01 - Department of Education and Communities - NSW Government

APPENDICESFOI Requests Personal Non-Personal TotalNew 68 39 107Brought forward 4 2 6Total to be processed 72 41 113Completed 60 25 85Transferred out - - -Withdrawn 7 15 22Total processed 67 40 107Carried forward 5 1 6Result of Request Personal Non-PersonalGranted in full 27 14Granted in part 32 6Granted subject to deferral - -Refused 1 4Withdrawn 7 15Transferred to another agency - -Total 67 40Ministerial Certificates issued NilNumber of Formal Consultations 12Number of Requests for Amendmentof Personal Records 0Number of Requests for Notationof Personal Records 0Requests granted in part or refusedAll requests where access was refused or grantedin part only were in accordance with Section 25(1) (a) of the Act, i.e. the documents sought wereconsidered exempt in full or part in accordancewith one or more of the clauses outlined inSchedule 1 of the Act.Assessed Costs of Applications $20720FOI Fees Received $4965Discounts Allowed – Thirteen applications (11 Personal, 2Non-Personal) received a 50% reduction in fees and charges.In each case the discount was allowed on the basis of financialhardship, i.e the applicant was in receipt of a pension, jobsearch allowance or other similar benefit or was earning anincome equivalent to these.Elapsed Time Personal Non-Personal0-21 days 40 1521-35 days 15 15Over 35 days 12 10Processing Time Personal Non-Personal0-10 hours 17 1011-20 hours 50 2721-40 hours - 3Over 40 hours - -Totals 67 40Number of Internal Reviews finalised 14Number of Ombudsman Reviews finalised 6Number of District Court appeals finalised NilInternal Reviews: Fourteen applicants exercised their rights underthe Act to an internal review. The results of the reviews are asfollows.Personal Non-PersonalGrounds for Decision Decision Decision DecisionReview Upheld Varied Upheld VariedAccess refused – – 1 1Exempt matter 8 2 2 –Ombudsman Reviews: There were six applications for a reviewby the Office of the Ombudsman finalised in the period 1 July1996 to 30 June 1997. The applicants had in each case sought areview on the basis that he disagreed with the exemption fromrelease of certain documents. In five of these matters theOmbudsman, after making preliminary inquiries, declined to dealfurther with the application for review. In one matter theDepartment varied the decision after consultation with the Officeof the Ombudsman.Overview: The statistics for 1996-97 varied significantly fromthe previous year with both the total number of requests processedand the breakdown of requests between personal and non-personalmarkedly different. The number of applications increased by 59%from the previous year. The breakdown of requests showed personalaccounting for 63 per cent of all requests and non-personal requestsaccounting for 37 per cent of requests. This compares to 78 percent and 22 per cent respectively for the last reporting period.The vast majority of applicants were provided with access to all orsome of the documents sought as was the case for the 1995-96reporting period. The increase in the number of applications whichwere withdrawn is in part due to efforts to make material availableto applicants through non-FOI processes.As a consequence of the increased number of requests receivedthere was a corresponding increase in the number of internalreviews and reviews by the Office of the Ombudsman sought byapplicants. There was not however a significant increase in theoverall rate of applications at which reviews were sought.Totals 67 40DSE Annual Report 1997 161