Requests made via Right to Know/OpenAustralia Foundation
Ben Fairless made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Taxation Office
Dear Australian Taxation Office,
== Background ==
I have noticed that some responses from the ATO to requests on Right to Know were last created in 2017 by Julie Galeotti.
Obviously, the ATO believes that by publishing decisions on it's own websites, it is compliant with the FOI Act.
== Request ==
My request is for all documents from 1 June 2017 to 30 July 2024 that are related to the way requests made via Right to Know or that are from the OpenAustralia Foundation are handled.
== Exemptions ==
I am happy to discuss possible exemptions, however do not automatically agree to making anything irrelevant.
== Further Submissions==
I would appreciate the opportunity to make further submissions to the ATO should the decision be unfavourable and where the views of the applicant could be taken into account under the FOI Act and the FOI Guidelines.
Yours faithfully,
Ben Fairless
Dear FOI Applicant,
Please see attachment.
Yours faithfully,
FOI Team
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT
The information transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential and/or legally
privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in
reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other
than the intended recipient is prohibited and may result in
severe penalties. If you have received this e-mail in error
please notify the Privacy Hotline of the Australian Taxation
Office, telephone 1300 661 542 and delete all copies of this
transmission together with any attachments.
*********************************************************************
Dear FOI Applicant,
Please see attachment.
Yours faithfully,
FOI Team
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT
The information transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential and/or legally
privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in
reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other
than the intended recipient is prohibited and may result in
severe penalties. If you have received this e-mail in error
please notify the Privacy Hotline of the Australian Taxation
Office, telephone 1300 661 542 and delete all copies of this
transmission together with any attachments.
*********************************************************************
Dear Leigh Swift,
Thank you for your message. I am struggling to access the decision letter from your online service. I suspect that the time period of that decision and my request are slightly different.
Also happy to include the additional documents you mentioned.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Fairless
Dear FOI,
Just to follow up on my earlier email to Leigh Swift, can I confirm that my reading of the attachment is correct. There is a reference to the ATO “communicating decisions via the disclosure log”. Is this an official ATO practice? If so, I suspect documents would exist related to that decision which I do not believe have been released.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Fairless
Dear FOI Applicant,
Please see attached notice.
Regards
FOI team
Australian Taxation Office
[1]Facebook | [2]X | [3]LinkedIn | [4]Instagram
ATO. Working for all Australians
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT
The information transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential and/or legally
privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in
reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other
than the intended recipient is prohibited and may result in
severe penalties. If you have received this e-mail in error
please notify the Privacy Hotline of the Australian Taxation
Office, telephone 1300 661 542 and delete all copies of this
transmission together with any attachments.
*********************************************************************
References
Visible links
1. http://www.facebook.com/atogovau
2. http://www.x.com/ato_gov_au
3. http://www.linkedin.com/company/australi...
4. http://www.instagram.com/austaxoffice
Dear FOI,
Just to be clear, my request was for *all documents from 1 June 2017 to 30 July 2024 that are related to the way requests made via Right to Know or that are from the OpenAustralia Foundation are handled*
I have not consented to a reduction in scope, and while you have identified documents related to an OAIC complaint you should consider the full scope of my request.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Fairless
Dear FOI Applicant,
Please see attachment.
Yours faithfully,
FOI Team
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT
The information transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential and/or legally
privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in
reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other
than the intended recipient is prohibited and may result in
severe penalties. If you have received this e-mail in error
please notify the Privacy Hotline of the Australian Taxation
Office, telephone 1300 661 542 and delete all copies of this
transmission together with any attachments.
*********************************************************************
Dear FOI,
I refer to your email of 23 August 2024 advising that the decision had been made with respect to my request.
The notice you’ve provided does not comply with the Freedom of Information Act or the Freedom of Information Guidelines. As you would no doubt be aware, a single paragraph asking me to download documents from a non-government website is not a statement of reasons.
Considering you’ve been handling requests sent from this website in this way for years, I’m pretty sure you’re aware of that fact. I’ll be making a complaint to the OAIC later today about your persistent refusal to follow the Freedom of Information Act. In the meantime, please provide a valid statement of reasons and the documents requested.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Fairless
Dear Mr Fairless,
Thank you for your correspondence. You have been provided with a valid decision under the FOI Act and instructions as to has to how the decision may be viewed. The documents that have been released alongside the decision are on the ATO disclosure log and show that a complaint has already made to the OAIC on this topic. The outcome of that complaint was that OAIC decided on 31 January 2019 to not to investigate further under s73(e) of the FOI Act, which provides 'that the complaint is frivolous, vexatious, misconceived, lacking in substance or not made in good faith.'
Regards,
FOI Team.
ATO. Working for all Australians
-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Fairless <[FOI #11796 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 3 September 2024 9:34 AM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Notice [SEC=OFFICIAL]
EXTERNAL EMAIL: STAY SMART, STAY SECURE.
Dear FOI,
I refer to your email of 23 August 2024 advising that the decision had been made with respect to my request.
The notice you’ve provided does not comply with the Freedom of Information Act or the Freedom of Information Guidelines. As you would no doubt be aware, a single paragraph asking me to download documents from a non-government website is not a statement of reasons.
Considering you’ve been handling requests sent from this website in this way for years, I’m pretty sure you’re aware of that fact. I’ll be making a complaint to the OAIC later today about your persistent refusal to follow the Freedom of Information Act. In the meantime, please provide a valid statement of reasons and the documents requested.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Fairless
-----Original Message-----
Dear FOI Applicant,
Please see attachment.
Yours faithfully,
FOI Team
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #11796 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT
The information transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential and/or legally
privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in
reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other
than the intended recipient is prohibited and may result in
severe penalties. If you have received this e-mail in error
please notify the Privacy Hotline of the Australian Taxation
Office, telephone 1300 661 542 and delete all copies of this
transmission together with any attachments.
**********************************************************************
Dear Australian Taxation Office,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Taxation Office's handling of my FOI request 'Requests made via Right to Know/OpenAustralia Foundation'.
Contrary to the information provided by an unnamed official at the Australian taxation office, the FOY decision has not been sent to the address that I have nominated, but rather been published online for all to see.
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,
Ben Fairless
Dear FOI Applicant,
Please see attachment.
Yours faithfully,
FOI Team
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT
The information transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential and/or legally
privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in
reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other
than the intended recipient is prohibited and may result in
severe penalties. If you have received this e-mail in error
please notify the Privacy Hotline of the Australian Taxation
Office, telephone 1300 661 542 and delete all copies of this
transmission together with any attachments.
*********************************************************************
Dear FOI Applicant,
Please see attached notice.
Regards
FOI team
Australian Taxation Office
[1]Facebook | [2]X | [3]LinkedIn | [4]Instagram
ATO. Working for all Australians
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT
The information transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential and/or legally
privileged material. Any review, re-transmission, disclosure,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in
reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other
than the intended recipient is prohibited and may result in
severe penalties. If you have received this e-mail in error
please notify the Privacy Hotline of the Australian Taxation
Office, telephone 1300 661 542 and delete all copies of this
transmission together with any attachments.
*********************************************************************
References
Visible links
1. http://www.facebook.com/atogovau
2. http://www.x.com/ato_gov_au
3. http://www.linkedin.com/company/australi...
4. http://www.instagram.com/austaxoffice
Ben Fairless left an annotation ()
Here's the back story:
https://www.oaf.org.au/2017/01/25/right-...
Worth pointing out they have been doing this since 2016.
CR left an annotation ()
I don't understand the ATO's problem.
I wonder... Would the ATO accommodate if an FOI applicant doesn't agree to iorder.com.au's privacy policy?