Request a copy of all reports delivered by McKinsey to DFS since 1990
Dear NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation,
I would like to request a copy of all reports / documents delivered by McKinsey to the Department since 1990. In addition, I would like to request a copy of each invoice paid to McKinsey for each report (including $ fees paid, rate card applied, and other commercial terms).
Given the significant public interest in McKinsey and their controversial activities in South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia (1MDB), I request that the FOIA request fees be waived.
Best
Andy Johnson
Dear Andy
Thank you for your email.
In order for me to process your application, you will need to be more
specific about what area of the department you would like to conduct a
search, and during which time period. The Department of Finance, Services
and Innovation (DFSI) no longer exists. Many of the business areas within
that department now sit in the NSW Department of Customer Service (DCS).
These include Fair Trading and Revenue NSW. Please note that not all areas
from the former DFSI are now part of DCS, like Property NSW, which is now
part of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE).
DCS is very large and employs thousands of people. You will need to
nominate a specific area within the department to conduct searches
otherwise the scope is too broad for us to conduct searches.
It is also worth flagging that there is a $30 an hour application fee to
process all applications. If you request information within DCS that goes
back to 1990, you will likely be paying for information to be retrieved
from an archive, which may also incur further costs.
Could you please amend the scope to make it clear enough to be able to
conduct a search?
I will not be waiving the $30 application fee in this instance. You can
transfer $30 into our account using the following details:
Subject description: Your surname – GIPA application fee
Pay: Department of Customer Service
ABN: 81 913 830 179
Bank: Westpac
BSB: 032 001
Account Number: 203164
If you wouldn’t mind to send me a screenshot of proof of payment, that way
any delays in the transfer of the funds wont affect your application.
Once the scope of this application is clear and you have paid the
application fee, I will validate this application and begin to process it.
Regards
Andrew Filocamo
Advisor, Ministerial Services
Office of the Secretary| Department of Customer Service
GIPA Hotline: (02) 9619 8672
e [1][email address] |
[2]www.customerservice.nsw.gov.au
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Andy
Johnson
Ref: GIPR20/78
Sent by email: [1][FOI #6136 email]
13 February 2020
Dear Andy
I refer to your formal access application under the Government Information
(Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) to the Department of Customer Service (DCS),
received on 7 February 2020.
In your application, you requested the following:
Dear NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation,
I would like to request a copy of all reports / documents delivered by McKinsey
to the Department since 1990. In addition, I would like to request a copy of
each invoice paid to McKinsey for each report (including $ fees paid, rate card
applied, and other commercial terms).
I am writing to notify you that I have made the decision that this application
is not a valid access application under section 51(1)(b) of the GIPA Act. In
order to become a valid access application, your application must meet the
criteria outlined under section 41(1) of the GIPA Act. Section 41(1) states:
41 How to make an access application
(1) An application or other request for government information is not a valid
access application unless it complies with the following requirements (the
formal requirements) for access applications:
(a) it must be in writing sent by post to or lodged at an office of the agency
concerned or made in the manner approved by the agency under subsection (2),
(b) it must clearly indicate that it is an access application made under this
Act,
(c) it must be accompanied by a fee of $30,
(d) it must state the name of the applicant and a postal or email address as
the address for correspondence in connection with the application,
(e) it must include such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the
government information applied for to be identified.
I have determined that this application does not meet all the criteria outlined
in section 41(1)(c) and (e).
This is because the application does not include such information as is
reasonably necessary to enable the government information applied for to be
identified. Also, the application was not accompanied by a $30 application fee.
Under section 52(3) of the GIPA Act, I am required to provide you with advice
and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable, to enable you to make a valid
application.
You can do this by:
Paying the Application Fee
As stated in section 41(1)(c) of the GIPA Act, your application needs to be
accompanied by a $30 application fee.
I note that DCS has not received payment of this application fee.
In order to make payment of the fee, you can transfer funds electronically to:
Subject description: Your surname - GIPA application fee
Pay: Department of Customer Service
ABN: 81 913 830 179
Bank: Westpac
BSB: 032 001
Account number: 203164
Once you have paid the fee, could you please send me a screenshot or other
evidence of payment. This way I can begin to process your application without
having to wait for the fee to reach our account.
