you wish to proceed to make an FOI request, please email your
request to [2][email address].  As your emails dated 11 June 2021 do not
provide sufficient information for the department to identify the
documents you are requesting and therefore do not constitute valid FOI
requests, the department will not take any further action in regard to
them.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [3][email address].

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Team

Department of Education, Skills and Employment

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 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/corpora...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

Legal privilege

Dear Ms Jones,

We acknowledge receipt of your two attached emails seeking access under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) to the following
documents:

“… a dollar figure for the last 5 financial years general ledger for the
department. We are not asking for the details being the GL just the
expenditure by line item for the department for the 5 years.”

We note that you have addressed your requests to the former Department of
Education and the former Department of Jobs and Small Business. The
Department of Education, Skills and Employment (the department) was formed
on 1 February 2020 following machinery of government changes. The
department is treating your two requests as one request made to the
department.

Invalid FOI request

It appears that you are seeking to make a request under the FOI Act. To
assist you to make a valid request, we note that the FOI Act sets out the
following requirements for valid FOI requests:

•             the request be in writing;

•             state that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI
Act;

•             provide such information concerning the document as is
reasonably necessary to identify the document; and

•             provide an address (eg an email address) for the purposes of
correspondence.

The scope of your request is unclear and we are unable to identify the
particular documents you are seeking to request access to.  Noting the
above, if you wish to proceed to make a valid FOI request, please provide
further information regarding the documents you wish to seek access to.

Publicly available information

For your assistance, we note that we have been advised by the relevant
business area within the department that the total departmental
expenditure is contained in the financial statements published in the
department’s Annual Report. Similarly, information regarding the total
departmental expenditure for the former Department of Education and
Training and the former Department of Jobs and Small Business is contained
in the respective annual reports for those departments. We have also been
advised by the business area that the Annual Reports contain a
departmental ‘total expenses’ line for each financial year and a breakdown
of expenditure. The Annual Reports for the department, the former
Department of Education and Training and the former Department of Jobs and
Small Business in their various iterations over the last several years are
publicly available at the following hyperlink:
[1]https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/corpora....

If, having regard to the financial statements available in the Annual
Reports, you wish to proceed to make an FOI request, please email your
request to [2][email address].  As your emails dated 11 June 2021 do not
provide sufficient information for the department to identify the
documents you are requesting and therefore do not constitute valid FOI
requests, the department will not take any further action in regard to
them.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [3][email address].

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Team

Department of Education, Skills and Employment

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 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/corpora...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]