** This is an automated response. Please do not reply to this email **

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

UPDATED: 17 March 2020

COVID-19 (Corona Virus) has been declared a pandemic by the World Health
Organisation ([1]link). As the Department focuses its efforts on managing
the impact of COVID-19 on its critical services and employees, other
non-critical services may not be delivered within expected timeframes. We
apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience during this
period.

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UNCLASSIFIED

In reply please quote:

FOI Request:       FA 20/05/00186

Good morning  

Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information Access request

I refer to your correspondence below seeking access to documents held by
the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

Your request has been allocated the FOI reference number referred to
above. Please include your FOI reference number in all correspondence with
the Freedom of Information Section.

The information you have requested is available through a Qlik application
which can be accessed via the Department’s SkillSelect [1]web page and
there is [2]information to assist. The Qlik application comprises a
comprehensive library of historic and current data in relation to
Expressions of Interest (EOIs) in Skillselect, and may be accessed by any
persons wishing to reference EOI data. I consider that the information you
request is available publically and is a complete library of EOI reference
material.

As this information is now publically available, you may wish to withdraw
you FOI request.  If you do not advise the Department that you wish to
continue with this FOI request within 5 working days of this email, your
request will be taken to have been withdrawn. 

Contacting the FOI Section

Should you wish to discuss your request you may contact the FOI Section at
[3][DIBP request email].

Yours sincerely,

FOI Officer

Freedom of Information Section

FOI & Records Management Branch | Data Division
Corporate and Enabling Group

Dear Department of Home Affairs,

Please provide a list of all invitations under the skillselect system for
189 190 489 and 491 points tested skilled visas between 1/1/2019 and
31/12/2019 showing:

a. ANZSCO code of occupation

b. total points at invitation

c. nominating state/territory (if applicable) d. visa subclass

Yours faithfully,

jimwong

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[4][FOI #6330 email]

Is [5][DIBP request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of Home Affairs? If so, please contact us using
this form:

[6]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...

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:

[7]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

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.

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** This is an automated response. Please do not reply to this email **

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

UPDATED: 17 March 2020

COVID-19 (Corona Virus) has been declared a pandemic by the World Health
Organisation ([1]link). As the Department focuses its efforts on managing
the impact of COVID-19 on its critical services and employees, other
non-critical services may not be delivered within expected timeframes. We
apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience during this
period.

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA 20/05/00186
File Number: OBJ2020/15766

Dear Mr Wong

Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information Access request
I refer to your correspondence received on 5 May 2020 seeking access to documents held by the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (link). As the Department focuses its efforts on managing the impact of COVID-19 on its critical services and employees, other non-critical services may not be delivered within expected timeframes. We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience during this period.

Scope of request

You have requested access to the following:
Please provide a list of all invitations under the skillselect system for 189 190 489 and 491 points tested skilled visas between 1/1/2019 and 31/12/2019 showing:
a. ANZSCO code of occupation
b. total points at invitation
c. nominating state/territory (if applicable) d. visa subclass.

Your request was received by the Department on 5 May 2020 and has been allocated FOI request number FA 20/05/00186 . Please include your FOI request number in all correspondence with the Freedom of Information Section.

Timeframe for receiving your decision
The statutory timeframe for processing a request is 30 days from the date upon which your application was received by the Department.

Your review rights in relation to your request are available on the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner here.

Exclusion of staff details
The Department’s policy is to exclude the personal details of staff not in the Senior Executive Service (SES), as well as the direct contact details of SES staff, contained in documents that fall within scope of an FOI request. If you require personal details of non-SES officers, or direct contact details of SES staff, please inform us so the decision maker may consider your request. Otherwise we will take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope of your request.

Duplicate documents
If the FOI decision-maker deems a document to be a duplicate, they will not assess those pages as part of your FOI request. This means that if a there is a decision to release the document to you, you will receive only one copy, even if multiple copies of that document exists.
Publication of document

Where documents are released to you in response to your request, the Department may be required to publish these documents on its website within 10 working days in accordance with section 11C of the FOI Act. Publication will not be required where the documents contain personal or business affairs information.
Contacting the FOI Section

Should you wish to discuss your request you may contact the FOI Section at [DIBP request email].

Yours sincerely

FOI Officer
Freedom of Information
FOI & Records Management Branch | Data Division
Corporate and Enabling Group
Department of Home Affairs | www.homeaffairs.gov.au
E: [DIBP request email]

UNCLASSIFIED

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UNCLASSIFIED

Good afternoon,

We are working on being able to provide you with some information soon.

