Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) team in Services
Australia (the Agency).

 
This email acknowledges your correspondence and provides some general
information in relation to FOI.
 
FOI – Extension of time request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) you have a right, with
limited exceptions, to access documents the Agency holds. The Agency has
30 days to process an FOI request. Please note this period may be extended
if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will advise
you if this happens.
We are currently experiencing a higher than usual volume of requests,
which has resulted in some delays in our review and response process. We
are seeking your agreement to extend the processing time by an additional
30 days. If you agree to this additional time, we would appreciate it if
you could reply to this email with ‘I agree’ at your earliest opportunity.
Administrative release of documents  
The Agency has administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements') for
the release of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI
request. If you agree to the release of documents under these
arrangements, we may provide you with documents under the arrangements,
where appropriate. 
                                                                 
Any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents being
released under the arrangements will be considered withdrawn. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties.
You will be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements.
 
Personal information of Agency staff
We consider staff details to be personal information of those staff
members. As part of the FOI application process, we will seek your consent
to exclude the following information from documents that may be captured
by your request: 
•names of Services Australia staff below the Senior Executive level
(junior staff)
•direct staff telephone numbers, signatures, logon identifiers and email
addresses.
 
If you consent to exclude this information, we will treat it as outside
the scope of your request and therefore irrelevant under Section 22 of the
FOI Act.
 
Charges
No charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information.
If you are requesting non-personal information the Agency will advise you
as soon as practicable if a charge is payable to process your request, and
the amount of any such charge.
 
How we will send documents to you
We typically use this email address to send documents related to your FOI
request unless you have specifically requested to receive them via post.
However, we might seek your consent to deliver the documents
electronically if it is deemed more suitable.
 
How long do I have to wait?
We are required to answer your request within 30 days unless the time
frame is extended under the FOI Act. 

show quoted sections

Our reference: LEX 83859

Dear Jerry

Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Request

I refer to your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). You requested access to:

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth.) I am requesting the
following documents from the Services Australia operational blueprint
website:

o New Zealand Agreement and foreign pension information 106-04024000
o Eligibility and new claim procedures for Special Benefit (SpB)
003-08030020

Your request was received by Services Australia (the Agency) on 21
February 2025 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 24 March 2025. The period of 30 days may be extended
if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will advise
you if this happens.

Administrative Release of Documents

The Agency has administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements') for
the release of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI
request. If you agree to the release of documents under these
arrangements, we may provide you with documents under the arrangements,
where appropriate.

Any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents being
released under the arrangements will be considered withdrawn. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties.
You will be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements.

Disclosure Log

Please note information released under the FOI Act may be published in a
disclosure log on the agency's website. Section 11C of the FOI Act
requires this publication, however it is subject to certain exceptions,
including where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

Personal information of Agency staff

We consider staff details to be personal information of those staff
members. As part of the FOI application process, we will seek your consent
to exclude the following information from documents that may be captured
by your request:

o names of Services Australia staff below the Senior Executive level
(junior staff)
o direct staff telephone numbers, signatures, logon identifiers and
email addresses.

If you consent to exclude this information, we will treat it as outside
the scope of your request and therefore irrelevant under Section 22 of the
FOI Act.

Charges

No charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information. If you are requesting non-personal information the Agency
will advise you as soon as practicable if a charge is payable to process
your request, and the amount of any such charge.

How we will send documents to you

Unless you have requested to receive correspondence and documents relating
to your FOI request via post we will communicate with you via this email
address. Some documents may be too large to send to you via email. If
applicable we will seek your consent to provide the requested documents to
you electronically via a secure file sharing platform. Please advise us as
soon as possible if you wish correspondence or documents to be sent to
another address, or if your email address changes.

Action

Please advise whether you consent to the removal of junior staff details
as described above, under section 22 of the FOI by responding to this
email with “I agree to remove staff details”.

In addition, please advise whether you agree to receive documents where
appropriate under the arrangements by responding to this email with “I
agree to receive documents under the administrative arrangements”.

A response by close of business Tuesday 4 March 2025 would be appreciated.

Further assistance

If you have any questions please email
[1][Services Australia request email]

Leanne, Senior FOI Officer

FOI and Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division

[2]Visual brand element showing Services Australia progress symbol to left
with Services Australia wording to the right of the symbol. Underneath is
servicesaustralia.gov.au and icons representing our social media accounts.
To follow us on social media go to servicesaustralia.gov.au/socialmedia
Aligning the bottom of the signature block is the Services Australia
indigenous artwork strip consisting of cultural elements depicting our
agency’s progress story for First Nations people.

Services Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands we
live on. We pay our respects to all Elders, past and present, of all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.

This email and any attachments may contain information subject to legal
professional privilege or information that is otherwise sensitive or
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are
prohibited from using or disseminating this communication. If you have
received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately
and permanently delete this email.

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Services Australia request email]

Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) team in Services
Australia (the Agency).

 
This email acknowledges your correspondence and provides some general
information in relation to FOI.
 
FOI – Extension of time request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) you have a right, with
limited exceptions, to access documents the Agency holds. The Agency has
30 days to process an FOI request. Please note this period may be extended
if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will advise
you if this happens.
We are currently experiencing a higher than usual volume of requests,
which has resulted in some delays in our review and response process. We
are seeking your agreement to extend the processing time by an additional
30 days. If you agree to this additional time, we would appreciate it if
you could reply to this email with ‘I agree’ at your earliest opportunity.
Administrative release of documents  
The Agency has administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements') for
the release of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI
request. If you agree to the release of documents under these
arrangements, we may provide you with documents under the arrangements,
where appropriate. 
                                                                 
Any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents being
released under the arrangements will be considered withdrawn. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties.
You will be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements.
 
