Superannuation salary of employees posted overseas
Dear Department of Agriculture and Water Resources,
I seek copies of the following documents:
- Documents created in 2019 concerning the matter of whether rent free housing provided to employees of the Department posted overseas should be treated as salary for superannuation purposes;
- Communications between the Department and the Department of Finance in 2019 concerning the matter of whether rent free housing provided to employees of the Department posted overseas should be treated as salary for superannuation purposes.
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Styles
Dear Mr Styles,
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) to the following:
‘- Documents created in 2019 concerning the matter of whether rent free
housing provided to employees of the Department posted
overseas should be treated as salary for superannuation purposes;
- Communications between the Department and the Department of Finance in
2019 concerning the matter of whether rent free housing provided to
employees of the Department posted overseas should be treated as salary
for superannuation purposes.
I would like to submit an FOI request for the recordings of the phone
calls I made to 1800 900 090 on 21 August 2019.’
Your request was received by the department on 20 August 2019 and the 30
day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day
after that date. 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.
The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your
request and the amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No
charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
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Further assistance
If you require any assistance please email [2][Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email].
Regards,
Freedom of Information Team
Email [3][Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email]
Department of Agriculture [4]www.agriculture.gov.au
18 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia GPO Box 858
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Dear Mr Styles,
Please find attached correspondence from the Department of Agriculture in
relation to your freedom of information request.
If you have any queries, please contact [1][Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email].
Kind regards,
Freedom of Information Team
Email [2][Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email]
Department of Agriculture [3]www.agriculture.gov.au
18 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia GPO Box 858
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.
------ IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments have been issued by the
Australian Government Department of Agriculture. The material transmitted
is for the use of the intended recipient only and may contain
confidential, legally privileged, copyright or personal information. You
should not copy, use or disclose it without authorisation from the
Department. It is your responsibility to check any attachments for viruses
and defects before opening or forwarding them. If you are not an intended
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2. mailto:[Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email]
3. http://www.agriculture.gov.au/
Dear FOI Team,
I have this evening paid the charges of $27.30 into the DAWR Departmental Account with reference LEX-2760.
Please proceed with processing of my request.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Styles
Dear Foi,
I refer to the above matter.
According to my calculations, the 60 days since my request was lodged expired on 19 October. I note also that the Department has only identified 2 documents (5 pages) relevant to my request. In the circumstances, 60 days would seem to be a more than ample period of time within which to consult with the other agency concerned.
I seek your prompt advice as to when I can expect to receive a decision on my request.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Styles
Dear Mr Styles,
Please find attached the decision in relation to your freedom of
information request.
If you have any queries, please contact [1][Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email].
Kind regards,
Freedom of Information Team
Email [2][Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email]
Department of Agriculture [3]www.agriculture.gov.au
18 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia GPO Box 858
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.
------ IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments have been issued by the
Australian Government Department of Agriculture. The material transmitted
is for the use of the intended recipient only and may contain
confidential, legally privileged, copyright or personal information. You
should not copy, use or disclose it without authorisation from the
Department. It is your responsibility to check any attachments for viruses
and defects before opening or forwarding them. If you are not an intended
recipient, please contact the sender of this email at once by return email
and then delete both messages. Unintended recipients must not copy, use,
disclose, rely on or publish this email or attachments. The Department of
Agriculture is not liable for any loss or damage resulting from
unauthorised use or dissemination of, or any reliance on, this email or
attachments. If you have received this e-mail as part of a valid mailing
list and no longer want to receive a message such as this one, advise the
sender by return e-mail accordingly. This notice should not be deleted or
altered ------
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email]
2. mailto:[Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email]
3. http://www.agriculture.gov.au/
Dear Department of Agriculture and Water Resources,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Agriculture and Water Resources's handling of my FOI request 'Superannuation salary of employees posted overseas'.
- I am not satisfied that the decision-maker has appropriately taken into account the public interest in releasing the relevant documents. It is in the public interest to disclose documents that go to the question of whether superannuation schemes that are ultimately publicly funded are being appropriately administered by relevant agencies. This public interest outweighs, and should have been determined to outweigh, the other considerations the decision-maker took into account.
- A mere reference to a legal advice or the fact that a document may be informed by legal advice does not render the document legally privileged.
- Even if sections of the document were legally priviled, these could have been omitted and the remainder of the document (also excluding personal information) released.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Styles
Dear Mr Styles,
Please see the attached correspondence in relation to LEX 3183.
Cheers,
Freedom of Information Team
Email [Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email]
Department of Agriculture www.agriculture.gov.au
18 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia GPO Box 858
-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Kerrigan [mailto:[FOI #5588 email]]
Sent: Saturday, 26 October 2019 1:34 PM
To: Foi <[Department of Agriculture and Water Resources request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Superannuation salary of employees posted overseas [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Department of Agriculture and Water Resources,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Agriculture and Water Resources's handling of my FOI request 'Superannuation salary of employees posted overseas'.
- I am not satisfied that the decision-maker has appropriately taken into account the public interest in releasing the relevant documents. It is in the public interest to disclose documents that go to the question of whether superannuation schemes that are ultimately publicly funded are being appropriately administered by relevant agencies. This public interest outweighs, and should have been determined to outweigh, the other considerations the decision-maker took into account.
- A mere reference to a legal advice or the fact that a document may be informed by legal advice does not render the document legally privileged.
- Even if sections of the document were legally priviled, these could have been omitted and the remainder of the document (also excluding personal information) released.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Styles
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IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments have been issued by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture. The material transmitted is for the use of the intended recipient only and may contain confidential, legally privileged, copyright or personal information. You should not copy, use or disclose it without authorisation from the Department. It is your responsibility to check any attachments for viruses and defects before opening or forwarding them.
If you are not an intended recipient, please contact the sender of this email at once by return email and then delete both messages. Unintended recipients must not copy, use, disclose, rely on or publish this email or attachments. The Department of Agriculture is not liable for any loss or damage resulting from unauthorised use or dissemination of, or any reliance on, this email or attachments.
If you have received this e-mail as part of a valid mailing list and no longer want to receive a message such as this one, advise the sender by return e-mail accordingly. This notice should not be deleted or altered
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