Minutes and agendas of all meetings of the Uranium Council
Dan Monceaux made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Department of Industry, Innovation and Science FoI Officer,
I am writing to request access to minutes and agendas of all meetings of the Uranium Council, from its establishment in 2009 to the present.
This request is being made under the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours faithfully,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux,
We refer to your FOI request (attached) received by the Department of
Industry, Innovation and Science (the department) on Tuesday 30 August
2016 for access to “…minutes and agendas of all meetings of the Uranium
Council, from its establishment in 2009 to the present”.
After considering your FOI request, we note that the Uranium Industry
Framework (UIF) was initiated in August 2005. In 2009, the UIF undertook a
review of its structure and objectives and became the Uranium Council
(UC). During the transition, UIF outcomes from its final meeting were
included in the first UC meeting. As such, could you please confirm that
you only seek access to UC minutes and agenda.
A response at your earliest convenience but no later than Friday 2
September 2016 would be much appreciated.
Kind regards
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[1][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [2]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
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2. http://www.industry.gov.au/
Dear Rebecca,
Thanks for the additional information you have supplied. After its consideration, I wish to amend my request to include "all minutes and agendas of meetings of the Uranium Industry Framework (2005-2009) and its successor, the Uranium Council (2009-present)."
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux,
Thank you for your email below in response to our correspondence of 1 September 2016.
The scope of your request has changed from the original request dated 30 August 2016. In light of this, the department will treat your request below as a fresh request.
The department will process your request in accordance with the FOI Act. You will be notified of any charges as soon as practicable.
For documents that fall within the scope of the request, it is the department’s policy to withhold:
• the names, signatures and contact details of departmental staff who are not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
• the mobile phone numbers of SES officers; and
• the names, signatures and contact details of ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff.
The names and other details of SES officers will be released unless the information is exempt from disclosure.
If you require the names or contact details listed above, please let us know by return email at [email address], otherwise we will consider that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope of your request.
Should you have any queries in relation to this email, please contact the FOI team.
Kind regards,
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
Dear Mr Monceaux,
Please find the attached correspondence in response to your FOI request of 1 September 2016.
Kind regards,
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
Dear Freedom of Information Officer,
After consideration of your recent email, I would like to rescope my FoI request to include the following: "Minutes of all meetings of the Uranium Council from its establishment in 2009 until present."
My previous request had also included agendas and minutes of meetings of the UIF which dated back to 2005. These are no longer sought.
I trust that this amended request will reduce the administrative burden that my former request may have placed on the department and its limited resources.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux,
Thank you for your prompt reply below in response to the department's correspondence dated 15 September 2016.
Your revised request has been forwarded to the relevant line area for consideration.
We will be in contact once the line area has advised if the revised request has been sufficiently refined.
Kind regards
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
Dear Mr Monceaux,
We refer to your revised request below of 15 September 2016.
After careful consideration of your revised request, our relevant line area has advised that your revised request remains too broad to be processed. In light of this, we invite you to consider further revising the scope of your request. Although it is your responsibility to suggest ways that your request may be revised and narrowed, you may wish to consider limiting the request to a specific topic discussed by the Uranium Council that is of interest to you, or reducing the timeframe which applies to the request.
The current 14 day consultation period expires on 29 September 2016. In accordance with s24AB of the FOI Act, we ask that you agree to extend the consultation period by a further 7 days to allow time to consider further refining the scope of your request.
Please provide a response at your earliest convenience but no later than Wednesday 28 September 2016 if you agree to extend the consultation period.
Kind regards,
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
Dear Ms Mallett,
After consideration of your recent email, I would like to rescope my FoI request again. I now wish it to include the following: "Minutes of all meetings of the Uranium Council from 2011 until present (inclusive)."
This amended request reduces the timeframe of minutes requested by a further two years, or 25% of the previous total timeframe requested.
I trust that this will reduce the administrative burden sufficiently so that I may receive a quote for the fulfillment of my request.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux,
Thank you for your email below to further revise the scope of your request.
We will forward your revised request to the relevant line area for consideration.
