Recruitment of contractor staff for the FOI team

Ombudsman reference: FOI-2022-10012

Dear Cynthia

I acknowledge receipt of your email below dated 16 January 2022, in which you have requested access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

Information you may not be seeking to access
The documents you have requested contain the personal information of third parties (for example full names, direct email addresses and phone numbers). We seek your agreement to exclude this information from the scope of your FOI request. This may help us to process your request more quickly.

Duplicates
I have identified that there are multiple copies of identical documents within our records which fall within the scope of your request. I intend to only consider and make a decision on one copy of each identical document.

Timeframes
You should expect a decision from us within 30 days from the date we received your FOI request. This 30 day period may be extended if we need to consult third parties, impose a charge (a fee for processing your request) or for other reasons. We will let you know if this happens.

Contacts
If you have any questions about this matter, you may contact me by email to [email address] or by phone to 1300 362 072.

Sincerely,
Caitlin Christie
Paralegal
Legal Team
Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman

-----Original Message-----
From: Cynthia T <[FOI #8320 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 16 January 2022 4:56 PM
To: FOI requests at CO <[CO request email]>
Subject: [External] Freedom of Information request - Recruitment of contractor staff for the FOI team

Dear Commonwealth Ombudsman,

I’ve come across an interesting contract notice on the AusTender website.

The contract notice number is CN3722705-A1. The description for the contract is “Recruitment of contractor staff for the FOI team”. The supplier of the services is adaptbl legal. The value of the contract is $135,000. The contract period is 24 August 2020 to 30 June 2021.

I find the notice interesting because a contractor has been brought on to work in the OCO’s FOI team for about 10 month, at a cost of $135,000. It’s not clear to me if the person brought on is, strictly speaking, a contractor, or whether a contract has been entered into with the supplier to get the supplier to find a person to be temporarily recruited as a public servant or whether a contract has been entered into with the supplier to get the supplier to find a person in another agency who the Ombudsman can ‘poach’ with a contract made under s 26 of the Public Service Act.

I’m sure a lot of that can be cleared up if the following documents are made available to me:

a) the written document (or documents) setting out the contract associated with CN3722705-A1 (and CN3722705), so that I can determine what services were provided by adaptbl legal, and what was requested by the OCO;

b) any purchase orders associated with CN3722705-A1 (and CN3722705);

c) any invoices issued by the supplier with respect to CN37122705-A1 (and CN3722705);

d) any and all documents setting out the scope of the role of this contractor (including what duties they had to perform, performance indicators etc.);

e) any and all documents setting out the ‘research’ (e.g. interviews with other staff, analysis of similar roles in other agencies, analysis of going market rates in relation to the work to be performed by the contractor etc.) undertaken by OCO staff to determine the proper scope of the role of the contractor.

Accordingly, I make a request for the documents, identified at a – e, under the FOI Act.

Yours faithfully,

Cynthia T

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Ombudsman reference: FOI-2022-10012

Dear Cynthia

I refer to your Freedom of Information request below.

Your request includes documents which contain information concerning an organisation’s business or professional affairs. I have decided to consult this organisation under s 27 of the FOI Act before making a decision on the release of the documents.

For this reason, the period for processing your request has been extended by 30 days to allow time to consult (see s 15(6) of the FOI Act). The processing period for your request will now end on 17 March 2021.

The consultation mechanisms under ss 27 applies when we believe the organisation concerned may wish to contend that the requested documents are exempt for as disclosure may adversely affect their business or financial affairs. We will take into account any comments we receive but the final decision about whether to grant you access to the documents you requested rests with the Office.

If you have any questions, you may contact me via email at [email address] or via telephone on 1300 362 072.

Sincerely,
Caitlin Christie
[she/her]
Paralegal | Legal Team
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Ph: 1300 362 072 | Fax: 02 6276 0123
Email: [CO request email]

Influencing systemic improvement in public administration

The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and present.