Procurement document and report regarding the Gallipoli site
To: The FOI Contact Officer
Department of Veterans Affairs
Dear FOI Contact Officer,
In the Weekend Australian or May 18-19, 2013 (see http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/gal...) there's an article about a report commissioned by your department from Providence Consulting Group. What looks like a contract notiice related to the report is also on the government Tenders website showing your agency reference as CNA000625/0. I request documents (details below) in regards to the procurement of that report and the actual report.
PROVIDED THAT you can give me the documents within 30 calendar days
of receipt of this application, please treat this as a request for
access under the Administrative Access Scheme that the Australian
Information Commissioner suggests each agency should establish. If
you can not deal with this request in that way, or if in regards to
any particular document it is not possible to meet the request
within 30 days, then please treat the request, in regards to the
document that cannot be provided within 30 days, as a formal
application for the document under the Freedom of Information Act
with the date of request as the date you receive this email
Please interpret "document" to mean "documents" where necessary or
appropriate and to include electronic documents as appropriate. Please interpret "apply" "application", "request" as the same. Please interpret "consultancy" and simiilar words to include the job and work associated with the department's request for a report on the suitability of the Gallipoli site. Please interpret "contract" to include any similar arrangement.
Documents I request:
--------------------------
1. I would like a copy of the invitation document (email, request to tender, request to give a quotation) to apply for the consultancy.
2. I would like a copy of the contract document that resulted from the invitation in 1.
3. I would like a copy of the report that was delivered to your department by the contractors (consultants etc).
The document in 3 has obviously already been given to The Australian ... by someone! I assume that you can release it under administrative arrangements. Documents 1 and 2 might have to be a formal FOI
request.
Thank you.
P. Gale (Mrs)
May 19th, 2013.
Dear Ms Gale
Freedom of Information Request no. FOI 13-76
I refer to your request for access to documents relating to the
Providence Consulting Group Pty Ltd into the site capacity analysis and
risk assessment review at Gallipoli, Turkey under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982. I have taken your request to be for:
1. a copy of the invitation document (email, request to tender, request
to give a quotation) to apply for the consultancy.
2. a copy of the contract document that resulted from the invitation in
1.
3. a copy of the report that was delivered to your department by the
contractors (consultants etc).
We received your request on 19 May 2013 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 19 June 2013. The period
of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third parties, impose a
charge or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.
You will be notified of any charges in relation to your request as soon
as possible, before we process any requested documents or impose a final
charge.
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log
http://www.dva.gov.au/aboutDVA/foi/ips/P...,
subject to certain exceptions. (For example, personal information will
not be published where this would be unreasonable.)
We will contact you using the email address provided.
Yours sincerely
Information Law Section
Legal Services & Assurance Branch
Department of Veterans' Affairs | www.dva.gov.au
GPO Box 9998 Canberra ACT 2601
ph 133 254 | fax (02) 6289 6316 | e [DVA request email]
Dear Mrs Gale
Freedom of Information Request no. FOI 13-76
I refer to your request for access to documents relating to the
Providence Consulting Group Pty Ltd into the site capacity analysis and
risk assessment review at Gallipoli, Turkey under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). Your request seeks access to:
1. a copy of the invitation document (email, request to tender,
request to give a quotation) to apply for the consultancy.
2. a copy of the contract document that resulted from the
invitation in 1.
3. a copy of the report that was delivered to [the] department by
the contractors (consultants etc).
As your request covers documents which contain information concerning
the business, commercial or financial affairs of an organisation, or a
person's business or professional affairs, the Department is required to
consult with that organisation or person ('third party') under section
27 of the FOI Act before making a decision on the release of those
documents.
In the event that the third party objects to the disclosure of the
requested documents, for example, on grounds that release of the
documents would disclose trade secrets, commercially valuable
information or may adversely affect their business or financial affairs,
the Department will be required to consider such objections. However,
the final decision about whether to grant you access to the requested
documents rests with the Department.
Due to the need for the Department to consult with the third party as
noted above, the period for processing your request has been extended by
30 days (see section 15(6) of the FOI Act). The processing period for
your request will now end on 19 July 2013.
More information about exemptions under the FOI Act is available in Fact
Sheet 8 on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's
website:
http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
nformation-fact-sheets/.
Yours sincerely
Information Law
Legal Services & Assurance
Department of Veterans' Affairs | www.dva.gov.au
GPO Box 9998 Canberra ACT 2601
ph 133 254 | fax (02) 6289 6316 | e [DVA request email]
<mailto:[email address]>
Dear Mrs Gale,
Freedom of Information Request no. FOI 13-76
We refer to your request for access to documents relating to the
Providence Consulting Group Pty Ltd into the site capacity analysis and
risk assessment review at Gallipoli, Turkey under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). Your request sought access to:
1. a copy of the invitation document (email, request to tender,
request to give a quotation) to apply for the consultancy.
2. a copy of the contract document that resulted from the
invitation in 1.
3. a copy of the report that was delivered to [the] department by
the contractors (consultants etc).
Please find enclosed with this email:
1. Statement of Reasons, including your rights of review; and
<<Statement of Reasons.pdf>>
2. Documents released to you, as set out in the Statement of
Reasons.
<<1.pdf>> <<2.pdf>> <<3.pdf>> <<4.pdf>> <<5.pdf>>
Yours sincerely
Information Law
Legal Services & Assurance
Department of Veterans' Affairs | www.dva.gov.au
GPO Box 9998 Canberra ACT 2601
ph 133 254 | fax (02) 6289 6316 | e [DVA request email]
<mailto:[email address]>
To: The FOI Contact Officer
Department of Veterans Affairs
Dear FOI Contact Officer,
In regards to request no. FOI 13-76
My thanks to the FOI team and the decision maker for sending me the documents I wanted. I accept the s. 47 redactions.
Again, thank you.
P. Gale (Mrs)
July 21st, 2013.
P. Gale left an annotation ()
A good result. The decision maker has deleted some very minor parts of some of the documents. This has no effect on the details I requested. A clear statement of the decision. Good work from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
P. Gale left an annotation ()
The site http://www.tenders.gov.au has brief summaries of contracts. The AusTender reference is CN411925. It's different than the internal reference for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Questions about the report got asked in the additional budget estimates hearings of the Senate Standing Commiitteee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade on February 13th, 2013. The answer to Question 56 says: Providence Consulting Group was engaged on July 15, 2011 and delivered its report to DVA on October 24, 2011. The answer to the question also states that the Minster for Veterans Affars was briefed by the department on December 7th, 2011.