Please note that in deciding your application DCS may request processing fees
from you of $30 an hour. Your $30 application fee will count towards these
charges. If we require processing fees, I will provide you with an estimate of
all charges at the earliest opportunity.
Making application scope clear
As stated in section 41(1)(e) of the GIPA Act, your application needs to include
such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the government information
applied for to be identified.
As I said in my email to you on 10 February 2020, you can do this by being more
specific about what area of the department you would like to conduct a search,
and during which time period. As I said, the Department of Finance, Services and
Innovation (DFSI) no longer exists. Many of the business areas within that
department now sit in the NSW Department of Customer Service (DCS). These
include Fair Trading and Revenue NSW. Please note that not all areas from the
former DFSI are now part of DCS, like Property NSW, which is now part of the NSW
Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE). DCS is very large and
employs thousands of people. You will need to nominate a specific area within
the department to conduct searches otherwise the scope is too broad for us to
know where to conduct searches.
Also, if you could specify a more narrow date range, that will also make it
easier for the people conducting the search to know which databases or archives
to search. I note your current date range goes back 30 years.
Once you have confirmed the above, I will consult further with the relevant
business area to determine if the information sought can be identified.
Action required
If I do not hear from you by close of business on 27 February 2020 then I will
close your application.
If, after consultation with you and the relevant business area, this application
does not become valid by 12 March 2020 then I will close off this application.
If either of these situations occur, you are entitled to a refund your $30
application fee if it has been paid.
Please note that if your application becomes valid, this does not prevent the
agency from subsequently deciding that the application is not a valid access
application.
Please note that my decision that this application is not valid is reviewable
under Part 5 of the GIPA Act. Further information about this is contained in the
attached factsheet from the IPC.
Please do not hesitate to contact me on the below if you would like to discuss.
Regards
Andrew Filocamo
Position, Ministerial Services
Office of the Secretary | Department of Customer Service
GIPA Hotline: 02 9619 8672
E [2][email address] | [3]www.customerservice.nsw.gov.au
From: GIPA-DCS
Sent: Monday, 10 February 2020 2:52 PM
To: 'Andy Johnson' <[FOI #6136 email]>
Subject: Your GIPA Request - GIPR20/78
Dear Andy
Thank you for your email.
In order for me to process your application, you will need to be more
specific about what area of the department you would like to conduct a
search, and during which time period. The Department of Finance, Services
and Innovation (DFSI) no longer exists. Many of the business areas within
that department now sit in the NSW Department of Customer Service (DCS).
These include Fair Trading and Revenue NSW. Please note that not all areas
from the former DFSI are now part of DCS, like Property NSW, which is now
part of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE).
DCS is very large and employs thousands of people. You will need to
nominate a specific area within the department to conduct searches
otherwise the scope is too broad for us to conduct searches.
It is also worth flagging that there is a $30 an hour application fee to
process all applications. If you request information within DCS that goes
back to 1990, you will likely be paying for information to be retrieved
from an archive, which may also incur further costs.
Could you please amend the scope to make it clear enough to be able to
conduct a search?
I will not be waiving the $30 application fee in this instance. You can
transfer $30 into our account using the following details:
Subject description: Your surname – GIPA application fee
Pay: Department of Customer Service
ABN: 81 913 830 179
Bank: Westpac
BSB: 032 001
Account Number: 203164
If you wouldn’t mind to send me a screenshot of proof of payment, that way
any delays in the transfer of the funds wont affect your application.
Once the scope of this application is clear and you have paid the
application fee, I will validate this application and begin to process it.
Regards
Andrew Filocamo
Advisor, Ministerial Services
Office of the Secretary| Department of Customer Service
GIPA Hotline: (02) 9619 8672
e [4][email address] |
[5]www.customerservice.nsw.gov.au
Please consider the environment before printing this email
Dear GIPA-DCS,
We can limit the scope of the request to Department of Customer Service then.
I do not understand why you are denying the request be made available free of charge.
