Quantitative study on Government childcare package
Dear Department of Social Services,
I would like to request the full report of the quantitative study conducted by ORIMA Research regarding the government childcare package. The study is referenced in this article:
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-new...
Yours faithfully,
Sara Rahman
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.
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Kind regards,
DSS FOI Team
Email: [4][Department of Social Services request email]
Telephone: (02) 6146 3181
Fax: (02) 6204 4857
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.dss.gov.au/contact/freedom-of...
3. http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
4. mailto:[Department of Social Services request email]
Dear Ms Rahman
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your request under the
Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Kind regards
Alexandra Brown
Senior Legal Officer
Information Team
Commercial, Child Care, Disability and Information Law Branch
Legal Services Group
Department of Social Services
P: (02) 6146 2607 | E: [1][email address]
DSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our
respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
Dear FOI,
I'm still interested in the full report, but in the interim the information on methodology, especially on sampling and the quantitative results will do.
Yours sincerely,
Sara Rahman
Dear Ms Rahman
Thank you for your email below.
I note that there is no mechanism under the FOI Act which allows for documents to be provided in the 'interim', before a primary decision on access is made under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Accordingly, I would appreciate it if you could please clarify whether you wish to:
(a) proceed with your request as currently framed (seeking access to the full report); or
(b) reduce the scope of the request to only seek material relating to the methodology contained in the report, including sampling and quantitative results.
If you would like to discuss this matter further, please call me on (02) 6146 2607.
Kind regards
Alexandra Brown
Senior Legal Officer
Information Team
Commercial, Child Care, Disability and Information Law Branch
Legal Services Group
Department of Social Services
P: (02) 6146 2607 | E: [email address]
DSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present
Dear Ms Rahman
As discussed over the phone a moment ago, the Guidelines issued by the
Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 ('the FOI Guidelines') can be accessed via the
following link:
[1]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
Please note that the relevant guideline relating to the interpretation and
application of section 47C of the FOI Act (deliberative processes) is set
out under Part 6 of the FOI Guidelines and, in particular, paragraphs 6.56
to 6.76.
Kind regards
Alexandra Brown
Senior Legal Officer
Information Team
Commercial, Child Care, Disability and Information Law Branch
Legal Services Group
Department of Social Services
P: (02) 6146 2607 | E: [2][email address]
DSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our
respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present
Dear Ms Rahman
Please find attached correspondence from the Department of Social Services
in relation to your request under the Commonwealth Freedom of Information
Act 1982.
Kind regards
Alexandra Brown
Senior Legal Officer
Information Team
Commercial, Child Care, Disability and Information Law Branch
Legal Services Group
Department of Social Services
P: (02) 6146 2607 | E: [1][email address]
DSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our
respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Ms Rahman
Thank you for your email below. The Department has received the money
order for payment of the charge, but in order to process the payment and
provide you with a receipt our Collector of Public Monies has advised that
they require an address (either a personal or business address).
Accordingly, I would appreciate it if you could please provide an address
to allow this to occur. I note that the delay in processing the payment
will not affect the timeframe for processing your FOI request.
Kind regards
Alexandra Brown
Senior Legal Officer
Information Team
Commercial, Child Care, Disability and Information Law Branch
Legal Services Group
Department of Social Services
P: (02) 6146 2607 | E: [1][email address]
DSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our
respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present
Dear Ms Rahman
Please find attached correspondence from the Department of Social Services
in relation to your request under the Commonwealth Freedom of Information
Act 1982, and material for release under that Act.
Please also find attached a receipt for payment of the charge received on
15 July 2015.
Kind regards
Alexandra Brown
Senior Legal Officer
Information Team
Commercial, Child Care, Disability and Information Law Branch
Legal Services Group
Department of Social Services
DSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our
respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present
Dear FOI,
Thank your for your response and the material provided. I would like to request the following material contained within the ORIMA research, which is of a purely factual nature, and therefore constitutes an exception to the deliberative matter exemption under Section 47C(2)(b) of the legislation:
• The sample size of the survey
• The methodology used for drawing that sample
• The breakdown of responses for each question of the survey
In other words, although the survey is not considered a scientific or technical report, and therefore not an exception from the deliberative process exemption (i.e. an exception on the grounds of section 47C(3)(a)), the purely factual material contained within the report is not exempt.
Yours sincerely,
Sara Rahman
Dear Ms Rahman
Thank you for your email below.
As you have noted, deliberative matter does not include purely factual
material for the purposes of the exception to the general rule set out
under section 47C of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). It is
partly for this reason that the decision was made to disclose parts of
pages 4 and 9 to you, as that material is either factual in nature or
already in the public domain.
However, while the remaining pages falling within the scope of your
request contain material which is factual in nature, this material is not
‘purely factual’ as it is integral to (and inextricably intertwined with)
the deliberative matter which was determined to be conditionally exempt
under subsection 47C(1) of the FOI Act. Given the large volume of
deliberative matter captured by the request (totalling more than 1,300
pages), it was not reasonably practicable for the Department to extract
the factual material from the deliberative matter and release this to you
in edited form under section 22 of the FOI Act.
Paragraph 6.73 of the guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (OAIC) under section 93A of the FOI Act provides
support for this approach and states that "Where a decision maker finds it
difficult to separate the purely factual material from the deliberative
matter, both the elements may be exempt".
This approach to purely factual material and other non-deliberative
material was also upheld by the Information Commissioner (IC) in Crowe and
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet [2014] AICmr 72 (30 July 2014):
[1]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
In that decision, the IC relevantly noted that:
26. The Department [of Prime Minister and Cabinet] has already
released some purely factual material and other non-deliberative material
to the applicant (together with some material that could qualify as
deliberative matter, but that is mostly on the public record in one guise
or another). The factual and other non-deliberative material that has been
released is mostly descriptive of existing government arrangements,
programs, commitments and announcements.
27. Some of the material that has not been released is factual in
nature. However, to apply a distinction explained in Crowe at [81] – [82]
and in Parnell & Dreyfus at [38], it is factual material that is either an
integral part of the deliberative process content of the IGB or is
embedded in or intertwined with that content and is impracticable to
excise. As such, it qualifies for conditional exemption under s 47C.
Accordingly, the Department is not inclined to disclose any further
material contained in Orima’s report as it has been determined to be
conditionally exempt under section 47C of the FOI Act.
If you wish to seek internal review of the Department’s primary decision
dated 19 August 2015, please let me know via [2][Department of Social Services request email] within 30
days of receipt of the decision letter.
Alternatively, if you wish to seek IC review of the Department’s decision
you must apply within 60 days of receipt of the Department’s decision
letter using the online merits review form available on the OAIC website
at: [3]www.oaic.gov.au
Kind regards
Alexandra Brown
Senior Legal Officer
Information Team
Commercial, Child Care, Disability and Information Law Branch
Legal Services Group
Department of Social Services
DSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our
respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present