Dear Mr Weaver

I refer to your FOI request to the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet (PM&C) for ‘the number of requests for information received by all
authorities of Australia in 2012’.

Clarification of your request

PM&C seeks clarification of the terms of your request.  Firstly, would we
be correct in understanding your request is for the ‘number of requests
for information made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)’
rather than general enquiries for information?  Secondly, in relation to
the phrase ‘all authorities of Australia’, are you seeking information in
relation to the number of FOI requests made to ‘agencies subject to the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)’ during 2012?  Please confirm the
scope of your request at your earliest convenience, in relation to these
two issues. 

Publicly available information

Commonwealth agencies subject to the FOI Act are required to submit
statistics to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
each quarter, including the number of FOI requests received during the
period.  The most recent set of statistics, for financial year 2011-12,
are published on the OAIC’s website.  Please see the following link to the
OAIC FOI Agency Statistics page for this information: 
[1]http://www.oaic.gov.au/publications/repo...

PM&C would expect to hold information on the number of FOI requests
received by the following agencies during the 2012 calendar year:

·         Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

·         Prime Minister

·         Cabinet Secretary

·         Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

·         Minister for Social Inclusion

·         Minister for the Public Service and Integrity

·         Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Centenary of ANZAC

·         Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Mental Health Reform

·         Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Asian Century Policy

·         Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Digital Productivity

However, PM&C would not expect to hold statistical information on the
number of requests received by any other Commonwealth agencies subject to
the FOI Act (other than information publicly available as noted above). 
You may wish to consider contacting each Commonwealth agency for their
statistical information, or alternatively, contacting the Office of the
Australian information Commissioner for agency statistical information for
the 2012 calendar year.     

Having regard to the publicly available statistical information for the
2011-2012 financial year and the limited statistical information likely to
be held by PM&C, could you please confirm whether you would like to
withdraw or clarify the terms of your FOI request.

Please note that until a request is sufficiently clear to enable all
relevant documents to be identified, it isn’t a valid request for FOI Act
purposes. 

We look forward to your response.   

Regards

FOI Adviser

Legal Policy Branch

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Phone: 02 6271 5849

Email: [2][DPMC request email]

[3]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

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References

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1. http://www.oaic.gov.au/publications/repo...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]

Dear Mr Weaver

Thank you for your email received by the Department of the Prime Minister
and Cabinet (PM&C) on 7 March 2013, in which you revised the scope of your
request in the following terms:

Information about number of FOI requests processed in 2012 calendar year
by the following authorities: Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet, Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary and Parliamentary Secretary to
the Prime Minister.

Further clarification of the terms of your request

PM&C requires further clarification of your request because we consider
the word ‘processed’ is unclear.  Would we be correct in understanding
that your request is for ‘information about the number of FOI requests
received and the number of FOI requests finalised in the 2012 calendar
year by the following authorities: Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet, Prime Minister; Cabinet Secretary and Parliamentary Secretary to
the Prime Minister’?  PM&C would likely consider the scope of your request
is sufficiently clear in those terms as to constitute a valid request for
the purpose of the FOI Act. 

We would be grateful for clarification of your FOI request at your
earliest convenience.

Regards

FOI Adviser

Legal Policy Branch

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Phone: 02 6271 5849

Email: [1][DPMC request email]

[2]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

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1. mailto:[DPMC request email]

FOI/2013/029

Dear Mr Weaver,

Thank you for your email dated 22 March 2013, received by the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department).  I confirm your
request is now a valid request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982,
expressed in the following terms:

The number of FOI requests received in the 2012 calendar year by the
following authorities: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Prime
Minister, Cabinet Secretary and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime
Minister.

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 except in
certain circumstances in which case we will notify you of the time
extension.

Removal of officer’s details

It is the Department’s policy to withhold the names and contact details of
junior officers within the Department and other agencies contained within
documents that fall within scope of the request.  The names and details of
senior departmental staff would not be withheld unless there were some
reason for that information to be exempt from release.  If you require the
names and contact details of junior officers please let us know at
[1][DPMC request email] for the decision-maker to consider; otherwise we will
take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope
of your request.

Publication of documents

In accordance with the Government’s pro-disclosure policy agencies are
required to publish information which has been released under FOI on the
agencies’ disclosure logs.  If you wish to raise any objections to the
publication of any of the documents which may be released to you please
contact the Department by email at [2][DPMC request email].  Supporting reasons
for any objection would be appreciated.

Charges

Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you
are liable to pay charges, we will forward a preliminary assessment of
charges to you as soon as possible.

The Department will write again when we have further information. 
Otherwise, further information on FOI processing can be found at the
website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at
[3]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....

Regards

FOI Adviser

Legal Policy Branch

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Phone: 02 6271 5849

Email: [4][DPMC request email]

[5]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

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1. mailto:[DPMC request email]
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
4. mailto:[DPMC request email]

Dear Mr Weaver,

The decision maker is currently considering the volume of documents that are likely to fall within the terms of your request, expressed in the following terms:

The number of FOI requests received in the 2012 calendar year by the following authorities: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Preliminary searches indicate that there is potentially a large volume of documents that may fall within the scope of your request. Before progressing the FOI request any further, the decision maker is seeking your views on whether you would be agreeable to receiving the information sought in a summary form outside of the FOI Act and accordingly, withdrawing this request. If you are agreeable to this approach please confirm by way of return email.

Regards

FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [DPMC request email]

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Dear Mr Weaver,

Thank you for your email.

I can confirm that the Department is able to provide you with the
requested information in a simple form outside of the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). For example, we could provide you with
the information in the following summary table:

Authority Number of FOI requests received in
2012 calendar year
Department of the Prime Minister and X
Cabinet
Prime Minister’s Office X
Cabinet Secretary X
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime X
Minister

As long as your request is a current FOI request, it must be processed by
the Department in accordance with the FOI Act which means that the
Department is required to assess the relevant documents that fall within
the scope of your request.  As advised by email on 5 April 2013, the
Department’s preliminary searches have indicated that there is potentially
a very large volume of documents that may fall within the scope of your
request. These documents would not provide the information that you seek
in a simple number form and would take time for the Department to assess.
 It is also possible that processing the request in accordance with the
FOI Act will attract processing charges.

If you are happy for the Department to provide you with  information in a
simple form, such as the table above, outside of the FOI Act, please
confirm that you wish to withdraw your current FOI request.  Please be
assured all the Department is seeking to achieve is to give you the
information you seek in as administratively efficient and cost effective a
manner as possible.

Regards

FOI Adviser

Legal Policy Branch

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Phone: 02 6271 5849

Email: [1][DPMC request email]

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1. mailto:[DPMC request email]

Dear Mr Weaver

Please see attached correspondence from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Regards

FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [DPMC request email]

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