Records regarding how to create and present documents of extracted disclosures by DVA to UniSA
Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
A copy of a submission made by DVA to the OAIC regarding delays to responding to the more than 1,657 enquiries about the MATES privacy breaches, seeking access to copies of disclosures made by DVA to UniSA, stated the delays were because of internal communications over how to extract and “best present” that information had to take place first.
It stated that the Department had to seek the approval of both the Secretary and the Minister first as to how to present this information, contributing to these delays.
As these discussions and approvals have now finalised I seek copy of these records of communications and approvals as to how the data of these disclosures of personal information from DVA to UniSA would be extracted and “best present”ed.
Given the reference to internal communications by the Department about this matter it is likely these records are held in the Department’s MS Teams, email, TRIM, PDMS, and group drives in electronic form.
As the Minister and Secretary were mentioned as having to approve how this would happen and in what form it is likely DVA’s Ministerial and Parliamentary Support (MaPS) section, the Information Law section, and Research area are were these records can be found within the Department.
Yours faithfully,
Jenny
Dear Jenny,
The Department of Veterans' Affairs (the department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:
''A copy of a submission made by DVA to the OAIC regarding delays to
responding to the more than 1,657 enquiries about the MATES privacy
breaches, seeking access to copies of disclosures made by DVA to UniSA,
stated the delays were because of internal communications over how to
extract and "best present" that information had to take place first.
It stated that the Department had to seek the approval of both the
Secretary and the Minister first as to how to present this information,
contributing to these delays.
As these discussions and approvals have now finalised I seek copy of these
records of communications and approvals as to how the data of these
disclosures of personal information from DVA to UniSA would be extracted
and "best present"ed.
Given the reference to internal communications by the Department about
this matter it is likely these records are held in the Department's MS
Teams, email, TRIM, PDMS, and group drives in electronic form.
As the Minister and Secretary were mentioned as having to approve how this
would happen and in what form it is likely DVA's Ministerial and
Parliamentary Support (MaPS) section, the Information Law section, and
Research area are were these records can be found within the Department.''
Your request was received by the department on 27 January 2024 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.
If we are in a position to make a decision on your request earlier than
this date, we will endeavour to do so.
The statutory period may also be extended if we need to consult third
parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act. We will advise
you if this happens.
Charges
If the Department considers that a charge will apply to your request, you
will be notified within 14 days of an estimate of the charges that will
apply to your request for non-personal information before we process any
requested documents or impose a final charge.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your contact address is
[1][FOI #11051 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Disclosure log
Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.
Further assistance
If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]
Kind Regards
Arthur Information Access Registrations Officer
Position Number – 62341836
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[3][DVA request email]
[4]www.dva.gov.au
[5]cid:image001.png@01D8F043.829927E0[6]cid:image002.png@01D8F043.829927E0[7]cid:image003.png@01D8F043.829927E0[8]cid:image004.png@01D8F043.829927E0
[9]cid:image005.jpg@01D8F043.829927E0
[10]cid:image006.jpg@01D8F043.829927E0
References
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2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[DVA request email]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/
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Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
I vary my FOI slightly as based on a FOI release today it appears that the research area of the Department is not likely to be an area with those records.
So I change the part of my scope that said:
“it is likely DVA's Ministerial and Parliamentary Support (MaPS) section, the Information Law section, and Research area are where these records can be found within the Department.”
to:
“it is likely DVA's Ministerial and Parliamentary Support (MaPS) section, the Information Law section, and the Pharmacy Programs and Operations Section are where these records can be found within the Department.”
Yours sincerely,
Jenny
Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
My FOI of 27 January 2024, which the Department acknowledged on 1 February 2024, was required by section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act to have received a decision today.
Yet again the Department of Veterans’ Affairs has forced another FOI to received a deemed refusal response, as a way of unlawfully preventing access to official documents. I still have not received a decision to my FOI of 17 November 2023, despite your Assistant Director Joshua saying on 19 January that a decision was imminent. This is the third deemed refusal response in as as many weeks.
It is no surprise there is a Royal Commission investigating DVA, with such unethical inappropriate behaviour of the Department that it has displayed here.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny
Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
I still have not received any apology or explanation as to why, yet again, DVA has intentionally forced a deemed refusal decision and withheld statement of reasons.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny
Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
Another month and still no response or decision.
Is there a reason you have still not responded to the notice of your failure to provide a decision, even though weeks have passed?
Is this just rudeness on your part, or something more sinister?
These multiple failures by DVA to give decisions in the times specified by the FOI Act is a deliberate and intentional strategy it now is demonstrated. Is flouting your statutory obligations just how DVA operates? The Royal Commission was long overdue it seems.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny
Dear Jenny,
Thank you for your Information Access request.
Your request has now been finalised. Please refer to the attached
documentation and contact me back using the details below if I can be of
any further assistance.