McKinsey are notorious for being servicing anti democratic and corrupt regimes including Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Malaysia (the 1MDB scandal). There has been significant public scrutiny into their activities in the public service and recently due to these activities so I would like to emphasise that it is both fair and in the public interest that these documents be made available to the public at no charge.
I would like to request an internal review of the decision made if you still deny the request.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Johnson
Hi Andy
As I said before, could you please be more specific about what information
you would like access to? Correct me if I am wrong but it appears that you
are asking the entire Department of Customer Service to conduct a search
for all records going back 30 years that may relate to this company? If
that is the case then this application still does not contain enough
information as is reasonably necessary to enable the information applied
for to be identified as it is too broad.
As for the application fee, you will need to pay the $30 using the account
details I previously sent to you.
As I said in my last email, if we are not able to validate this
application by 12 March I will close off this application.
Regards
Andrew Filocamo
Senior Advisor, Ministerial Services
Office of the Secretary| Department of Customer Service
GIPA Hotline: (02) 9619 8672
e [1][email address] |
[2]www.customerservice.nsw.gov.au
Please consider the environment before printing this email
Dear GIPA-DCS,
We can limit the search to the last 10 years if that helps. I do not know what services the Department has procured from McKinsey so it is hard to be more specific.
As stated in my previous email, this request has significant public interest, so I expect that the processing fee be waived.
Furthermore I also refer to the NSW Auditor General’s report from 2016 that a not insignificant number of NSW government agencies have failed to comply with GIPA requests, specifically with respect to procurement from private entities:
https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/media-relea...
I will consider raising the matter directly with the Auditor General if the Department continues to be unresponsive to GIPA requests.
Yours sincerely,
Andy Johnson
Dear Andy
Thank you for your email.
Thank you for also clarifying your scope further. As it stands, the scope
of this application is now:
I request a copy of all reports / documents delivered by McKinsey to the
Department since 2010. In addition, I would like to request a copy of each
invoice paid to McKinsey for each report (including $ fees paid, rate card
applied, and other commercial terms).
Please let me know if this is not an accurate reflection of your request.
As it stands, I consider this application to still not comply with section
41(1) of the GIPA Act, being that it does not:
o include such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the
government information applied for to be identified.
o Is not accompanied by the $30 application fee
As I have said in my last email, there are many areas of the department
and I would need more information from you to know which teams to ask to
conduct a search. To help you provide further clarity and help you
understand what the Department of Customer Service does:
o The department consists of several divisions, these include:
o The State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA)
o Service NSW
o Customer Delivery and Transformation – this includes but is not
limited to Births, Deaths and Marriages, Revenue NSW, NSW
Government Brand and Communications
o Better Regulation – this includes but is not limited to NSW Fair
Trading, Safework NSW, The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing,
the Professional Standards Authority of NSW, Long Service
Corporation, Office of the Registrar General, Subsidence Advisory
NSW
o Digital NSW – including but not limited to the NSW Telco
Authority, Spatial Services
o Corporate Services – including but not limited to our internal HR
teams, Legal, Audit and Risk and GovConnect (our IT provider)
o It is worth noting that within each of these divisions there is
also many other teams responsible for other things
o In our cluster, there are also several other agencies including
but not limited to, Workers Compensation Commission (WCC),
Workers Compensation Independent Review Office (WIRO), the Office
of the Building Commissioner and several Racing bodies.
As you can see, there are many areas within our cluster, which is why I do
not consider at this stage your request to provide enough information as
is reasonably necessary to enable the government information you applied
for to be identified. It would be helpful if you could focus on a
particular aspect of how this company has worked with the department in
the past, which would help me identify which teams to ask to conduct a
search. Or perhaps at least pinpoint an area of the department you would
like to focus on. Please let me know if there are other ways in which I
can provide you with advise and assistance that may help you decide what
information to apply for.
In addition, you will still need to pay the $30 application fee.
As I said in my email to you on 13 February, if this application does not
become valid by 12 March 2020, I will close it off.
