&DLM Only For Official Use Only

Dear Mr Cooper-Stout,

 

Your Freedom of Information Request: No 171824

 

I refer to your below email seeking access to documents under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), relating to:

 

·         all written correspondence sent to the STA-SAFE Consortium as
part of their request to conduct pill testing at the Spilt Milk festival.

 

Your request was received by the National Capital Authority (NCA) on 16
October 2017.  Further information on processing of your request is set
out below.

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

The statutory timeframe for processing a request is 30 days from the date
upon which your application was received by the NCA. The time limit for
processing your request expires on 15 November 2017.

 

This timeframe may be extended where: 

 

o charges are levied as prescribed by the Freedom of Information (Fees
and Charges) Regulations 1982 (the FOI Regulations)(see charges
below);
o consultation with third parties is necessary (see consultation with
third parties below). 

 

Consultation with third parties

 

The FOI Act requires the NCA to undertake consultation prior to making any
decision to grant access to documents (subject to exemptions) that
contain:

 

•             information that originated with, or was received from, a
State or an authority of a State;

•             information that originated with, or was received from, a
foreign government, an authority of a foreign government or an
international organisation;

•             information concerning a person's business or commercial
affairs, or the business, commercial or financial affairs of an
organisation or undertaking; or

•             personal information about a person (including a deceased
person).

 

If the documents covered by your request contain such information, the NCA
is required to consult with the relevant third parties before making a
decision on the release of those documents.

 

Section 15(6) of the FOI Act provides for an extension of 30 days to the
statutory 30 day time limit for processing requests. 

 

Charges

 

Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. These charges are set by the FOI
Regulations and are for search and retrieval of documents, decision making
and provision of access (for example, copying and postage). 

 

If the NCA  decides to charge you in respect of this FOI request, we will
send you a preliminary assessment of the charges as soon as possible
following retrieval of any documents that may be relevant to your
request. 

 

Publication arrangements

 

Under section 11C of the FOI Act, the NCA must publish information that
has been released in response to each FOI access request, subject to
certain exceptions (for example, personal information will not be
published where this would be unreasonable).  This publication is known as
a ‘disclosure log’ and must be published on the NCA’s website (s.
11C(3)).  The NCA must publish this information within ten working days of
giving the FOI applicant access to the information (s 11C(6)).

 

If you require clarification of any of the matters discussed in this
letter, or have any queries throughout the process, please contact me by
phone on 02 6272 2972 or my email on [1][email address].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

NCA FOI Officer

Compliance and Governance

 

National Capital Authority | Treasury Building, King Edward Terrace,
PARKES ACT 2600

GPO Box 373, CANBERRA ACT 2601 | ; [2]www.nationalcapital.gov.au |
Twitter: @NCA_Media

 

P  Please consider our environmental footprint before printing this e-mail

 

 

 

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Security: UNCLASSIFIED For Official Use Only

Mr Jeremy Cooper-Stout

 

c/- [1][FOI #4149 email]

 

Dear Mr Cooper-Stout,

 

Your Freedom of Information Request of 16 October 2017 – No 171284

 

I refer to your email of 16 October 2017 seeking access to documents under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), relating to:

 

                - All written correspondence sent to the STA-SAFE
Consortium as part of their request to conduct pill testing at the Spilt
Milk festival

 

Searches undertaken to facilitate your request failed to identify any
documentation relating to the above.

 

Decision Maker

 

I am an authorised decision-maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.

 

This letter sets out my decision and reasons for the decision in relation
to your application.

 

Summary of Decision

 

I find there are no documents relevant to your request.

 

Thorough searches and discussions with relevant individuals have been
conducted in order to identify documents relevant to your request. The
searches included:

 

•             An electronic search of the National Capital Authority’s
record keeping system;

 

•             A physical search of any documents found under those search
terms; and

 

•             Consultation with relevant individuals.

 

I am satisfied that the above discussions, searches and physical
examinations of hard copy files were extremely thorough and all reasonable
steps have been taken to locate the documents relevant to your request.

 

In accordance with section 24A(1) of the FOI Act I refuse access to
documents on the grounds that all reasonable steps have been taken to
locate documents but the documents either cannot be found or do not exist.

 

A copy of section 24A (1) of the FOI Act can be found [2]here and
information on your rights of review can be read [3]here. Although I note
my decision is that no documents exist, you may wish to contend that not
all the relevant documents have been identified.

 

Charges

 

The Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations (the FOI Regulations)
prescribes the charges that can be levied in respect of a request for
access to documents. These charges are set out in the Regulations and are
for search and retrieval of documents, decision making and provision of
access (for example, copying and postage). 

 

I have decided not to impose charges for this request.

 

Contacts

 

If you have any queries about this notice, please do not hesitate to
contact me at [email address].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

NCA FOI Officer

Compliance and Governance

 

National Capital Authority | Treasury Building, King Edward Terrace,
PARKES ACT 2600

GPO Box 373, CANBERRA ACT 2601 | ; [4]www.nationalcapital.gov.au |
Twitter: @NCA_Media

 

P  Please consider our environmental footprint before printing this e-mail

 

 

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