Kind regards,
Jesse | a/g Senior Information Access Officer
Position Number : 62373490
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, Parliamentary & Stakeholder Engagement Branch
Engagement, Communications and Ministerial Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 838 372
[1][email address]
[2]www.dva.gov.au
[3]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[4]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[5]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[6]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590
[7]cid:image005.jpg@01D8E9DA.F8F2BE70
[8]cid:image006.jpg@01D8E9DA.F8F2BE70
References
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Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
Two months overdue and all I get is a poor quality response refusing… disgraceful.
Review underway.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny
Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
I request copy of the record of administration of this FOI you registered as LEX 64798, which I can see from other FOIs here you can produce from LEX, to see why such an unreasonable and excessive delay occurred to not give access.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny
Dear Jenny,
The Department of Veterans' Affairs (the Department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:
'...I request copy of the record of administration of this FOI you
registered as LEX 64798, which I can see from other FOIs here you can
produce from LEX, to see why such an unreasonable and excessive delay
occurred to not give access...'
Your request was received by the Department on 23 April 2024 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.
Administrative access
The Department considers that your request is more appropriately processed
under administrative access arrangements. Where requests are made under
the FOI Act, the Department is required to consider whether any exemptions
apply to the material, preventing its release. The Department must also
prepare a formal statement of reasons for the decision.
As your request relates to your own personal information, with your
agreement, the above requirements will not apply. If you agree to the
administrative access arrangements, please reply to this email by 6 May
2024 acknowledging your agreement for the Department to process your
request administratively and withdrawing your request under the FOI Act.
The Department endeavours to make decisions on administrative access
requests within 30 days, however please note the Department is currently
experiencing a high volume of requests and your request may exceed 30
days.
Charges
If the Department considers that a charge will apply to your request, you
will be notified within 14 days of an estimate of the charges that will
apply to your request for non-personal information before we process any
requested documents or impose a final charge.
Disclosure log
Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your contact address is
[1][FOI #11051 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Further assistance
If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]
We look forward to receiving your response to our request for your
agreement to process your request under administrative access
arrangements.
Yours sincerely
Kevin| Information Access Officer
Position 62373493
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[3][DVA request email]
[4]www.dva.gov.au
[5]cid:image008.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
[6]cid:image009.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
References
Visible links
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2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[DVA request email]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/
Dear Jenny,
Thank you for your request for information under the FOI Act 1982,
received by the Department on 23 April 2024.
Please find attached a 24AB Consultation Notice.
Zoey| Senior Information Access Officer
Position Number: 62214764
Information Access Unit
Client and Information Access Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
P: 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
E: [1][DVA request email]
W: [2]www.dva.gov.au
[3]cid:image001.png@01DAA15D.34C1D680[4]cid:image001.png@01DA10AE.79E29FA0[5]Linkedin
Icon Svg Download : Linkedin Logo Vector at GetDrawings | Free
...[6]Youtube, Logo Youtube, Logo Youtube PNG, Logo Youtube Vektor, Logo
...
[7]Title: Flags - Description: 3 Australian flags in a row (from left to
right): the Australian National flag, the Australian Aboriginal flag and
the Torres Strait Islander flag.
[8]cid:image007.jpg@01D97E71.443616E0
References
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Dear Zoey of INFORMATION.ACCESS,
Section 24 of the FOI Act requires an agency to undertake a requestion consultation
process if they are satisfied, when dealing with a request, that a practical refusal reason
exists. This means that it was appropriate to commence a request consultation process only
if a practical refusal reason existed in relation to the request.
Section 24AA(1)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a practical refusal reason exists in
relation to a request if the request does not satisfy the requirement in section 15(2)(b) of the
FOI Act to include such information as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible
officer of the agency to identify the documents requested.
The Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section
93A of the FOI Act (the Guidelines) provide the following guidance to agencies at
paragraphs 3.109 and 3.110 when dealing with requests that are considered unclear:
A formal requirement of making an FOI request is that the request must provide such
information as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency
or the minister to identify the document that is requested (s 15(2)(b)). This differs
from other formal requirements, in that a failure to comply with this requirement is
classified by the Act as a ‘practical refusal reason’ for which a request consultation
process is required.
An agency should not wait until the practical refusal stage to help an applicant to
clarify their request. The following considerations should also be borne in mind
before a request consultation process is commenced:
• A request can be described quite broadly and must be read fairly by an agency or
minister, being mindful not to take a narrow or pedantic approach to its
construction.
• An applicant may not know exactly what documents exist and may describe a
class of documents, for example: all documents relating to a particular person or
subject matter; or all documents of a specified class that contain information of a
particular kind; or all documents held in a particular place relating to a subject
or person. Where the applicant has requested a class of documents, it may be
useful for the agency to explain to the applicant the information that is contained
in those documents, as this may assist the applicant to narrow the scope of his or
her request to a specific set of documents, resulting in less time spent on
processing irrelevant material.
