Dear Josh

Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) made in the following terms:
how much money was spent in total on pencils provided to polling places for the purpose of being used by voters to fill out their ballot papers for the 2022 federal election.

Timeframe to process your request
Your request was received by the Australian Electoral Commission (the AEC) on 16 April 2023, and the 30 day statutory timeframe for processing your request commenced from the day after that date. You should expect to receive a decision from us by 16 May 2023. 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 timeframe is extended.

Charges
We will advise you if any charge is payable to process your request and the amount of any charge as soon as practicable. No charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal information.

Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address to which we can send notices. You have advised that your electronic address is [FOI #10164 email]. We will send all notices and correspondence to this address. Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish for notices and correspondence to be sent to a different address. If you do not advise us of changes to your address, notices and correspondence will continue to be sent to the address specified above.

Disclosure log
Documents released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log on the AEC'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.

Further assistance
If you have any questions, please email [email address], or contact our enquiries line on 13 23 26.
Yours sincerely,

Meg
FOI Team
Australian Electoral Commission
T: 13 23 26

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Our reference: LEX3968
 
Dear Josh,
 
Your Freedom of Information Request – section 24AB consultation
 
Thank you for your email. I refer to your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) made in the following terms:
 
how much money was spent in total on pencils provided to polling places
for the purpose of being used by voters to fill out their ballot papers
for the 2022 federal election.
 
 
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make
decisions in relation to FOI requests.
 
Practical refusal reason
 
We have consulted with the relevant line areas and been advised that the
information you’re requesting is:

* extremely broad in its scope, as 'how much money was spent in total on
pencils…' covers costs including:

* the average lifetime cost of a pencil
* the cost of transport of pencils to and from vendors, storage and
polling places all across Australia
* does not delineate between the origin of pencils (e.g. some pencils
are reused and others are bought especially for the event)
* covers other various costs associated with pencils, like the cost of
boxes to store them in, the cost of staff to procure and manage the
contracts under which they're bought etc.
* not all pencils purchased are for the sole 'purpose of being used by
voters to fill out their ballot papers'
* while most pencils are sourced under two specific contracts (detailed
below) in emergencies or where required AEC staff can also purchase
pencils at an office supply store or where otherwise available at
short notice (e.g. perhaps in a remote area or where there has been an
unexpectedly large number of votes cast in a particular polling
place). This can be done through an AEC credit card or through a
reimbursement scheme.

* it is also not a request for a document, but rather for information. I
have taken your request to be for a document which contains this
information, however this means that the request is still extremely
broad.

 
The line area have indicated that there is no single document at the AEC
that contains the above information. To provide the information it would
have to be calculated by AEC staff, and the line area have indicated that
this would be a significant undertaking. It would require multiple staff
to work to bring together costs from a range of areas (e.g. including
calculating staff wages, various invoices under contracts, auditing AEC
staff credit cards in case pencils were bought in some cases on those,
calculating how many pencils were re-used, costs of storage and transport
etc.) and use complex calculations in order to break down various figures
and re-constitute them into a single figure. This work is all prior to the
FOI team’s review and decision process.
 
As a result of this, processing your request would result in a substantial
and unreasonable impact on resourcing and I am considering making a
decision under s 24AA(1)(a)(i) that a practical refusal reason exists. I
note that the AEC is currently preparing to deliver a Referendum in the
later half of 2023, a key activity from which resources cannot reasonably
be diverted. I note as well that the AEC FOI team is small, and requests
are processed by officers who maintain duties in relation to other legal
matters.
 
However, before I make a final decision, you have the opportunity to
revise your FOI request. This is called a 'request consultation process',
and is set out in section 24AB of the FOI Act. We hope that, through
additional consultation, we will be able to narrow the scope of your
request to something we can manageably action. You have 14 days to respond
to this notice in one of the ways set out below. I note that, instead of
using the FOI process, you may be able to make a more general request for
assistance with your enquiry with the relevant line area of the AEC.
 
Why your request may be refused
 
In coming to a decision that a practical refusal reason exists, in
accordance with s24AA I have had regard to the resources that would have
to be used for:

* identifying the relevant factors that would need to form part of the
calculations;
* identifying, locating or collating the documents containing this
information within the filing system of the AEC ;
* deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document to
which the request relates, or to grant access to an edited copy of
such a document (including resources that would have to be used for
examining the document or consulting with any person or body in
relation to the request);
* making a copy or an edited copy, of the document;
* notifying any interim or final decision on the request;
* any other matters in addition to those specified, in deciding whether
a practical refusal reason exists.

 
Request consultation process
 
You now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to
proceed.
 
For instance, you may wish to revise your request to narrow the scope of
documents. In case it provides assistance, we note the line area have
advised that the majority of pencils are bought under the following two
contracts, details of which are on Austender:

* A whole of government arrangement for office supplies: [1]Contract
Notice View - CN3725581-A6: AusTender (tenders.gov.au)
* A separate contract due to the specific pencils also required (e.g.
with a string attached): [2]Contract Notice View - CN3474712-A1:
AusTender (tenders.gov.au)

 
Examples of narrowed requests could include:

* Requesting a specific document or document/s related to the above
contracts

 
Please note that the whole of government arrangement for office supplies
is [3]administered by the Department of Finance. If you are seeking
commercially sensitive information under this contract to do with pricing,
you may wish to consider directing your enquiries to the Department of
Finance.
 
It is also worth noting that documents containing commercially sensitive
information will be subject to the considerations and consultation in
accordance with the FOI Act. The OAIC have further information:
[4]Personal and business information: third-party review rights | OAIC
 
Before the end of the 14 day consultation period, you must write to the
AEC Contact Officer below and either:
•       withdraw your request;
•       make a revised request; or
•       tell us that you do not wish to revise your request.
 
The 14 day consultation period will start on the day after you receive
this notice.
 
During this period, you are welcome to seek assistance from AEC to revise
your request. If you revise your request to adequately address the
practical refusal reasons outlined above, the AEC will recommence
processing it.
 
The time taken to consult you regarding the scope of your request is not
taken into account for the purposes of the 30 day time limit for
processing your request.
 
If you do not do one of the three things listed above during the
consultation period or you do not contact the AEC to discuss your request
during this period, your request will be taken to have been withdrawn.
 
Contact officer
 
If you would like to revise your request or have any questions, please
contact me at [5][AEC request email], or contact our enquiries line on 13 23
26.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
 
Will Mueller | Principal Government Lawyer
Corporate Law Section | Legal Services Branch
Australian Electoral Commission
 
PH: 13 23 26

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