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    FOI 2202 - S 24AB Consultation Notice

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    paulfarrell
    The department has issued a request consultation notice to the applicant under section 24AB of the FOI Act, as the applicant's request does not provide enough information to reasonably identify the documents sought. Specifically, the strategic advice provided by McKinsey Pacific Rim to the department was ongoing consultation rather than specific documents. The applicant has 14 days to consult with the department to clarify the scope of their request by specifying documents, types of documents, or revising the time period sought. If no clarification is provided, the request will be considered withdrawn under the FOI Act.

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    FOI 2202 - S 24AB Consultation Notice

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    paulfarrell
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    The department has issued a request consultation notice to the applicant under section 24AB of the FOI Act, as the applicant's request does not provide enough information to reasonably identify the documents sought. Specifically, the strategic advice provided by McKinsey Pacific Rim to the department was ongoing consultation rather than specific documents. The applicant has 14 days to consult with the department to clarify the scope of their request by specifying documents, types of documents, or revising the time period sought. If no clarification is provided, the request will be considered withdrawn under the FOI Act.

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    Consultation

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    FOI 2202 - s 24AB Consultation Notice

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    The department has issued a request consultation notice to the applicant under section 24AB of the FOI Act, as the applicant's request does not provide enough information to reasonably identify the documents sought. Specifically, the strategic advice provided by McKinsey Pacific Rim to the department was ongoing consultation rather than specific documents. The applicant has 14 days to consult with the department to clarify the scope of their request by specifying documents, types of documents, or revising the time period sought. If no clarification is provided, the request will be considered withdrawn under the FOI Act.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    1K views3 pages

    FOI 2202 - S 24AB Consultation Notice

    Uploaded by

    paulfarrell
    The department has issued a request consultation notice to the applicant under section 24AB of the FOI Act, as the applicant's request does not provide enough information to reasonably identify the documents sought. Specifically, the strategic advice provided by McKinsey Pacific Rim to the department was ongoing consultation rather than specific documents. The applicant has 14 days to consult with the department to clarify the scope of their request by specifying documents, types of documents, or revising the time period sought. If no clarification is provided, the request will be considered withdrawn under the FOI Act.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    The document outlines a request for information on COVID-19 vaccine strategy advice provided by McKinsey Pacific Rim that was refused due to lack of specificity in identifying documents. The applicant is given opportunity to clarify the request.

    The applicant requested information on the nature and format of COVID-19 vaccine strategy advice provided to the Department of Health by McKinsey Pacific Rim.

    The initial request is refused because it does not provide enough information to reasonably identify the specific documents being sought, as required by the FOI Act.

    Department Reference: FOI 2202

    Mr Paul Farrell
    via email: <[email protected]>

    Dear Mr Farrell

    REQUEST CONSULTATION NOTICE UNDER SECTION 24AB


    OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982

    I refer to your request of 19 January 2021 to the Department of Health (department)


    seeking access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) to the
    following documents:

    The COVID-19 Vaccine and treatment strategy advice prepared by Mckinsey Pacific
    Rim (your ref 4500139482)

    On the 22 January 2021 you clarified that the contract reference number is
    CN3719327.

    On 4 February 2021, we sought informal clarification from you regarding your


    request.

    You responded with the following:

    What is the nature of the advice the company has provided? Is it a weekly or perhaps
    monthly update? Is it provided in submissions or in some other format?

    Practical refusal reason

    I have considered the clarified scope of your request and I am satisfied, for the
    reasons set out below, the request still does not provide such information concerning
    the document/s as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the
    department, to identify it (the ‘practical refusal reason’) (paragraph 24AA(1)(b) of
    the FOI Act.
    Request does not sufficiently identify documents sought

    A formal requirement of making an FOI request is the request must provide such
    information as is reasonable necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency to
    identify the document or documents requested (paragraph 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act).

    As described in our informal consultation with you, McKinsey Pacific Rim has
    provided ongoing strategic advice and support to the department which is not
    contained in a specific document.

    For the department to discharge its duty under the FOI Act to conduct ‘reasonable
    searches’ it needs to be able to identify the document/s an applicant is seeking.
    Without further clarification on what you are seeking, the department is unable to
    process your request.

    On this basis, I am satisfied a practical refusal reason exists for the purposes of
    paragraph 24AA(1)(b) of the FOI Act.

    Request consultation process

    Before I can make a decision to refuse access to the documents on the basis of the
    practical refusal reason, the FOI Act requires me to undertake a request consultation
    process which gives you an opportunity to provide clarification on your request
    (paragraph 24(1)(a) and section 24AB).

    This letter constitutes a written notice in accordance with subsection 24AB(2) of the
    FOI Act giving you a 14-day period to consult with the department about the terms
    of your request. The consultation period during which you can consult the below
    contact person is 14 days commencing after today and ending on 25 February 2021.

    What you need to do

    Under subsection 24AB(6) of the FOI Act, you have 14 days from the date of this
    notice, to notify the department, in writing, that you either:

    a) withdraw your request


    b) would like to provide clarification on your request, or
    c) do not wish to revise your request.

    Under subsection 24AB(7), your request will have been taken to be withdrawn if you
    neither contact the department’s FOI Unit during the 14 days or not do any of the
    things mentioned above at (a), (b) and (c) before the consultation period ends.
    How you could clarify your request

    You have requested information on the nature of the advice and the format it was
    provided in. As you may be aware, the FOI Act provides a mechanism for
    individuals to access ‘documents’ that are in existence at the time of the request,
    rather than ‘information’.

    McKinsey Pacific Rim provided strategic planning consultation services over a four
    week period. This included collaboration and participation in a range of activities.
    However, McKinsey Pacific Rim did not provide specific advice.

    The department requests you consider revising the scope of your request bearing the
    above information in mind. In particular, if you decide to revise the scope of your
    request, you might like to consider specifying the specific document or documents
    you are interested in or the specific type of document you are seeking. In addition
    you could consider:
    • excluding duplicates, draft documents, internal correspondence from your
    request
    • restricting the time period over which you seek documents
    • restricting your request to a particular category or subject matter within
    request.

    Relevant provisions of the FOI Act

    The FOI Act, including the provisions referred to in this letter, can be accessed from
    the Federal Register of Legislation website:
    https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2020C00110

    Contact person

    The contact person whom you may consult is the department’s FOI Unit who can
    contacted by telephone (02) 6289 1666 or by email at [email protected].

    Yours sincerely

    Karen Bishop
    Principal Lawyer
    FOI and Legislation Branch
    15 February 2021

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