Internal OAIC documents relating to FOI review processes
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
I am writing to kindly request access to the following documents:
1. Any policies, procedures, guidelines, manuals, memorandums or other guidance materials used by Information Commissioners and staff within the OAIC to assist in making determinations on requests for extensions of time to process FOI requests, IC Reviews, FOI Complaints, or any other functions performed by the OAIC and Commissioners in relation to FOI requests.
2. Copies of all templates, forms or other documents submitted by agencies or FOI applicants to the OAIC seeking extensions of time to process FOI requests, FOI Complaints or any other processes under the FOI Act for which application forms or notification templates exist. I request these documents be provided in hard copy or text document format rather than web links if possible.
Administratively, I also request confirmation on whether agencies are obligated under the FOI Act or Guidelines to provide copies of extension of time applications submitted to the OAIC directly to the original FOI applicant
I would like to express my appreciation for your cooperation, professionalism, and promptness in handling IC reviews. Your office's diligence supports improved access to information to help promote transparency and accountability.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to receiving the requested information at your earliest convenience.
Yours faithfully,
CR
Your email has been received by the Office of Australian Information
Commissioner.
FOI requests to the OAIC
Please note that this email address is only used for making requests to
obtain access to a document held by the OAIC pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). We will only action and respond to
emails making FOI requests to the OAIC. For information on how to make an
FOI request to the OAIC, and to ensure that your request complies with the
requirements of the FOI Act, please refer to the FOI page on the OAIC’s
website at:
[1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
Once your request has been assessed by the OAIC, and registered on our
system, a separate acknowledgement email will be sent to you with a
reference number.
The OAIC does not hold all documents of other Commonwealth government
agencies, other state government agencies, or private organisations.
Accordingly:
1) if you are seeking to access documents of a particular
Commonwealth agency, you will need to make your request directly to the
relevant agency. For example, if you are requesting a copy of your visa
records, please make an FOI request and send it to the Department of Home
Affairs.
2) if you are seeking to access documents of a state or local
government agency, as each Australian state and territory also have
separate FOI legislation that governs information held by state government
agencies, please contact the relevant agency as to how to make an
application to access the documents. For example, if you are seeking
access to police report from NSW Police Force, it is governed by the
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act), and you
will need to contact NSW police to find out how to make a GIPA application
for the police report.
3) if you are seeking to access documents of a private organization,
which the FOI Act does not apply to, please contact the organization
directly to find out how to access the documents you are seeking. For
example, if you are seeking to access to hospital records or your medical
centre records, please contact these organisations directly.
Enquiries and other matters
If your email relates to any of the following, please utilise our online
forms instead, which are available at
[2]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
- Enquiry
- Privacy Complaint
- Notifiable Data Breach
- Consumer Data Right Complaint
- FOI Complaint
- Freedom of Information Review
- Agency FOI Extension of Time Requests
- Speech requests.
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.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
OAIC ref: FOIREQ23/00156
Dear CR,
Thank you for your email to the OAIC on 15 August 2023.
We seek further clarification from you in relation to the documents you
are seeking:
Part 1 of your FOI request
Option 1
Are you seeking "policies...guidance materials...to assist in making
determinations on requests for extension of time to
- process FOI requests,
- IC reviews
- FOI Complaints,
- any other functions performed by the OAIC and Commissioners in relation
to FOI requests.
OR
Option 2
Are you seeking "policies...guidance materials...to assist in making
determinations on
- requests for extension of time to process FOI requests,
- IC reviews
- FOI Complaints,
- any other functions performed by the OAIC and Commissioners in relation
to FOI requests.
Please kindly let us know which option is correct.
Part 2 of your FOI request
You sought “Copies of all templates, forms or other documents submitted by
agencies or FOI applicants to the OAIC seeking extensions of time to
process FOI requests, FOI Complaints or any other processes under the FOI
Act for which application forms or notification templates exist. I request
these documents be provided in hard copy or text document format rather
than web links if possible.”
Option 1
Are you seeking the blank templates, forms or other guidance documents
usually used by agencies to seek:
- extension of time to process FOI requests,
- IC reviews
- FOI Complaints,
- any other functions performed by the OAIC and Commissioners in relation
to FOI requests.
OR
Option 2
Are you seeking a copy of all documents submitted by agencies or FOI
applicants to the OAIC to seek:
- extension of time to process FOI requests,
- IC reviews
- FOI Complaints,
- any other functions performed by the OAIC and Commissioners in relation
to FOI requests.
Our interpretation of scope – seeking your confirmation
Our preliminary interpretation of the scope of your request is that you
are seeking
o Part 1 – Option 2
o Part 2 – Option 1.
However we would be grateful if you can please kindly confirm if this is
correct and provide the above clarification by close of business on Friday
18 August 2023. If we do not hear from you by this time we will assume
that you do not object to our interpretation of scope and will continue to
process in accordance with our interpretation.