Personal information of Agency staff
We consider staff details to be personal information of those staff
members. As part of the FOI application process, we will seek your consent
to exclude the following information from documents that may be captured
by your request: 
•names of Services Australia staff below the Senior Executive level
(junior staff)
•direct staff telephone numbers, signatures, logon identifiers and email
addresses.
 
If you consent to exclude this information, we will treat it as outside
the scope of your request and therefore irrelevant under Section 22 of the
FOI Act.
 
Charges
No charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information.
If you are requesting non-personal information the Agency will advise you
as soon as practicable if a charge is payable to process your request, and
the amount of any such charge.
 
How we will send documents to you
We typically use this email address to send documents related to your FOI
request unless you have specifically requested to receive them via post.
However, we might seek your consent to deliver the documents
electronically if it is deemed more suitable.
 
How long do I have to wait?
We are required to answer your request within 30 days unless the time
frame is extended under the FOI Act. 

show quoted sections

Dear Jerry

I am writing in regards to your Freedom of Information request to Services
Australia (the Agency) as follows:

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth.) I am requesting the
following documents from the Services Australia operational blueprint
website:

- New Zealand Agreement and foreign pension information 106-04024000

- Eligibility and new claim procedures for Special Benefit (SpB)
003-08030020

Currently, I am in the process of consulting with the relevant business
areas of the Agency in order to obtain copies of the documents and advice
subject to your request. However, I have identified that additional time
is required to finalise the decision and progress the matter through the
quality assurance process. 

On this basis, I respectfully request an extension of time of 21 days to
process your request. The effect of the extension would mean the new
decision due date would be 14 April 2025.

If a decision is not notified to you within time, your request will be
deemed to be refused by operation of the FOI Act. The Agency will still
continue to process your request as a Statement of Reasons, however you
will unfortunately lose your internal review rights. Our objective for
this extension of time request is to ensure the decision and documents
relevant to your request are released on time under the FOI Act, thus
maintaining your internal review rights.

If we are able to process your request and provide you with a decision
before this date, we will do so.

Action

If you agree to this extension of time, it would be greatly appreciated if
you could please respond to this email stating ‘I agree’ by close of
business 20 March 2025.

Please note as stated above, if we do not receive a reply from you by the
above date, we will continue to process your request as a Statement of
Reasons.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Kind regards

Alexander, A/g Senior FOI Officer

FOI & Reviews Branch, Legal Services Division

[1]Visual brand element showing Services Australia progress symbol to left
with Services Australia wording to the right of the symbol. Underneath is
servicesaustralia.gov.au and icons representing our social media accounts.
To follow us on social media go to servicesaustralia.gov.au/socialmedia
Aligning the bottom of the signature block is the Services Australia
indigenous artwork strip consisting of cultural elements depicting our
agency’s progress story for First Nations people.

Services Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands we
live on. We pay our respects to all Elders, past and present, of all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.

This email and any attachments may contain information subject to legal
professional privilege or information that is otherwise sensitive or
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are
prohibited from using or disseminating this communication. If you have
received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately
and permanently delete this email.

show quoted sections

References

Visible links

Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) team in Services
Australia (the Agency).

 
This email acknowledges your correspondence and provides some general
information in relation to FOI.
 
FOI – Extension of time request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) you have a right, with
limited exceptions, to access documents the Agency holds. The Agency has
30 days to process an FOI request. Please note this period may be extended
if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will advise
you if this happens.
We are currently experiencing a higher than usual volume of requests,
which has resulted in some delays in our review and response process. We
are seeking your agreement to extend the processing time by an additional
30 days. If you agree to this additional time, we would appreciate it if
you could reply to this email with ‘I agree’ at your earliest opportunity.
Administrative release of documents  
The Agency has administrative access arrangements ('the arrangements') for
the release of certain documents without the need for a formal FOI
request. If you agree to the release of documents under these
arrangements, we may provide you with documents under the arrangements,
where appropriate. 
                                                                 
Any parts of your FOI request that are addressed by documents being
released under the arrangements will be considered withdrawn. The
arrangements do not extend to information or materials of third parties.
You will be notified when documents are released to you under the
arrangements.
 
Personal information of Agency staff
We consider staff details to be personal information of those staff
members. As part of the FOI application process, we will seek your consent
to exclude the following information from documents that may be captured
by your request: 
•names of Services Australia staff below the Senior Executive level
(junior staff)
•direct staff telephone numbers, signatures, logon identifiers and email
addresses.
 
If you consent to exclude this information, we will treat it as outside
the scope of your request and therefore irrelevant under Section 22 of the
FOI Act.
 
Charges
No charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information.
If you are requesting non-personal information the Agency will advise you
as soon as practicable if a charge is payable to process your request, and
the amount of any such charge.
 
How we will send documents to you
We typically use this email address to send documents related to your FOI
request unless you have specifically requested to receive them via post.
However, we might seek your consent to deliver the documents
electronically if it is deemed more suitable.
 
How long do I have to wait?
We are required to answer your request within 30 days unless the time
frame is extended under the FOI Act. 

show quoted sections