Regards
Andrew Filocamo
Senior Advisor, Ministerial Services
Office of the Secretary| Department of Customer Service
GIPA Hotline: (02) 9619 8672
e [1][email address] |
[2]www.customerservice.nsw.gov.au
Please consider the environment before printing this email
Dear NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation's handling of my FOI request 'Request a copy of all reports delivered by McKinsey to DFS since 1990'.
It seems unbelievable that the Department cannot produce a list of services it has procured from one vendor. Perhaps this is because government is not willing to disclose how much it spends on consuktibf services?
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/r...
Yours faithfully,
Andy Johnson
Dear Mr Johnson
I have been allocated your request for an internal review.
I understand your scope to be "I request a copy of all reports / documents
delivered by McKinsey to the Department since 2010. In addition, I would
like to request a copy of each invoice paid to McKinsey for each report
(including $ fees paid, rate card applied, and other commercial terms)".
Please confirm that this is the case.
Under section 80 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009,
reviewable decision are:
(a) a decision that an application is not a valid access application,
(b) a decision to transfer an access application to another agency, as an
agency-initiated transfer,
(c) a decision to refuse to deal with an access application (including
such a decision that is deemed to have been made),
(d) a decision to provide access or to refuse to provide access to
information in response to an access application,
(e) a decision that government information is not held by the agency,
(f) a decision that information applied for is already available to the
applicant,
(g) a decision to refuse to confirm or deny that information is held by
the agency,
(h) a decision to defer the provision of access to information in
response to an access application,
(i) a decision to provide access to information in a particular way in
response to an access application (or a decision not to provide access in
the way requested by the applicant),
(j) a decision to impose a processing charge or to require an advance
deposit,
(k) a decision to refuse a reduction in a processing charge,
(l) a decision to refuse to deal further with an access application
because an applicant has failed to pay an advance deposit within the time
required for payment,
(m) a decision to include information in a disclosure log despite an
objection by an authorised objector (or a decision that an authorised
objector was not entitled to object).
Can you please confirm your scope and which of the above criteria you wish
to be reviewed by COB Friday 20 March?
Additionally, a fee of $40 is payable for an internal review. You can make
payment to the account below:
Subject description: Your surname – GIPA application fee
Pay: Department of Customer Service
ABN: 81 913 830 179
Bank: Westpac
BSB: 032 001
Account Number: 203164
Kind regards
Natalie Bevan
Advisor, Ministerial Services
Office of the Secretary
Department of Customer Service
GIPA Hotline 02 9619 8672
[1][email address] | [2]www.customerservice.nsw.gov.au
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Dear Mr Johnson
I am just following up on my email below regarding your request for an
internal review.
Can you please confirm the scope of your application, and which of the
criteria you wish to be reviewed?
Additionally, a fee of $40 is payable for an internal review. Payment
details are included in my email below. Please let me know when this has
occurred.
Kind regards
Natalie
From: GIPA-DCS
Sent: Thursday, 19 March 2020 10:34 AM
To: '[FOI #6136 email]'
<[FOI #6136 email]>
Subject: HPE CM: FW: Internal review of Government Information (Public
Access) request - Request a copy of all reports delivered by McKinsey to
DFS since 1990
Dear Mr Johnson
I have been allocated your request for an internal review.
I understand your scope to be "I request a copy of all reports / documents
delivered by McKinsey to the Department since 2010. In addition, I would
like to request a copy of each invoice paid to McKinsey for each report
(including $ fees paid, rate card applied, and other commercial terms)".
Please confirm that this is the case.
Under section 80 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009,
reviewable decision are:
(a) a decision that an application is not a valid access application,
(b) a decision to transfer an access application to another agency, as an
agency-initiated transfer,
(c) a decision to refuse to deal with an access application (including
such a decision that is deemed to have been made),
(d) a decision to provide access or to refuse to provide access to
information in response to an access application,
(e) a decision that government information is not held by the agency,
(f) a decision that information applied for is already available to the
applicant,
(g) a decision to refuse to confirm or deny that information is held by
the agency,
(h) a decision to defer the provision of access to information in
response to an access application,
(i) a decision to provide access to information in a particular way in
response to an access application (or a decision not to provide access in
the way requested by the applicant),
(j) a decision to impose a processing charge or to require an advance
deposit,
(k) a decision to refuse a reduction in a processing charge,
(l) a decision to refuse to deal further with an access application
because an applicant has failed to pay an advance deposit within the time
required for payment,
(m) a decision to include information in a disclosure log despite an
objection by an authorised objector (or a decision that an authorised
objector was not entitled to object).
