Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox of the
Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS). Your email, should it be
a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act
1982, will be actioned by the appropriate team member. 　

If your email is for any other enquiry you should direct it to
[1][email address]. It will not be actioned from this inbox.

GENERAL INFORMATION

If you are seeking general information about FOI, you may find the
following websites useful:

[2]http://www.dss.gov.au/contact/freedom-of...

[3]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...

PROCESS

An FOI officer has received your email and it will be actioned
accordingly. In the case of a valid FOI request, you can expect us to
provide an acknowledgment that the request has been received as soon as
practicable, but in any case no later than 14 days after today.

REQUESTS OUTSIDE OFFICE HOURS

Please note that if this message has been received outside our business
hours of 9am to 5pm (Eastern Standard Time), Monday to Friday or on
a public holiday, your request will be actioned on the next business day.

Kind regards,

DSS FOI Team
Email: [4][ABA Advisory Committee request email]　

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.dss.gov.au/contact/freedom-of...
3. http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
4. mailto:[ABA Advisory Committee request email]

Dear Mr Smith

 

I refer to your correspondence below received by the Department of Social
Services (the Department) on 9 August 2017, in which you requested access
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to:

 

“… documents related to the ten most recent instances where an employee
has sought information, advice, guidance, or opinion on their social media
use in a private capacity.

 

I limit the scope of documents to:

- the original request from the employee

- the agency/department's response

- any follow-up questions and response

- only those sent to a relevant HR / conduct / social media (or similar)
team (rather than managers across all areas of the organisation)

- where the original request was created in the last 2 years”

 

I note your request is addressed to the Aboriginals Benefit Account
Advisory Committee and responsibility for this function lies with the
Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet (PM&C) I am writing to inform
you that your request has been transferred to PM&C under the provisions of
section 16 of the FOI Act.

 

PM&C has agreed to accept the transfer and will contact you shortly in
relation to this matter.

 

Should you have any queries about this transfer, please do not hesitate to
contact the DSS FOI Team via the email  below.

 

Kind regards

 

FOI Team

Government and Executive Services Branch

Department of Social Services

E: [1][ABA Advisory Committee request email]

 

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UNCLASSIFIED

FOI/2017/140

 

Dear Mr Smith

 

We refer to your email dated 8 August 2017, addressed to the Aboriginals
Benefit Account Advisory Committee, but sent to the Department of Social
Services, and subsequently transferred to the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which you made a request under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) in the following terms:

 

I request documents related to the ten most recent instances where an
employee has sought information, advice, guidance, or opinion on their
social media use in a private capacity.

 

I limit the scope of documents to:

- the original request from the employee

- the agency/department's response

- any follow-up questions and response

- only those sent to a relevant HR / conduct / social media (or similar)
team (rather than managers across all areas of the organisation)

- where the original request was created in the last 2 years

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

The Department of Social Services received your request on 8 August 2017
and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from
the day after that date. You should therefore expect a decision from us by
7 September 2017. The period of 30 days may be extended in certain
circumstances. We will advise you if there is any extension of time.

 

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 a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of
the charge as soon as possible.

 

Publication of documents

 

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[1]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...,
subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any
objections to the publication of any of the information which may be
released to you please contact us by email at [2][email address].  If you
do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to
provide supporting reasons.

 

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

 

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:

·        any person’s signature;

·        the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);

·        the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;

·        the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.

 

The names and other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless
there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release. If
you require signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers
or Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or
direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at [3][email address] so
the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will take it that you agree
to that information being excluded from the scope of your request (that
is, the information will be treated as irrelevant and redacted from any
documents for release).

 

We will write again when the Department has more information.  Further
information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner at
[4]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....

 

Yours sincerely

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours and Legal Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. 02 6271 5849

e. [5][email address]

[6]www.pmc.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

[7]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

 

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.pmc.gov.au/

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Smith

 

Please find attached the access decision in relation to your FOI request
with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet – ref: FOI/2017/140.

 

Kind regards

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review | Honours, Symbols and Legal Policy
Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. +61 2 6271 5849

e. | [1][email address] | [2]www.dpmc.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

 

[3]cid:image005.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/