Precise salaries paid to DPS’ SES officers for FY14/15, FY15/16 and FY16/17
Dear Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS),
The following is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act.
I am conducting research, across a range of Government agencies, into the Government's enterprise bargaining framework for the Commonwealth Public Service. Specifically, in the interests of equity and transparency, whether the Government's policy to reduce the living standards of rank and file public servants (that is, public servants who are not considered senior executive service staff ('SES')) also extends to SES public servants.
I refer the Federal Court to my FOI request made of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner here (the 'OAIC request'): https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/p...
By this application I make the same request of the DPS albeit such that every reference to 'OAIC' in the OAIC request should be read as a reference to the 'DPS' for the purposes of this request. I rely on all my submissions contained in the OAIC request, in support of this request made of the DPS under s.15 of the FOI Act.
Thanks.
Dear Anonymous
We acknowledge receipt of your request for information as outlined below, received via email on 2 November 2017.
We note that in accordance with s69A Parliamentary Service Act 1999, the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) is not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
However, DPS recognises the importance of transparency and accountability, and supports the principle that administrative documents should be open to public scrutiny. For this reason DPS has implemented the DPS Information Requests Policy (the Policy) to allow for public access to documents held by DPS subject to certain limitations to ensure that information, including personal, classified or restricted information is properly protected.
The Policy can be found at: http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/P...
After an initial assessment, we have determined that your Request is not currently valid in accordance with paragraphs 9 and 10 of the Policy, as the scope of the material you requested is unclearly described and ambiguous. This is because it is not clear from your request whether the information you are seeking from DPS is as per your original written OAIC request (which you refer to in your email to DPS), the scope subsequently agreed to (by telephone with OAIC, which is apparent from the Right to Know website), or in accordance with the scope of the information ultimately released by OAIC.
Please confirm that the information you are requesting from DPS is as follows:
(a) The precise salary paid to employees of DPS who are currently employed as SES band employees for the financial years 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017
(b) That names, any other personal details, or details of any documents (such as group certificates) are not sought, and
(c) That the information be provided in a table in substantially the same format as that provided/ created by OAIC, i.e. that no actual ‘documents’ are sought.
If we have misunderstood your request, please outline which aspects are incorrect and specify the details of what you are seeking.
Once we have received clarification of the information you seek, and your request is considered valid in accordance with our Policy, your request will be forwarded to the decision maker in the relevant business area, to be considered in accordance with the Policy.
DPS will endeavour to process your request within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt of a valid request, unless third party consultation is required (in which case the request will be finalised within 60 calendar days).
Please don’t hesitate to contact this mailbox if you have any queries or concerns in relation to the above.
Regards
DPS Information Requests
Dear DPS Information Requests,
Thank you for your email and apologies for my oversight in thinking that the DPS was subject to the FOI Act.
Thank you also for your offer to produce a document containing the information sought notwithstanding that the DPS is not obligated by law to provide that information. I can confirm that the information I am requesting from DPS accords with the description set out in paragraphs (a) through (c) of the DPS' email to me of 7 November.
Thanks.
Dear Anonymous
We acknowledge receipt of your email dated 10 November 2017, which
clarifies the scope of your initial email dated 2 November 2017.
We consider your amended request to be a valid request in accordance with
the DPS Information Requests Policy (the Policy).
We advise that your request will now be forwarded to the decision maker in
the relevant business area, who will consider whether the information you
have requested will be released in accordance with the Policy.
DPS will endeavour to process your request within thirty (30) calendar
days of receipt of the request (in this case by 11 December 2017), unless
third party consultation is required (in which case the request will be
finalised within 60 calendar days).
Please don’t hesitate to contact this mailbox if you have any queries or
concerns in relation to the above.
Regards
DPS Information Requests
Dear Anonymous
We refer to your request for information received via email on 2 November
2017. On 7 November 2017, you were advised that that the request was not
valid, as the scope of the material you requested was unclearly described
and ambiguous. On 10 November 2017, you clarified that you are requesting
from the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS):
(a) the precise salary paid to employees of DPS who are currently
employed as SES band employees for the financial years 2014-15, 2015-16
and 2016-17
(b) that names, any other personal details, or details of any
documents (such as group certificates) are not sought, and
(c) that the information be provided in a table in substantially
the same format as that provided/created by OAIC, i.e. that no actual
‘documents’ are sought.
As previously advised, in accordance with s69A of the Parliamentary
Service Act 1999, DPS is not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). However, DPS recognises the importance of
transparency and accountability, and supports the principle that
administrative documents should be open to public scrutiny. For this
reason, DPS has implemented the [1]DPS Information Requests Policy (the
Policy) to allow for public access to documents held by DPS subject to
certain limitations to ensure that information, including personal,
classified or restricted information is properly protected.
In accordance with that Policy, DPS has decided to grant you access to the
information you requested. A table setting out the salary paid to DPS’ SES
officers permanently employed at the time of your request in 2014-15,
2015-16 and 2016-17 is attached.
There are many factors which affect the actual salary received by a
person, including the length of time they occupied a position during the
financial year and any periods of leave without pay or acting in other
positions.
We understand from your initial request that you are considering SES
salaries across a range of Government agencies. If you have not already
done so, you may want to consider the remuneration reports published
annually by the Australian Public Service Commission. The reports are
available on the APSC website:
[2]http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-....
Regards,
DPS Information Requests