Administrative Law: Identification of Legal Issues in FOI Application

This report addresses several legal issues arising from a Freedom of Information (FOI) application, focusing on the Environmental Science and Climate Agency of Australia (ESCA) and its compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines 2017. The report examines whether personal emails of ESCA's Contract Manager, James Smith, should be included in official records and whether Smith's grant approval process adhered to regulations. It also considers the status of investigator's notes and an interim environmental report under FOI, outlining the steps for processing the FOI application and the possibility of waiving application fees. The analysis highlights the responsibilities of public authorities, officials, and grantees in the context of administrative law, emphasizing accountability and the importance of public access to information while protecting personal data. The report concludes with a summary of key findings, supported by relevant legal principles and statutory enactments, and provides a list of references.

Administrative Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

Memorandum
To: The ESCA
From:
CC:
Date: September 12, 2019
Subject: Identification of legal issues concerning the FOI application and the file for
review.
Dear Sir,
As per the information that has been provided by the FOI application of the journalist and the
FOI file that has been provided by the department various legal issues that have come up are
discussed hereunder.
 Whether the email from ESCA’s Contract Manager, James Smith, shall be officially
recorded in the ESCA official records management system which consists of personal
matters.
 Whether James Smith has complied with the provisions of law as to approving a grant for
research where the principal investigator is personally known to him.
 Whether the investigator's notes on the ongoing investigation against the grants approved
by James Smith is an official document of ESCA.
 Whether an interim report which has been prepared by an environmental scientist of the
Australian National University is subject to the official record of ESCA.
 What steps or processes shall be applied to process the FOI application made by the
journalist?
 Whether the journalist will be entitled to waive off the charges that are required for filing
FOI application.

As per the given information, ESCA is known as the Environmental Science and Climate
Agency of Australia, which is within the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and
Agriculture. The job of the ESCA is to administer and grant fund for research. The agency shall
issue fund for the examination which shall aim to assist the government of Australia ad its
decision-makers with regards to the understanding, managing, and conserving Australia's
environment with various information.
Personal emails of ESCA’s Contract Manager:
According to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, it provides information access to the public,
which is held by the public authorities. As per the Act, the federal authorities must give a certain
kind of information regarding their activities. The Act also states that the members of the public
can file a request with the concerned public department of the government for relevant
information from the interested municipal authorities concerning the concerned matters. As per
the Act, the information that shall be recorded as FOI at the public authorities department is
printed documents, files, letters, emails, printed photographs or recordings which are relevant for
the purpose. However, it has been mentioned under the provisions of the Act that the people are
not given access to their personal information which is held by any public agency and if the
public requires such information then they shall have to make a data protection subject access
request1.
Therefore, from the given facts the emails pertaining to the James Smith are the personal
information and is not the subject matter of the public authority ESCA, hence such documents or
records shall not be any use for the concerned department and consequently should not be
recorded with the FOI database or FOI file of the relevant department.
Provisions as to approving of the grant:
As per the requirements of the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines 2017, it has been
provided that authorities who have been empowered with by the government or the ministry
under who the official is appointed shall enable the concerned officer or officer for approving
1 "Freedom Of Information", OAIC (Webpage, 2019) https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/

grants, can support grants. However, the officials who are empowered to support grants for
scientific research should have to follow specific guideline framed under the Commonwealth
Grants Rules and Guidelines 2017 and shall be accountable to the concerned ministry under
which the department carries on their duty and responsibility. As per the governance and
accountability provisions in providing grants to the eligible grantees the public authorities and
officials must ensure that they comply strictly with the rules and regulation asset in the
Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines 20172. This provision states that every official who
is part or approves grants to the different grantee under various schemes of the government are
accountable to the government and other stakeholders who are involved in providing funds to the
government for the providing grants to the eligible grantees as per the provisions of this rule.
Ministers, officials, authorities and grantees all play a vital role in the process of administration
of grants and are accountable to their respective administrators in their ways.
Therefore, from the above rules, it is clear that James Smith is accountable to the ministry and
other stakeholders for the administration and approving of the grants. Moreover, it is not only the
power of James Smith as the contract manager to administer the grants to the grantees. The
concerned investigation department investigates these grants before the grants are being
approved to reduce the risk of allocation of grants to grantees who are not eligible or providing
grants to such people will be of no use to the government. Therefore, the allegation that has been
made by E Brown regarding James Smith authority to provide grant is not at all questionable.
Investigators notes on the ongoing investigation:
As per the Freedom of Information Act 2000, it has been provided that the information which
shall be used by the public for any information must be recorded in the recording system of the
authority. The Act also states that the information shall be made available to the public on their
request over the concerned matters. The investigation regarding the authorities and other officials
are of public interest and shall be provided to the public for their use. It has been provided under
the Act that the information which includes any personal information of any of the public or
public authorities shall not be disclosed. It shall be published only if the people make a data
protection request. However, the personal information of the public administration shall not be
2 FOI Regulations", OAIC (Webpage, 2019) https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/the-foi-act/foi-
regulations/