Form of access
Please kindly note the form of release of documents by the OAIC usually is
in the form of PDF documents sent across via email to the email from which
the FOI request was made. However, we can certainly provide you with hard
copy of the documents if you provide us with the postal address to send
the documents to.
We thank you and look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
[1][IMG] Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [2][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
[3]Subscribe to Information Matters
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.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your follow up regarding my FOI request. Please allow me to clarify my intended scope:
For Part 1, I am seeking Option 2 - any internal policies, guidelines or other materials used by the OAIC and Commissioners to assist in making determinations regarding functions performed in relation to other agencies' FOI requests, such as requests for extensions of time, IC reviews, and other processes.
For Part 2, I am seeking Option 1 - blank templates or forms.
PDF format for the released documents is favourable.
I appreciate you taking the time to ensure we have a clear mutual understanding of my request. Your thoroughness in this matter supports the principles of transparency and accountable governance. Please do not hesitate to contact me if any part of the scope remains unclear.
Thank you for your assistance.
Yours sincerely,
CR
Your email has been received by the Office of Australian Information
Commissioner.
FOI requests to the OAIC
Please note that this email address is only used for making requests to
obtain access to a document held by the OAIC pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). We will only action and respond to
emails making FOI requests to the OAIC. For information on how to make an
FOI request to the OAIC, and to ensure that your request complies with the
requirements of the FOI Act, please refer to the FOI page on the OAIC’s
website at:
[1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
Once your request has been assessed by the OAIC, and registered on our
system, a separate acknowledgement email will be sent to you with a
reference number.
The OAIC does not hold all documents of other Commonwealth government
agencies, other state government agencies, or private organisations.
Accordingly:
1) if you are seeking to access documents of a particular
Commonwealth agency, you will need to make your request directly to the
relevant agency. For example, if you are requesting a copy of your visa
records, please make an FOI request and send it to the Department of Home
Affairs.
2) if you are seeking to access documents of a state or local
government agency, as each Australian state and territory also have
separate FOI legislation that governs information held by state government
agencies, please contact the relevant agency as to how to make an
application to access the documents. For example, if you are seeking
access to police report from NSW Police Force, it is governed by the
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act), and you
will need to contact NSW police to find out how to make a GIPA application
for the police report.
3) if you are seeking to access documents of a private organization,
which the FOI Act does not apply to, please contact the organization
directly to find out how to access the documents you are seeking. For
example, if you are seeking to access to hospital records or your medical
centre records, please contact these organisations directly.
Enquiries and other matters
If your email relates to any of the following, please utilise our online
forms instead, which are available at
[2]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
- Enquiry
- Privacy Complaint
- Notifiable Data Breach
- Consumer Data Right Complaint
- FOI Complaint
- Freedom of Information Review
- Agency FOI Extension of Time Requests
- Speech requests.
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.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
Our reference: FOIREQ23/00156
Dear CR
Freedom of Information request
Thank you for your prompt clarification. We will process your request
accordingly.
Please note that some of the documents you are seeking have already been
published on the OAIC’s disclosure log located at [1]Our FOI disclosure
log | OAIC.
In FOIREQ23/00111, another individual sought a copy of documents which
govern how an OAIC IC review is to be conducted. These documents were
given to the applicant in full and you can find a copy for download in PDF
format at
[2]oaic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/75287/FOIREQ23-00111-Documents.pdf
Your FOI request was received by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) on 15 August 2023. This means that a decision on your
FOI request is currently due on 14 September 2023.
In order to process your request as efficiently as possible, I will
exclude duplicates and early parts of email streams that are captured in
later email streams from the scope of this request, unless you advise me
otherwise.
I will not identify you as the FOI applicant during any consultation
process. However, documents that are within the scope of your request that
the OAIC may need to consult third parties about may contain your personal
information.
Timeframes for dealing with your request
Section 15 of the FOI Act requires the OAIC to process your request no
later than 30 days after the day we receive it. However, section 15(6) of
the FOI Act allows us a further 30 days in situations where we need to
consult with third parties about certain information, such as business
documents or documents affecting their personal privacy.
The current decision due date for your request is 14 September 2023. We
will advise you if this timeframe is otherwise extended.
Disclosure Log
Documents released under the FOI Act may be published online on our
disclosure log unless they contain personal or business information that
would be unreasonable to publish.
If you would like to discuss your FOI request, please contact me on my
contact details set out below.
Yours sincerely
Laura
[3][IMG] Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [4][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
[5]Subscribe to Information Matters
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.oaic.gov.au/about-the-OAIC/a...
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/__data/assets/pd...
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
4. mailto:[OAIC request email]
5. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...
OAIC reference: FOIREQ23/000156
Dear CR
Please find attached a decision, schedule and documents for release from
the delegate in relation to the above FOI request.
