***Important message***

Thank you for your email.

Your email has been received by National Information Access Processing
Team within the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Please note that we only action and respond to access requests made under
the following Acts:

·         Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act)

·         Privacy Act 1988

·         [1]Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related
Claims) Act 1988

·         [2]Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.

If your email is a request for documents under the FOI Act, we will
contact you within 14 days to acknowledge your request. Please do not send
duplicate emails as this may cause delays in response time-frames.

We are committed to processing all requests as quickly as possible. We
will contact you if there are any delays and if more time is needed to
finalise your request. Further information will be provided to you when
the Department responds to your request.

For more information about Information Access please visit the
Department’s website at [3]Freedom of information | Department of
Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au)

For more information about Freedom of Information generally, please visit
the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website at
[4]Freedom of information — OAIC

Important note: For matters not relating to Information Access, please
refer to the ‘Contact us’ page on the Department’s website at [5]Contact
us | Department of Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au)

Thank you.

National Information Access Processing Team

Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

References

Visible links
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2. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2...
3. https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview...
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. https://www.dva.gov.au/about-dva/contact...

Dear Ms Jones

Freedom of Information Request: FOI 43845

I refer to your request for access to documents held by the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs (Department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(FOI Act). Your request was received by the Department on 11 June 2021 and
was made in the following terms:

Please provide 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

In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, a decision on your
request is due on 12 July 2021.

When the processing period may be extended or suspended

The current due date may be extended by up to 30 days if agreed by you
(section 15AA of the FOI Act). Also, the due date may be extended by an
additional 30 days in each instance, if your request is considered
voluminous or complex (section 15AB of the FOI Act) or if the Department
is required to undertake a third party consultation (sections 26A, 27 or
27A of the FOI Act). If any of these extensions apply, the Department will
notify you.

We will write again when the Department has more information. Further
information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner at [1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/.

Publication of documents

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[2]https://www.dva.gov.au/about-dva/freedom...
subject to certain exceptions, such as if the documents relate to your own
personal information. The Department will advise you in its decision
whether details of your request will be published on the disclosure log or
not.

Contacting us about your request

We will contact you using the email address you have provided. Please
advise if you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.

If you have any questions, please contact me by emailing:
[3][email address]

Yours sincerely

Paul

Paul (position number 62210618)

Senior Legal Officer

Information Law Section

Legal Services and Audit Branch

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

t 1800 838 372 | e [4][email address] | [5]www.dva.gov.au

p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601

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Dear Ms Jones

I refer to your request for access to documents held by the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs (Department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(FOI Act). Your request was received by the Department on 11 June 2021
and was made in the following terms

Please provide 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

To assist the Department in clarifying what information you are
requesting, I have the following questions and some suggestions as to
where the information you may be seeking can be found.

In the first sentence, are you seeking a total overall amount of
expenditure by the Department?

If so, these figures can be found in the following locations in DVA’s
2019-20 Annual Report:

 1. Statement of Comprehensive Income (page 99) – This report represents
the expenditure to operate the department

 2. Administered Schedule of Comprehensive Income (page 104) – This report
represents the expenditure incurred to administer benefits to veterans
on behalf of the Australian Government.

In the second sentence, where your refer to ‘expenditure by line item for
the Department for the 5 years’, are you referring to individual expense
categories?

If so, the above reports set out expenditure at a high level, and a
further breakdown of the expenditure amounts can be found by reviewing the
notes attached to the relevant expenditure item.

For example, a further break down of the personal benefits and health care
payments expenditure items contained in the ‘Administered Schedule of
Comprehensive Income’ can be found by reviewing note 2.1A & 2.1B on page
116 of the Annual Report.

Information relating to the previous 4 financial years can be found by
reviewing the same statements in DVA’s previous annual reports. For ease,
please find attached DVA’s annual report for 2019-20 and the following
link to the Annual Reports for the previous 5 years.

[1]Annual Reports | Department of Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au)

If the above information satisfies the scope of your request, we ask that
you confirm withdrawal of your FOI request by way of return email.

Alternatively, if the above information does not answer all your
questions, we ask that you review the above information and provide
clarification as to the scope of your FOI request by COB 30 June 2021.

If you have any questions, please contact me by emailing:
[2][email address]

Yours sincerely

Paul (position number 62210618)

Senior Legal Officer

Information Law Section

Legal Services and Audit Branch

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

t 1800 838 372 | e [3][email address] | [4]www.dva.gov.au

p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601

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Dear Ms Jones

I refer to my email sent to you on 23 June in relation to your request for
access to documents held by the Department under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982.

In my email I provided suggestions as to where you may be able to find the
information you requested and asked if you could provide some further
information to assist the Department with clarifying the scope of your
request.

The Department has not yet received your response.

Can you please either provide the information required to assist the
Department with clarifying the scope of your request, or alternatively
confirm that the information referred to in the Department’s Annual
Reports satisfies the scope of your request and that you will be
withdrawing it.

It would be appreciated if you could please reply to me by COB Friday 9
July 2021.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely

Paul (position number 62210618)

Senior Legal Officer

Information Law Section

Legal Services and Audit Branch

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

t 1800 838 372 | e [1][email address] | [2]www.dva.gov.au

p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601

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