LawLink NSW : Appendix 17 - Freedom of Information (FOI) 1998-99

Appendix 17 - Freedom of Information Statistics for 1998-99

Assessment of the impact during the year of the FOI requirements in the Department’s activities.

The Department received 31 FOI applications during the 1998/99 year and finalised 29. This compares with 11 applications received during the 1997/98 period. Should the current trend continue it will impact on resources.

Major issues that have arisen in connection with the Department’s compliance with the FOI requirements.

The Anti-Discrimination Board and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner have now been included in the FOI Regulations as bodies to be included in the Attorney General’s Department. Five of the applications finalised were in relation to the Anti-Discrimination Board and one matter in relation to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. The Department also processes applications concerning the Legal Practitioners Admission Board. Two of the matters finalised concerned the Legal Practitioners Admission Board.

The Department was also consulted by two agencies in relation to documents that affected the Department’s business affairs.

As reported in previous years, a considerable amount of time is spent by departmental officers answering FOI inquiries by the public. There continues to be a view that the NSW Attorney General’s Department is responsible for the FOI Act.

Particulars of the circumstances and outcomes in which there have been any inquiries under the Act by the Ombudsman or any appeals under the Act to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT).

During the period two matters were finalised by the Ombudsman. On one matter, after the review by the Ombudsman, the Department released the documents to the applicant. The other matter was in relation to the amendment of personal records and the complaint was withdrawn by the applicant.

There are currently four matters pending before the Ombudsman, three of which relate to the one applicant.

One application has been finalised by the ADT during the period. This matter was originally reviewed by the Ombudsman in March 1996. The Department submitted to the President that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear the matter, as over 60 days had lapsed since the Ombudsman’s decision. The applicant withdrew the application.

There is currently one matter pending before the ADT.

Comparison of statistical information for 1997/98 and 1998/99.

SECTION A

Numbers of new FOI requests – Information relating to numbers of new FOI requests received, those processed and those incomplete from the previous period.

FOI Requests	Personal		Other		Total
	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99
A1 New (including transferred in)	9	17	2	11	11	28
A2 Brought forward	4	1	6	0	10	1
A3 Total to be processed	13	18	8	11	21	29
A4 Completed	7	17	5	10	12	27
A5 Transferred out	0	0	0	0	0	0
A6 Withdrawn	3	0	0	0	3	0
A7 Total processed	10	17	5	10	15	27
A8 Unfinished	3	1	3	1	6	2

Section B

Result of FOI Requests	Personal		Other		Total
	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99
B1 Granted in full	1	5	0	1	1	6
B2 Granted in part	3	9	2	3	5	12
B3 Refused	2	3	3	6	5	9
B4 Deferred	1	0	0	0	1	0
B5 Completed	7	17	5	10	12	27

Section C
Ministerial Certificates – number issued during the period.

	Ministerial Certificates	97-98	98-99
	C1 Ministerial Certificates Issues	0	0

Section D
Formal consultations – number of requests requiring formal consultations (issued) and total number of formal consultations for the period.

Formal Consultations	No. of requests requiring consultations (issued)		Total number of formal consultations
	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99
D1 No. of requests requiring formal consultations	0	4	0	13

Section E
Amendment of personal records – number of requests for amendment processed during the period.

Result of amendment	Total
request	97-98	98-99
E1 Result of amendment – agreed	0	0
E2 Result of amendment – refused	0	1

Section F
Notation of personal records – number of requests for notation processed during the period.

Notation of personal records	Total
	97-98	98-99
F1 No. of requests for notation	0	0

Section G
FOI requests granted in part or refused – Basis of disallowing access – Number of times each reason cited in relation to completed requests which were granted in part or refused.

Basis of disallowing or restricting access	Personal		Other		Total
	98-99	97-98	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99
G1 section 19 – application incomplete, wrongly directed	0	0	0	0	0	0
G2 Section 22 – deposit not paid	0	0	0	1	0	1
G3 Section 25(1)(a1) – diversion of resources	0	0	0	1	0	1
G4 Section 25(1)(a) – exempt	14	9	6	5	20	14
G5 Section 25(1)(b)(c)(d) – otherwise available	0	2	0	1	0	3
G6 Section 28(1)(b) – documents not held	0	0	1	2	1	2
G7 Section 24(2) – deemed refused, over 21 days	0	1	0	1	0	2
G8 Section 31(4) (released to Medical Practitioner)	0	0	0	0	0	0
G9 Totals	14	12	7	11	21	23

Section H
Costs and fees of requests processed

Costs	Assessed Costs		FOI fees received
	97-98	98-99	98-99	97-98
H1 All completed requests	$360.00	$960.00	$190.00	$660.00

Section I
Discounts allowed – numbers of FOI requests processed during the period where discounts were allowed.

Type of discount allowed	Personal		Other
	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99
I1 Public interest	0	1	0	3
I2 Financial hardship – pensioner/child	1	7	0	2
I3 Financial hardship – non profit organisation	0	0	0	0
I4 Totals	1	8	0	5
I5 Significant correction of personal records	0	0	0	0

Section J
Days to process – number of completed requests by calendar days (elapsed time) taken to process.

Elapsed time	Personal		Other
	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99
J1 0 – 21 days	2	10	0	8
J2 22 – 35 days	8	3	5	2
J3 Over 35 days	0	2	0	2
J4 Totals	10	15	5	12

Section K
Processing time – number of completed requests by hours taken to process.

Processing hours	Personal		Other
	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99
K1 0 – 10 hours	10	16	5	8
K2 11 – 20 hours	0	1	0	2
K3 21 – 40 hours	0	0	0	0
K4 Over 40 hours	0	0	0	0
K5 Totals	10	17	5	10

Section L
Reviews and Appeals – number finalised during the period.

Reviews and Appeals	Total
	97-98	98-99
L1 Number of internal reviews finalised	4	9
L2 Number of Ombudsman reviews finalised	1	2
L3 Number of ADT appeals finalised	0	1

Bases of internal review	Personal				Other
	Upheld		Varied		Upheld		Varied
	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99	97-98	98-99
L4 Access/Amendment refused	2	4	0	2	2	3	0	0
L5 Deferred	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
L6 Exempt matter	0	3	0	2	0	3	0	0
L7 Unreasonable charges	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
L8 Charge unreasonable incurred	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
L9 Withdrawn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
L10 Totals	2	7	0	4	2	6	0	0

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information current as of: 14 February 2012