• Although a request under the FOI Act must be for ‘documents’, rather than for
‘information’, a request may be phrased by reference to the information that a
document contains. This may in fact be an effective and concise way for an FOI
applicant to identify documents.
• A request does not need to quote a file or folio number.
Paragraph 3.128 of the Guidelines also provides:
Before commencing a formal request consultation process, agencies and ministers’
offices are encouraged to discuss the request with the applicant. This is often a more
efficient way of obtaining further information from the applicant and helping them
to refine a request that is too large or vague. However, if the applicant cannot be
contacted promptly, or the discussion does not elicit information that allows
relevant documents to be identified, the request consultation process should be
commenced.
FINDINGS
A request consultation process should not have been undertaken, as the Department
could not have been reasonably satisfied that a practical refusal reason existed in
relation to the request. Although the applicant’s request included the phrase “record of administration”, it appeared within the phrase “the record of administration of this FOI … which I can see from other FOIs here you can produce from LEX”, which was not vague and the documents the applicant was seeking were clear.
As stated in paragraph 3.110 of the Guidelines, a request can be described
broadly and for a class of documents, in this case for documents that can produced using LEX regarding how this FOI was administered.
Examples of such documents are, as the FOI request stated, been previously released on Right to Know by the Department such as in LEX 50625 which in the first 15 pages of the bundle released shows the LEX report that can be produced under s 17 to provide a record of the administration of a FOI made to the Department.
The FOI therefore did provide sufficient information to enable the Department to locate the documents sought, contrary to the Department’s claim.
Section 24AB(6) states that I must elect to either withdraw, vary or indicate I do not wish to vary my FOI. Section 24AB(8) states that once I do any of those three options, the request consultation period ends and no further extension of time applies.
I give response that I do not wish to vary my FOI (nor do I wish to bundle separately made FOIs) as the scope of the FOI does satisfy s 15(2)(b) in that it identified the documents in scope where those documents that can be produced in LEX for that FOI that records how the Department processed that FOI and referred you to the examples available on Right to Know of such LEX reports. As such, the FOI scope was within s 15(2)(b) and the Information Commissioner Guidelines.
As the practical refusal consultation notice was issued today, and the practical refusal consultation extension of time period only commences the day after such a notice is given, my section 24AB(6)(c) response today means that no extension of time applies to this FOI.
This FOI still is due for decision no later than 23 May 2024.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny
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Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
Whatever that was, I can’t read it as the link is blocked.
Why are you sending correspondence about this non-personal information FOI via a different manner than normal, including those provided previously to me? The size listed is under that of previous documents sent to Right to Know by the DVA, so that is not the purpose.
For example:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/i...
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/h...
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/e...
It appears this change of method is simply another way of delaying this long overdue decision.
Yours faithfully,
Jenny
Please use this validation code to complete your registration: 604229
Note: This code will expire in 30 minutes.
Dear Jenny,
Please find attached decision letter and documents for your matter LEX
67044, provided originally on 23 May 2024.
Kind regards,
Will (He/Him) | Information Access Officer
Position Number 62373495
Information Access Unit
Client and Information Access Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Tel 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[1][email address]
[2]www.dva.gov.au
[3][IMG][4]cid:image001.png@01DA10AE.79E29FA0 [5]cid:image003.png@01DA10AE.79E29FA0[6]cid:image004.png@01DA10AE.79E29FA0
[7]Title: Flags - Description: 3 Australian flags in a row (from left to
right): the Australian National flag, the Australian Aboriginal flag and
the Torres Strait Islander flag.
[8]Title: DVA logo - Description: DVA standard signature block logo with
the Commonwealth Coat of Arms in the top left corner. The words
“Australian Government. Department of Veterans’ Affairs” are to the right
of the Coat of Arms and below are the words “To support those who serve or
have served in the defence of our nation and commemorate their service and
sacrifice”.
For what they have done, this we will do.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jenny <[FOI #11051 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 23 May 2024 6:27 PM
To: INFORMATION.ACCESS <[email address]>
Subject: Re: LEX 67044 - Information Request - JENNY
[SEC=OFFICIAL:Sensitive, ACCESS=Personal-Privacy]
Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
Whatever that was, I can’t read it as the link is blocked.
Why are you sending correspondence about this non-personal information FOI
via a different manner than normal, including those provided previously to
me? The size listed is under that of previous documents sent to Right to
Know by the DVA, so that is not the purpose.
For example:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/i...
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/h...
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/e...
It appears this change of method is simply another way of delaying this
long overdue decision.
Yours faithfully,
Jenny
-----Original Message-----
You have received a secure message from the Department of Veterans'
Affairs.
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accessible on a computer or mobile android device after this timeframe. If
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link and this secure message.
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Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
If a decision for the FOI made on 27 January 2024 was finalised on 23 April, why hasn’t that decision been provided?
Yours sincerely,
Jenny