Regards,
Freedom of Information Section
FOI and Records Management Branch
Data Division | Corporate and Enabling Group
Department of Home Affairs

E: [DIBP request email]
T: 6264 1111

UNCLASSIFIED

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OFFICIAL

01 August 2020

Dear Mr Jim Wong,

Freedom of Information (FOI) request – FA20/05/00186 - Access Decision

I refer to the following requests for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), received by the Department
of Home Affairs (the Department).

 Please provide a list of all invitations under the skillselect system for
189 190 489 and 491 points tested skilled visas between 1/1/2019 and
31/12/2019 showing:

a. ANZSCO code of occupation

b. total points at invitation

c. nominating state/territory (if applicable) d. visa subclass

The purpose of this email is to provide you with a decision on your
requests for access under the FOI Act.

Authority to make decision

I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make
decisions in respect of requests to access document or to amend or
annotate records.

Relevant material

In reaching my decision I referred to the following:

·         the terms of your request

·         the document relevant to the request

·         the FOI Act

·         Guidelines published by the Office of the Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines)

·         advice from Departmental officers with responsibility for
matters relating to the document to which you sought access

Document in scope of request

Section 4 of the FOI Act provides that a document for the purpose of the
Act does not include:

(d) material maintained for reference purposes that is otherwise publicly
available

The Department has undertaken reasonable searches in relation to the
documents you have requested access to. The information you have requested
is available publically and as such the Department and has not located a
document, for the purposes of the Act.

Decision

Section 24A of the FOI Act provides that the Department may refuse a
request for access to a document if all reasonable steps have been taken
to find the document and the Department is satisfied that the document
does not exist. As such I am refusing access to the documents requested by
you based on the application of section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act.

Reasons for Decision

Detailed reasons for my decision are set out below.

Section 4 of the FOI Act provides that a document for the purpose of the
FOI Act does not include material maintained for reference purposes that
is otherwise publically available.

As you may be aware, earlier this year the Department launched a dashboard
on its SkillSelect website to provide visa Expression of Interest (EOI)
statistics.  The Department has undertaken a review of the SkillSelect
Dashboard to ensure that there is no reasonable chance of an individual
being re-identified from the EOI statistics. 

The dashboard is now available again and can be accessed via the
Department’s SkillSelect [1]web page and comprises a comprehensive library
of historic and current statistics in relation to Expressions of Interest
(EOIs).  The dashboard is a one-stop shop for SkillSelect EOI statistics
and is freely available on demand, without any need to formally request
the statistics and wait for such a request to be processed. Bypassing the
FOI process will significantly reduce delays in obtaining the same
information as has previously been provided in response to FOI requests.

Legislation

A copy of the FOI Act is available at
[2]https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2.... If you are unable to
access the legislation through this website, please contact our office for
a copy.

Your Review Rights

Internal Review

If you disagree with this decision, you have the right to apply for an
internal review by the Department of this decision. Any request for
internal review must be provided to the Department within 30 days of you
being notified of the decision. Where possible please attach reasons why
you believe a review of the decision is necessary. The internal review
will be carried out by an officer other than the original decision maker
and the Department must make a review decision within 30 days.

Applications for review should be sent to:

By email to: [3][email address]

OR

By mail to:

Freedom of Information Section

Department of Home Affairs

PO Box 25

BELCONNEN ACT 2617

Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

You may apply directly to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) for a review of this decision. You must apply in
writing within 60 days of this notice. For further information about
review rights and how to submit a request for a review to the OAIC, please
see Fact Sheet 12 "Freedom of information – Your review rights", available
online at
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

Making a Complaint

You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action
taken by the Department in relation to your request.

Your enquiries to the Australian Information Commissioner can be directed
to:

Phone 1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Email [5][email address]

There is no particular form required to make a complaint to the Australian
Information Commissioner. The request should be in writing and should set
out the grounds on which it is considered that the action taken in
relation to the request should be investigated and identify the Department
of Home Affairs as the relevant agency.

Contacting the FOI Section

Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to
contact the FOI Section at [6][DIBP request email].

Position Number 60094112

FOI Section

Authorised Decision Maker

Department of Home Affairs

OFFICIAL

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Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
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References

Visible links
1. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/wo...
2. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2...
3. mailto:foi.reviews@
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[DIBP request email]

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

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