Precise salaries paid to the BOM’s SES officers for FY14/15, FY15/16 and FY16/17
Dear Bureau of Meteorology (BOM),
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 BOM 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 BOM albeit such that every reference to 'OAIC' in the OAIC request should be read as a reference to 'BOM' 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 BOM under s.15 of the FOI Act.
Thanks.
Please find attached acknowledgement of your request. The Bureau seeks your agreement to an extension of time - please refer attached for details.
Kind regards,
FOI Officer
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428
Dear Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)
Thank you for your email.
I'm of the view that if properly dealt with, my request would only take a couple of hours to process. However, if the BOM has hundreds of outstanding FOI Act applications to process, I appreciate my application will have to fall into the queue.
On that basis, I agree to your request for a 30 day extension, but only on the BOM’s written acceptance of the following terms:
- BOM staff responsible for processing my request undertake to adhere to the APS Code of Conduct and APS Values (in particular, the obligations to behave honestly, with integrity and to comply with the law) in respect of their processing of my request;
- the BOM will not seek any further extension of time in relation to the processing of my request (for any purpose, including for the purpose of conducting third party consultation);
- that the BOM promises to process my request with a view to furthering the objects of the FOI Act, in particular, the object of increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government’s activities; and
- that the BOM won't seek to prevent release of the documents the subject of my request because they may be awkward or embarrassing for the BOM or the Government.
If you wish to accept my offer of a 30 day extension, please respond to this email indicating as such and indicating the BOM's acceptance of the above terms. A failure on the part of the BOM to do so will mean that I do not consent to the extension requested.
Regards
Dear Information Commissioner
I am writing to request a s 15AB extension for an FOI request made by the
unnamed applicant contactable at the above email address.
Details of the access request
The applicant lodged their FOI access request (complying with s 15) with
the Bureau on 13 October 2017. The Bureau is due to make a decision on the
applicant's request by 13 November 2017.
Period of s 15AB extension sought
The Bureau sought the applicant's agreement to an extension of time
pursuant to s15AA. The applicant agreed based on several conditions –
please see the attached correspondence. While the Bureau employees are
bound to comply with the APS Values and Code of Conduct and must deal with
the FOI request in accordance with the provisions of the FOI Act, it is
not clear to the Bureau whether it has met all of the applicant's
conditions.
The Bureau requests a 30 day extension under s 15AB. This would make the
new due date for a decision 12 Dec 2017.
Reasons
· The Bureau is unclear whether the applicant has agreed to an
extension. In particular we note that while the Bureau is dealing with a
high-volume of FOI work, we are not managing 'hundreds' of requests.
· The Bureau is experiencing a higher than usual volume of FOI
work.
· The Bureau is in the process of recruiting a further resource to
deal with FOI matters; this process is underway but not yet complete.
· The Bureau has undertaken initial work to identify material in
scope of this request but requires further time to complete the search
process. It seems unlikely that the Bureau would undertake third party
consultation that would extend the processing time.
· If an additional 30 days is approved, the Bureau would expect to
update the applicant by 23 November 2017 on the progress of the decision;
we expect that by this time the document searching would be complete. If
charges are to be applied, they would be notified at this stage.
Yours sincerely
Erin MacLatchy | FOI & Privacy Officer
Please note: I work part time and am in the office between
Monday-Thursday
[1]Description: Description: Description: BoM
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289 Melbourne VIC 3001
Level 7 (North West), 700 Collins Street, Docklands VIC 3008
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428 | [2][email address]
[3]www.bom.gov.au
CMR Video address: [4][email address]
Guest PIN: 2008
Disclaimer
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information in this email message may contain confidential or legally
privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient and have
received this email message in error, please delete all copies and
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References
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2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.bom.gov.au/
4. mailto:[email address]
Our reference: RQ17/02097
Agency reference: FOI30/6021
FOI applicant
By email: [FOI #4141 email]
Dear Sir/Madam
Extension of time under s 15AB
On 3 November 2017, the Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau) applied for
further time to make a decision on your FOI request of 13 October 2017.
This application was on the basis that the processing period is
insufficient to deal adequately with your request, because it is complex.
Decision
I have decided to grant the Bureau an extension of time to process your
request to 12 December 2017. This decision has been made under s 15AB(2)
of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
By granting further time it is anticipated that the Bureau will provide
a well-reasoned and better managed decision.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this email please contact me on 02
9284 9745 or via email [email address]. Please quote OAIC
reference number RQ17/02097 in all correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Carl English | Assistant Review and Investigation Officer | Freedom of
Information Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY NSW 2001| [1]www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: +61 2 9284 9745 | E-mail: [email address]
[2]Email Sig ICON (003)
References
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1. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
Dear Anonymous
I am writing in regard to the above Freedom of Information (FOI) matter. A
decision in this matter is currently due on 12 December 2017.
The Bureau's FOI decision-maker is in the process of considering material
in scope of your request. As an alternative to the formal FOI
decision-making process, the Bureau is offering to provide you with a
table that sets out the salaries paid to each SES officer over the past
three financial years, with the names of officers de-identified. We
propose a similar format to the information provided to you by the
Information Commissioner in their response to your request (published at
[1]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/3...).
Providing you with this information in this format would enable us to
resolve your query faster. If you agree to receiving this information in
the format described, in exchange for withdrawing your formal FOI request,
please let us know in writing. Please keep in mind that withdrawing your
formal request at this stage, does not preclude you from making further
applications in future.
Alternatively, if you do not agree to withdraw your request, please advise
our office whether you agree to the removal of names of individual SES
officers from any material that is within scope of your request. This
would also enable us to the reduce the time involved in processing your
request.
If you could respond to this email within 7 days it would much
appreciated.
If you have any questions about this matter, please contact our office on
the details provided.
Kind regards,
FOI Officer
[2]Description: Description: Description: BoM
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289 Melbourne VIC 3001
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428 | [3][email address]
[4]www.bom.gov.au
Disclaimer
This email is sent by the Bureau of Meteorology (ABN 92 637 533 532). The
information in this email message may contain confidential or legally
privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient and have
received this email message in error, please delete all copies and
attachments and notify the Bureau immediately.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/3...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.bom.gov.au/
Dear FOI,
In response to your request, I am amenable to the BOM redacting the names of the SES officers concerned but only on the condition that each relevant officer's name be replaced by a single unique identifier such that each relevant SES officer's precise salary can be tracked over the three relevant financial years (eg. SES officer #1, SES officer #2, SES officer #3 etc). If the BOM is not willing to replace the SES officers' names with a single unique identifier for each relevant SES officer, then I revert to the terms of my original request.
Further, I would like my application to be dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the FOI Act, rather than administratively.
Thanks.
Dear Anonymous
Please find attached a decision in regard to your request for access to
documents. The attached file also includes a schedule of documents and a
copy of the material to be released to you.
Kind regards,
FOI Officer
[1]Description: Description: Description: BoM
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 1289 Melbourne VIC 3001
Tel: +61 3 9616 8428 | [2][email address]
[3]www.bom.gov.au
Disclaimer
This email is sent by the Bureau of Meteorology (ABN 92 637 533 532). The
information in this email message may contain confidential or legally
privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient and have
received this email message in error, please delete all copies and
attachments and notify the Bureau immediately.
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.bom.gov.au/