Due to the size of the documents, they will be sent to you in multiple
emails. This is email 1 of 4.
Kind regards
Laura
[1][IMG] Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [2][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
[3]Subscribe to Information Matters
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.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...
OAIC reference: FOIREQ23/000156
Dear CR
Please find attached documents for release in relation to the above FOI
request.
Due to the size of the documents, they will be sent to you in multiple
emails. This is email 2 of 4.
Kind regards
Laura
[1][IMG] Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [2][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
[3]Subscribe to Information Matters
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.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...
OAIC reference: FOIREQ23/000156
Dear CR
Please find attached documents for release in relation to the above FOI
request.
Due to the size of the documents, they will be sent to you in multiple
emails. This is email 4 of 4.
Kind regards
Laura
[1][IMG] Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [2][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
[3]Subscribe to Information Matters
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.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...
OAIC reference: FOIREQ23/000156
Dear CR
Please find attached documents for release in relation to the above FOI
request.
Due to the size of the documents, they will be sent to you in multiple
emails. This is email 3 of 4.
Kind regards
Laura
[1][IMG] Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [2][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
[3]Subscribe to Information Matters
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.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...
Dear Laura,
Thank you for providing the decision, schedule, and documents for release regarding the above-mentioned FOI request. I acknowledge the considerable effort invested in processing this request.
May I kindly request access to the final versions of documents 17, 18, 19, 20, 44, and 45, without any highlighting changes or comments, if possible?
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
CR
Your email has been received by the Office of Australian Information
Commissioner.
FOI requests to the OAIC
Please note that this email address is only used for making requests to
obtain access to a document held by the OAIC pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). We will only action and respond to
emails making FOI requests to the OAIC. For information on how to make an
FOI request to the OAIC, and to ensure that your request complies with the
requirements of the FOI Act, please refer to the FOI page on the OAIC’s
website at:
[1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
Once your request has been assessed by the OAIC, and registered on our
system, a separate acknowledgement email will be sent to you with a
reference number.
The OAIC does not hold all documents of other Commonwealth government
agencies, other state government agencies, or private organisations.
Accordingly:
1) if you are seeking to access documents of a particular
Commonwealth agency, you will need to make your request directly to the
relevant agency. For example, if you are requesting a copy of your visa
records, please make an FOI request and send it to the Department of Home
Affairs.
2) if you are seeking to access documents of a state or local
government agency, as each Australian state and territory also have
separate FOI legislation that governs information held by state government
agencies, please contact the relevant agency as to how to make an
application to access the documents. For example, if you are seeking
access to police report from NSW Police Force, it is governed by the
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act), and you
will need to contact NSW police to find out how to make a GIPA application
for the police report.
3) if you are seeking to access documents of a private organization,
which the FOI Act does not apply to, please contact the organization
directly to find out how to access the documents you are seeking. For
example, if you are seeking to access to hospital records or your medical
centre records, please contact these organisations directly.
Enquiries and other matters
If your email relates to any of the following, please utilise our online
forms instead, which are available at
[2]https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
- Enquiry
- Privacy Complaint
- Notifiable Data Breach
- Consumer Data Right Complaint
- FOI Complaint
- Freedom of Information Review
- Agency FOI Extension of Time Requests
- Speech requests.
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.oaic.gov.au/about-us/access-...
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/contact...
Dear CR,
Thank you for your below email.
All searches were undertaken while processing your FOI request. These searches did not identify final versions of the documents you have listed. It is open to you to seek internal review of the decision if you are dissatisfied with the decision, including if you consider inadequate searches were undertaken.
Kind Regards,
Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
Subscribe to Information Matters
-----Original Message-----
From: CR <[FOI #10573 email]>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 7:47 PM
To: OAIC - FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Re: FOIREQ23/00156 - Your FOI request to the OAIC - Part 3 of 4 [SEC=OFFICIAL]
**************************************************************************
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organisation. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.
**************************************************************************
Dear Laura,
Thank you for providing the decision, schedule, and documents for release regarding the above-mentioned FOI request. I acknowledge the considerable effort invested in processing this request.
May I kindly request access to the final versions of documents 17, 18, 19, 20, 44, and 45, without any highlighting changes or comments, if possible?
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
CR
-----Original Message-----
OAIC reference: FOIREQ23/000156
Dear CR
Please find attached documents for release in relation to the above FOI request.
Due to the size of the documents, they will be sent to you in multiple emails. This is email 3 of 4.
Kind regards
Laura
[1][IMG] Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [2][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.
[3]Subscribe to Information Matters
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.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #10573 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Local time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
Dear OAIC - FOI,
I apologize for the lack of clarity in my previous email. Please accept this letter as a new FOI request. I seek access to specific documents under the FOI Act.
