SES Communications regarding ATO Enterprise Agreement offer
Dear Australian Taxation Office,
I request all emails sent from the Commissioner, Second Commissioners, or Deputy Commissioners, to any recipient, in the last week of April 2016 (ie. 25 April onwards), on the topic of communicating messages to all ATO employees about the proposed ATO Enterprise Agreement.
I also request any 'toolkits', 'frequently asked questions', 'fact sheets', or similar, which may have been provided to assist managers address employees' questions on the ATO offer, if such document(s) exist.
Yours faithfully,
James Smith
Our reference: 1-85DQTML
Attention: Mr James Smith
Thank you for your recent email to the FOI mailbox. We will consider your
request and respond as soon as possible.
FOI requests are required to be processed within 30 days from the date we
receive an application. While we aim to achieve this timeframe, certain
requests that are large or involve complex issues may take longer. If this
is the case we will contact you to discuss when the material can be made
available.
Further, as your request is not for personal information, charges may
apply depending on the size and complexity of your case. We will notify
you if there are charges and what those charges will be. We will also
obtain your consent to any applicable charges before proceeding with the
request.
Kind regards,
Roze Devereux
Assistant Legal Advisor | General Counsel
Australian Taxation Office
P (02) 9374 2483 E [1][email address]
ATO | Working for all Australians
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those communications include your personal details.
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1. mailto:[email address]
Our reference: 1-85DQTML
Dear Mr Smith
I refer to your recent Freedom of Information request dated 10 May 2016.
We are usually required to process your request within 30 days. However,
we will be unable to finalise your requests in the usual timeframe.
With your agreement, we propose to extend the time to process and make a
decision on your requests until 17 June 2016 in accordance with s15AA(a)
of the FOI Act.
Could you please indicate if you consent to the extension of time by reply
e-mail to this address by close of business 8 June 2016?
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on the
number provided below.
Kind regards,
Chad Reich
Senior Lawyer, General Counsel
Australian Taxation Office
P 08 8208 1794
Dear Mr Reich,
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately, I am unable to agree to any extension on this occasion since the ATO has waited until the end of the 30 day period to seek an extension, and provided no acceptable reason for the need for any extension.
Yours sincerely,
James Smith
Our reference: RQ16/02283
Agency reference: 1-85DQTML
Mr James Smith
Dear Mr Smith
Extension of time request under s15AB
On 9 June 2016, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) requested further
time to make a decision on your FOI request of 10 May 2016.
This request was on the basis that the processing period is insufficient
to deal adequately with your request, because it is complex and/or
voluminous.
As a delegate of the Information Commissioner I have decided to grant the
ATO an extension of time of 8 days for this request, to 17 June 2016. This
decision has been made under s15AB(2) of the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (Cth) (the Act).
If you would like to discuss this matter you may contact me on 02 9284
9731 or via email [1][email address].
Yours sincerely
Timothy Fleming| Investigations Officer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: +61 2 9284 9731
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Email: [2][email address]
Protecting information rights – advancing information policy
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1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Smith
I refer to your recent Freedom of Information request dated 10 May 2016.
Please find enclosed a copy of my decision, and the relevant documents.
Kind regards
Chad Reich
Senior Lawyer, General Counsel
Australian Taxation Office
P 08 8208 1794
Dear Australian Taxation Office,
Your Reference : 1-85DQTML
Thank you for your email.
I request an internal review of your decision to withhold the information you have considered exempt.
In my view a valid and sufficient argument has not been made to exempt any material. It may be preferable for the ATO to withhold certain information, but I think the public interest clearly outweighs any preference of the ATO on this occasion.
I should point out that the material I seek is, quite clearly, concerned only in relation to 'selling the agreement' to employees. This is quite separate from any internal discussion that may focus more specifically on 'bargaining tactics', or 'negotiation strategies'.
With this in mind, I think it ought to be quite a stretch of the imagination to - even remotely - suggest that the release of such information would, or could reasonable be expected to 'have a substantial adverse effect' on the ATO.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
James Smith
Dear Mr Smith,
Thank you for your email to the FOI mailbox. We will consider your request
and respond as soon as possible.
Our reference for this request is 1-8L2MHDI.
FOI requests are required to be processed within 30 days from the date we
receive an application. While we aim to achieve this timeframe, certain
requests that are large or involve complex issues may take longer. If this
is the case we will contact you to discuss when the material can be made
available. Further, unless your request is for personal information,
charges may apply depending on the size and complexity of your case.
We will notify you if there are charges and what those charges will be. We
will obtain your consent to any additional charges before processing the
request.
Kind regards,
Kelly
Kelly Johncock
Lawyer, General Counsel
Australian Taxation Office
P 02 6216 6947
[1]cid:image006.png@01D0872C.6FBBE500
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Dear General Counsel Requests,
Thank you for your internal review.
For your information I have requested a review of your decision by the Information Commissioner
Yours sincerely,
James Smith