For those interested, the Australian National Audit Office
www.anao.gov.au has just released a report 'Administration of freedom of
information requests' Report No. 2003-04/57. Some of the requirements of
the Aust Act audited are:
procedures for making an FOI request
applicant's rights of review
application fees and processing charges; and
third and related party consultation
So, a request for FOI not only has to be a formal request but also has
an application charge, making the generalised requests spoken about on
this latest email discussion a 'non-event'.
Regards
Maureen Cooper
Perth WA
-----Original Message-----
From: The UK Records Management mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Donald
Henderson
Sent: 08 July 2004 22:11
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: FoI Requests for information and e-mail discussion lists
Richard,
A cracking question ! I bet you're glad you thought of it ! Like you, I
know what the common sense answer is, but I also think that view is at
odds with the legislation. I think I might have a word with the happy
people at the Commissioner's Office (OSIC not TICO !) to see what they
think....
Donald Henderson
Information Security Manager
Perth & Kinross Council
-----Original Message-----
From: The UK Records Management mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Richard
Childs
Sent: 08 July 2004 14:44
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FoI Requests for information and e-mail discussion lists
I know what the common sense answer to this question should be, but with
FoI common sense may not prevail. Clearly a lot of subscribers to
discussion lists such as this one are working for public authorities
that are affected by the Freedom of Information Act My understanding is
that an e-mail sent via a discussion list which asks for information and
is received by an individual on their work e-mail address is technically
an FoI request received by that public body. Clearly the sender of the
e-mail doesn't know everyone to whom the e-mail has been sent, though by
looking at the archive of the discussion list they will have an idea of
some of the subscribers. Therefore from January 2005 should those of us
who subscribe to discussion lists and work for public bodies affected by
FoI have to respond to all requests for information within 20 working
days rather than picking and choosing which ones to which we wish to
reply. Is this the end of e-mail discussion lists for some of us??
Richard Childs County Archivist West Sussex Record Office County Hall
Chichester West Sussex PO19 1RN
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