Dear Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency,

I am seeking access to information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) regarding an Improvement Notice issued by the CEO of ARPANSA in 2017 under section 80A of the Act. I request a copy of the written notice (improvement notice) that required the holder of the licence to: (a) remedy a contravention; or (b) prevent a likely contravention from occurring; or (c) remedy matters or activities causing the contravention or likely contravention; or (d) cease an activity causing the contravention or likely contravention.

Yours faithfully,

Sun Shine

Dear Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency,

Please respond to my request. An agency has a statutory obligation to acknowledge that an FOI request has been received as soon as practicable, and no later than 14 days after receiving a request (s15(5)(a)).

Thank You,
Anonymous

Dear ARPANSA,

Thank you. Please note that a transferred request is deemed to have been received by the receiving agency at the time it was received by the transferring agency (s 16(5)(b)).

Yours sincerely,
Anonymous

Dear ARPANSA,

Because I haven't received notice of a decision and the timeframe has expired, I must conclude that the CEO of ARPANSA has personally made a decision refusing to give access to the document (refer to s 15AC).

Yours sincerely,
Anonymous

Dear $ARPANSA FOI,

Thank you. The requested document was a single page. It is page 10 of 10 to your response.

The Information Publication Scheme (IPS) provisions underpin a pro-disclosure culture across government. IPS transforms the FOI framework from one that is reactive to individual requests to one that relies on voluntary agency-driven publication of information.

It's fairly obvious that, even without applying IPS criteria to the new section 80A, the Improvement Notice was intended to be shared with the public. In fact the ARPANS Act requires it; details of all Improvement Notices must be included in the annual report. Although it was mentioned, details were not provided. Had details been provided in the annual report, a FoI request would not have been necessary.

I note that ARPANSA embraces continuous improvement. This suggests that you strive to ensure that processes are continuously evaluated and improved in the light of their efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility. The relatively new power under section 80A should be evaluated for integration into the IPS. Perhaps all future Improvement Notices should be posted on your website.

Yours sincerely,
Anonymous