Dear Daniel
 
Thank you for your FOI application to nbn.
 
You have requested the distance between the specified premises and the
nbn™ network node/FTTN cabinet.  I will come back to you separately
regarding your request.  The statutory period for processing your
application commences today, and I will issue an access decision within 30
days, that is, by 1 February 2023. 
 
nbn’s Commercial Activities Carve-out
I refer you to nbn’s commercial activities carve-out (CAC) or carve-out
from the application of the FOI Act and refer you to [1]section 7(3A) and
[2]Part II of Schedule 2 of the FOI Act. Please be aware that documents
that are in relation to nbn’s “commercial activities” are not subject to
the operation of the FOI Act and would be exempt from release. The
following link summarises and provides [3]general background information
concerning nbn’s commercial activities carve-out. That background document
references two reviews by the Australian Information Commissioner that
considered nbn’s CAC: the [4]Internode Decision (in January 2012) and the
[5]Battersby Decision (in July 2013).
 
For your reference, nbn has refused access to premises - node distance
information in the past on the basis of the CAC.
 
I will issue my access decision by 1 February 2023.
 
In the meantime, if you are having trouble with your nbn™ network service,
please let me know and I can escalate your query to my complaints team
colleagues.  In the interests of protecting your privacy, I suggest that
we correspond directly on that issue so that further personal information
relating to you is not published online.  Accordingly, if you wish nbn
complaints team staff to contact you about your nbn™ network service, I
suggest that you contact me about that issue other than through the Right
To Know website.  You can email me at [email address] or please
feel free to call me on 02 9031 3022.
 
Regards
 
Rohan Singh
Freedom Of Information Officer
T 02 9031 3022 | E [6][email address]
Level 13/100 Mount Street, North Sydney NSW 2060
nbn acknowledges and pays respects to the traditional custodians of all
the lands upon which we work.
Notice to recipient: This e-mail is intended only to be read or used by
the addressee. It is confidential and may contain information that is
subject to legal professional privilege or protected by copyright. If you
are not the addressee indicated in this message (or responsible for
delivery of the message to that person), you may not copy or deliver this
message to anyone, and you should destroy this message and kindly notify
the sender by reply e-mail. Copyright, confidentiality and legal
professional privilege are not waived or lost by reason of mistaken
delivery to you. Emails to/from nbn co limited ABN 86 136 533 741 may
undergo email filtering and virus scanning, including by third party
contractors, however, nbn co limited does not guarantee that any email or
any attachment is secure, error-free or free of viruses or other unwanted
or unexpected inclusions. Any views expressed in this message are those of
the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to
be the views of nbn co limited.
PLEASE CONSIDER OUR ENVIRONMENT BEFORE PRINTING
FOI2223028
 
 

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Dear Daniel
 
I am writing in relation to your application made under the Freedom of
Information Act, 1982 (the FOI Act). 
 
Application

 1. Your application seeks “the distance between the NBN node or FTTN
cabinet to my address” as specified in your application. 

 2. Under section 3(1)(b) of the FOI Act, the public has a right to seek
access to “documents” rather than to discrete bits of information.
However, section 17 of the FOI Act enables nbn to provide applicants
with information where such information is not available in a discrete
written form but it is “ordinarily available to the agency for
retrieving or collating stored information”.  In that regard, it would
be possible to create a document containing the information within the
scope of the current request (“Relevant Information”).

 
Access Decision

 3. In making this decision, nbn took into account relevant parts of the
FOI Act and related legislation, the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (OAIC) [1]FOI Guidelines, relevant case law
and other sources. 

 4. It is my view, having regard to the nature and subject matter of the
request and the relevant provisions of the FOI Act, that one or more
exemptions to release are applicable, as outlined below.

 nbn’s Commercial Activities Exemption

 5. I refer you to nbn’s commercial activities carve-out (CAC) or
carve-out from the application of the FOI Act and refer you
to [2]section 7(3A) and [3]Part II of Schedule 2 of the FOI Act.
Documents that are in relation to nbn’s “commercial activities” are
not subject to the operation of the FOI Act and would be exempt from
release. The following link summarises and provides [4]general
background information concerning nbn’s commercial activities
carve-out. That background document references two reviews by the
Australian Information Commissioner that considered nbn’s CAC:
the [5]Internode Decision (in January 2012) and the [6]Battersby
Decision (in July 2013).

 6. nbn has previously made FOI decisions refusing access to requests for
documents and information that relate to its network infrastructure,
such as the locations, distances and routes between nodes and
residences. These decisions were made based on nbn’s CAC, and for
security reasons, among other grounds.

 7. Accordingly, I find that nbn’s Commercial Activities Carve-out (CAC),
under section 7(3A) of the FOI Act, is applicable in respect of this
application.  The Relevant Information relates to nbn’s commercial
activities and is not subject to application of the FOI Act.

 
Decision-making Time and Fees

 8. The time for consideration and decision-making involved in this
application has been less than five hours.  No fees are levied for the
first five hours of FOI decision-making time and accordingly no fees
are payable in respect of the decision-making time in this instance.

 9. An FOI decision may be reviewed, subject to sections 53A and 54 of the
FOI Act. Please refer to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner’s website at the following [7]link, which provides
details about your rights of review and other avenues of redress under
the FOI Act.

 
***
I suggest that you discuss any network issues with my complaints team
colleagues.  Please call me on 02 9031 3022 to arrange this.
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Regards
 
Rohan Singh
Freedom Of Information Officer
T 02 9031 3022 | E [8][email address]
Level 13/100 Mount Street, North Sydney NSW 2060
nbn acknowledges and pays respects to the traditional custodians of all
the lands upon which we work.
Notice to recipient: This e-mail is intended only to be read or used by
the addressee. It is confidential and may contain information that is
subject to legal professional privilege or protected by copyright. If you
are not the addressee indicated in this message (or responsible for
delivery of the message to that person), you may not copy or deliver this
message to anyone, and you should destroy this message and kindly notify
the sender by reply e-mail. Copyright, confidentiality and legal
professional privilege are not waived or lost by reason of mistaken
delivery to you. Emails to/from nbn co limited ABN 86 136 533 741 may
undergo email filtering and virus scanning, including by third party
contractors, however, nbn co limited does not guarantee that any email or
any attachment is secure, error-free or free of viruses or other unwanted
or unexpected inclusions. Any views expressed in this message are those of
the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to
be the views of nbn co limited.
PLEASE CONSIDER OUR ENVIRONMENT BEFORE PRINTING
FOI2223028
 
 

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