Can you please confirm your scope and which of the above criteria you wish
to be reviewed by COB Friday 20 March?
Additionally, a fee of $40 is payable for an internal review. You can make
payment to the account below:
Subject description: Your surname – GIPA application fee
Pay: Department of Customer Service
ABN: 81 913 830 179
Bank: Westpac
BSB: 032 001
Account Number: 203164
Kind regards
Natalie Bevan
Advisor, Ministerial Services
Office of the Secretary
Department of Customer Service
GIPA Hotline 02 9619 8672
[1][email address] | [2]www.customerservice.nsw.gov.au
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Dear Mr Johnson
As I have not had any response from you regarding the two previous emails
that I have sent you, I will be closing this request.
Kind regards
Natalie
From: GIPA-DCS
Sent: Monday, 23 March 2020 2:32 PM
To: [FOI #6136 email]
Subject: RE: HPE CM: FW: Internal review of Government Information (Public
Access) request - Request a copy of all reports delivered by McKinsey to
DFS since 1990
Dear Mr Johnson
I am just following up on my email below regarding your request for an
internal review.
Can you please confirm the scope of your application, and which of the
criteria you wish to be reviewed?
Additionally, a fee of $40 is payable for an internal review. Payment
details are included in my email below. Please let me know when this has
occurred.
Kind regards
Natalie
From: GIPA-DCS
Sent: Thursday, 19 March 2020 10:34 AM
To: '[FOI #6136 email]'
<[1][FOI #6136 email]>
Subject: HPE CM: FW: Internal review of Government Information (Public
Access) request - Request a copy of all reports delivered by McKinsey to
DFS since 1990
Dear Mr Johnson
I have been allocated your request for an internal review.
I understand your scope to be "I request a copy of all reports / documents
delivered by McKinsey to the Department since 2010. In addition, I would
like to request a copy of each invoice paid to McKinsey for each report
(including $ fees paid, rate card applied, and other commercial terms)".
Please confirm that this is the case.
Under section 80 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009,
reviewable decision are:
(a) a decision that an application is not a valid access application,
(b) a decision to transfer an access application to another agency, as an
agency-initiated transfer,
(c) a decision to refuse to deal with an access application (including
such a decision that is deemed to have been made),
(d) a decision to provide access or to refuse to provide access to
information in response to an access application,
(e) a decision that government information is not held by the agency,
(f) a decision that information applied for is already available to the
applicant,
(g) a decision to refuse to confirm or deny that information is held by
the agency,
(h) a decision to defer the provision of access to information in
response to an access application,
(i) a decision to provide access to information in a particular way in
response to an access application (or a decision not to provide access in
the way requested by the applicant),
(j) a decision to impose a processing charge or to require an advance
deposit,
(k) a decision to refuse a reduction in a processing charge,
(l) a decision to refuse to deal further with an access application
because an applicant has failed to pay an advance deposit within the time
required for payment,
(m) a decision to include information in a disclosure log despite an
objection by an authorised objector (or a decision that an authorised
objector was not entitled to object).
Can you please confirm your scope and which of the above criteria you wish
to be reviewed by COB Friday 20 March?
Additionally, a fee of $40 is payable for an internal review. You can make
payment to the account below:
Subject description: Your surname – GIPA application fee
Pay: Department of Customer Service
ABN: 81 913 830 179
Bank: Westpac
BSB: 032 001
Account Number: 203164
Kind regards
Natalie Bevan
Advisor, Ministerial Services
Office of the Secretary
Department of Customer Service
GIPA Hotline 02 9619 8672
[2][email address] | [3]www.customerservice.nsw.gov.au
Please consider the environment before printing this email.