Nothing that the 14 days consultation period expired on 29 September 2016, we seek your agreement to extend the consultation period by a further 7 days to allow time for the department to consider your revised request.
Please advise if you agree to the extension at your earliest convenience but no later than COB today.
Kind regards,
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
Dear Mr Monceaux
We refer to your FOI request received on 1 September 2016.
Please find the attached correspondence in response to it.
Kind regards,
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[1][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [2]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.industry.gov.au/
Dear Freedom of Information Officers,
I thank you for providing me with a Notice of Charge dated 5 October 2016.
In response I would like to request that the costs be reconsidered.
In the supplied Notice of Charge I see a line item for $16.40 for "photocopying and postage". I wish to receive any released documents as scans delivered electronically, so this cost may not be applicable. If it is applicable, I would appreciate an explanation of why these works are necessary.
Furthermore, I wish to request an overall fee reduction owing to my limited financial means as a self-funded researcher and the public interest nature of this request.
I have reason to believe that the work of the Uranium Council has immediate relevance to decision-making processes which are underway in South Australia and federally, in the wake of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission (2015-2016). The Commission concluded in May 2016, and since that time the South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet has been considering advancing the recommendations made by the Commission, many of which are likely to benefit the uranium mining sector.
During the Royal Commission, I was a member of the press gang attending to it, representing myself as a freelance documentary filmmaker and public interest researcher. My work following this topic has been unwaged, and I have undertaken voluminous research on this topic the costs of which I have borne personally.
Any consideration of an overall fee reduction would greatly assist me in continuing my work in public interest research at this early stage of my career and would also benefit the public of South Australia and surrounding public discourse.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux
We acknowledge receipt of your email dated 7 October 2016, in which you
request reduction of the processing charges for your freedom of
information request.
In accordance with section 29(6) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982,
the department will notify you of its decision in regard to your request
for a reduction of the processing charges within 30 days.
Please contact [1][email address] if you have any questions.
Regards
FOI Team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch | Corporate Division
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
GPO Box 9839, Canberra ACT 2601
Legal in Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
A decision regarding my request for a reconsideration of costs is expected no later than 11 November 2016.
Dear Mr Monceaux
We refer to your email dated 7 October 2016, requesting a reduction of the
charges notified to you by letter dated 5 October 2016. Please find
attached a decision in respect of your request.
Your FOI request currently covers approximately 64 folios concerning a
range of different issues considered by the Uranium Council from 2011
until the date of your request. Given the range of matters covered by the
documents, extensive third party consultation will be required to process
your request. In order to reduce the FOI processing charges, you may wish
to consider further revising the scope of your request to cover only the
issues in which you are particularly interested. The department would be
amenable to issuing a revised charges notice if the scope of your request
was further narrowed.
If you have any questions in regard to this matter, please contact the FOI
team at [1][email address].
Regards
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[2][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [3]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
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2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.industry.gov.au/
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
I have written accepting the charges associated and have requested that an invoice be sent to my personal email address.
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
Now that the costs and scope of this request have been locked in, I've launched a crowd-funding campaign to pay the administration costs. Donations of any size are welcome.
https://www.gofundme.com/UraniumCouncilFoI
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
I just revisited the notice of charges receive earlier this month and discovered that the Department does not invoice for deposits/fees as such, but rather requests credit card details to be provided via email.
After visiting the Department's website, I found a contact number listed on the "FoI Disclosure Log" page. I then made a call and provided payment details over the phone.
During the phonecall I also recommended that the Department include this phone number with future statements of charges, as many people are likely to be reluctant to send banking details via email.
The department representative I spoke with said that the idea would be taken on board.
Dear Mr Monceaux,
We refer to your phone call on 24 November 2016, in which you have
provided your credit card details for a payment of deposit, $98.10 to
process your FOI request.
Please find attached a copy of the receipt for your records.
As your request covers documents that contain business affairs of certain
organisations, the department must give the organisations a reasonable
opportunity to make a submission in support of the contention. As such,
the standard statutory 30 day time limit for processing requests has been
extended by another 30 days.