For context, please refer to OAIC Reference FOIREQ23/000156 or visit https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/i....
I am seeking access to the following documents:
1. Document 17 - "making and assessing FOI Complaints worksheet"
2. Document 18 - " worksheet on deemed access refusal matters"
3. Document 19 - "worksheet on registration and triage"
4. Document 20 - "worksheet on extension of time matters"
5. Document 44 - "Direction as to certain procedures to be followed in IC reviews: for agencies/ministers"
6. Document 45 - "Direction as to certain procedures to be followed in IC reviews: for applicants"
I kindly request that these documents be provided in their final version without any changes highlighted. This can be accomplished by temporarily turning off the "track changes" feature in Microsoft Word. For more information on how to do this, please refer to the following link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/offi....
As I am specifically requesting versions of documents with less information than what has already been released in full, I hope that you can administratively release these documents to me. To clarify, I am requesting access to documents on which you have already made a decision for full access, but in a version without changes, highlighting, comments, or other markups. It would be redundant to spend additional time making a decision on documents that have already been released in their entirety.
If my request requires further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me. Alternatively, kindly provide me with a phone number where I can reach you to discuss the scope of this request.
Yours sincerely,
CR
Dear OAIC - FOI,
Alternatively, you could release the documents in their native Microsoft Word .docx format. Whichever option is more convenient for you.
Kind regards,
CR
Our reference: FOIREQ23/00196
Dear CR,
Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request for access to documents made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
You FOI request was received by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) on 18 September 2023. This means that a decision on
your FOI request is currently due on 18 October 2023.
Scope of your request
Your FOI request was made in the following terms:
I apologize for the lack of clarity in my previous email. Please accept
this letter as a new FOI request. I seek access to specific documents
under the FOI Act.
For context, please refer to OAIC Reference FOIREQ23/000156 or visit
[1]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/i....
I am seeking access to the following documents:
1. Document 17 - "making and assessing FOI Complaints worksheet"
2. Document 18 - " worksheet on deemed access refusal matters"
3. Document 19 - "worksheet on registration and triage"
4. Document 20 - "worksheet on extension of time matters"
5. Document 44 - "Direction as to certain procedures to be followed in IC
reviews: for agencies/ministers"
6. Document 45 - "Direction as to certain procedures to be followed in IC
reviews: for applicants"
I kindly request that these documents be provided in their final version
without any changes highlighted. This can be accomplished by temporarily
turning off the "track changes" feature in Microsoft Word. For more
information on how to do this, please refer to the following link:
[2]https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/offi....
As I am specifically requesting versions of documents with less
information than what has already been released in full, I hope that you
can administratively release these documents to me. To clarify, I am
requesting access to documents on which you have already made a decision
for full access, but in a version without changes, highlighting, comments,
or other markups. It would be redundant to spend additional time making a
decision on documents that have already been released in their entirety.
In order to process your request as efficiently as possible, I will
exclude duplicates and early parts of email streams that are captured in
later email streams from the scope of this request, unless you advise me
otherwise.
We will not identify you as the FOI applicant during any consultation
process, unless we seek your permission. However, documents that are
within the scope of your request that we may need to consult third parties
about may contain your personal information.
Timeframes for dealing with your request
Section 15 of the FOI Act requires the OAIC to process your request no
later than 30 days after the day we receive it. However, section 15(6) of
the FOI Act allows us a further 30 days in situations where we need to
consult with third parties about certain information, such as business
documents or documents affecting their personal privacy.
The current decision due date for your request is 18 October 2023. We will
advise you if this timeframe is otherwise extended.
Disclosure Log
Documents released under the FOI Act may be published online on our
disclosure log, unless they contain personal or business information that
would be unreasonable to publish.
If you would like to discuss your FOI request, please contact me on my
contact details set out below.
Yours sincerely
[3][IMG] Laura Moffat
Paralegal
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [4][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
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References
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2. https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/offi...
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
4. mailto:[OAIC request email]
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Dear Laura,
I would like to reiterate my suggestion concerning the release of the requested documents (17, 18, 19, 20, 44, and 45). Considering that these documents have already been released in full under the previous request FOIREQ23/000156, it would save time and resources to provide them in the alternate format (Microsoft Word .docx) rather than initiating a new FOI request, conducting additional searches, and making another decision on the same documents.
Therefore, I kindly request that you reconsider my proposal and release the aforementioned documents in the native .docx format. This would eliminate the need for further processing and administrative steps related to a new FOI request (FOIREQ23/00196).
Please do not hesitate to reach out if any clarification is required.
Yours sincerely,
CR
Good morning,
Please find attached decision and documents in relation to your request
FOIREQ23/00196.
Regards,
[1][IMG] Emily Elliott
Senior Lawyer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [2][OAIC request email]
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
[3]Subscribe to Information Matters
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
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1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[OAIC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...