Should you have any queries in relation to this matter please do not
hesitate to contact the FOI team.
Kind regards
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[1][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [2]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.industry.gov.au/
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
The requested documents are now expected to be released no later that 24 December 2016.
Dear Mr Monceaux,
We refer to your FOI request of 29 September and subsequent email of 7
October 2016. Copies of this correspondence are attached for ease of
reference.
Your email dated 7 October 2016 suggests that you are primarily interested
in issues relating to the South Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal
Commission. To avoid unnecessary charges for material you may not be
interested in, we seek your consent to refine the scope of your request to
the following:
“Minutes of meetings of the Uranium Council relate to the South Australian
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission ”.
If you agree to refine the scope of your request as outlined above, the
department is happy to accept the deposit of $98.10 which you have paid on
28 November 2016 as the final payment of the charge.
Please advise if you agree to refine the scope of your request at your
earliest convenience but no later than Tuesday 13 December 2016.
Should you have any queries or would like to further discuss this matter
please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team.
Kind regards
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[1][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [2]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.industry.gov.au/
Dear Freedom of Information Officers,
Thank you for your email today. I have no desire to rescope my request any further.
While you are correct in asserting that my primary interest is in considering matters "relating to the South Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission" I am interested in all aspects of the sector and its relationship with Government. Therefore the minutes of these meetings are sought in their entirity (so far is possible given limiting factors such as commercial confidentiality etc.)
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux,
Thank you for your prompt response below.
Kind regards,
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
Dear Mr Monceaux
Please find the attached correspondence in response to your FOI request of
29 September 2016.
Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the FOI
team.
The documents will be provided to you when the third party review rights
have expired and the remaining balance of charge is received.
Kind regards
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[1][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [2]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.industry.gov.au/
Dear Mr Monceaux,
I refer to your voice message this afternoon in relation to making a final
payment of charge with your credit card.
Please find the attached credit card payment request form for your
attention.
Please complete the form and return it to [1][email address] and
copied [2][Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources request email] in your correspondence.
Should you have any queries in relation to this matter please contact the
FOI team.
Many thanks
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[3][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [4]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources request email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.industry.gov.au/
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
I've spoken to the Department and have made alternative arrangements to process the remaining fees. I was advised that accepting payments over the phone is no longer possible, despite my using that method to pay the deposit on this request.
Dear Mr Monceaux,
Further to the department’s email below of 17 January 2017, we have
received your authorisation for final payment of the charge by post, being
$290.20. Please find attached a copy of the receipt for your records.
The third party review rights expired on 15 February 2017. To date, the
department has not received any review request from a third party. In
light of this, please find the attached documents released in response to
your FOI request. For ease of reference, we have also included a copy of
the decision which was provided to you on 13 January 2017.
Should you have any queries in relation to this matter please do not
hesitate to contact the FOI team.
Kind regards,
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[1][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [2]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
From: Freedom of Information
Sent: Tuesday, 17 January 2017 1:41 PM
To: 'Dan Monceaux' <[FOI #2185 email]>
Cc: Freedom of Information <[Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources request email]>
Subject: TRIM: Credit card payment request form. [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Mr Monceaux,
I refer to your voice message this afternoon in relation to making a final
payment of charge with your credit card.
Please find the attached credit card payment request form for your
attention.
Please complete the form and return it to [3][email address] and
copied [4][Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources request email] in your correspondence.
Should you have any queries in relation to this matter please contact the
FOI team.
Many thanks
FOI team
Legal, Audit and Assurance Branch| Corporate Network
[5][email address]
———————————————————————
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science | [6]www.industry.gov.au
Legal In Confidence - This transmission is intended only for the use of
the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged
information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that
any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately
by telephone and delete copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.industry.gov.au/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources request email]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.industry.gov.au/
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
I re-scoped my request after receiving a notice today stating that if I were to proceed with the request it would be refused, on the basis that over 95 hours of labour would be required to fulfill the request, including consultation with 30 stakeholders.
This was considered to be an unreasonable diversion of resources for the department.
As such, I have rescoped my request, back to minutes only (not agendas) and limited to the years 2009-present.