provided to any public unless necessary permission has been granted by such person3. Therefore,
from such analysis into the provisions of Freedom of Information Act 2000 it can be stated that
the investigators notes with regards to the James Smith approval of grants shall be kept in the
record of the department in which James Smith works as a Contract Manager that is the ESCA
shall keep record of the investigators notes with regards to James Smith as this can be helpful for
further proceeding of the investigation.
The interim report which has been prepared by an environmental scientist:
As per the Freedom of Information Act 2000, it gives data access to the public, which is held by
the public officials. According to the Act, the federal authorities commit to providing a particular
sort of data concerning their exercises7. The Act additionally expresses that the individuals from
the public department can demand with the concerned open division of the legislature for
pertinent data from the concerned accessible specialists as for the relevant issues. According to
the Act, the data that will be recorded as FOI at the office are printed reports, documents, letters,
messages, printed photos or accounts which are pertinent for a reason8. Nonetheless, it has been
referenced under the arrangements of the Act that the individuals are not offered access to their
data which is held by an open organization and on the off chance that such data is required by the
general population, at that point they will need to make an informed insurance subject access
demand.
Therefore, the interim report that has been provided by the environmental scientist from the first
year of a three year research project is for the use of the government to make policies with
regards to the area of the research that is the government of Australia shall use the research for
framing the policy and formulates strategy to make development on the potential habitats for the
reintroduction of the Gouldian Finch to the northern Queensland9. This research project should
also be available in the public domain for further research or to meet the gap in the research
activity. Therefore, the interim report is significant for the ESCA department.
The recommended Steps or processes shall be applied to process the FOI application:
3 Oaic.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) https://www.oaic.gov.au/assets/freedom-of-information/guidance-and-
advice/foi-guidelines/foi-guidelines-combined-january-2019.pdf

According to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, under Section 15 (5) (a) it has been provided
that an agency or minister of such agency should have obligation under the statute that he FOI
application has been received by the concerned department and shall send an acknowledgement
to the requestor that the relevant department has received the request within 14 days from the
receipt of the application. As per Sub-section (5) (b) of Section 15 of the Act it has been
provided that the within 30days from the receipt of such request the agency or the minister of
such department take reasonable step to notify the requestor of the concerned person regarding
the decision of the agency with respect to the subject matter that has been requested4. According
to the guidelines framed by the FOI Act, it has been provided that an extension for giving
decision on the subject matter of the applicant can be made based on individual circumstance
which includes consultation by the department from any third party which shall be made by the
agency with an agreement with the applicant or after receiving approval from the information
commissioner as provided under the Act. The agency has the power to refuse any request by
giving the reason for such refusal to the applicant which has been provided under Section 24AB
of the Act5. Therefore, these are the steps which have been provided under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 to process a request of the applicant or the journalist as given in the facts
of the case.
Entitled to waive off the charges of FOI application:
An applicant of FOI can also request to waive all fees that are associated with the request that
has been made to a concerned government agency10. The applicant shall submit the demand for
waiving off the charges with the original application that has been made by the applicant.
However, there are certain circumstances based on which the agency or concerned public
authority can waive the fees of the applicant for the request made11. The details of waiving off
the charges of the applicant of FOI includes the subject of the application with regards to the
operational activities of the government6. It also includes the subject matter of scientific research,
4 Edit.Finance.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) http://edit.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/commonwealth-grants-
rules-and-guidelines.pdf
5 Edit.Finance.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) http://edit.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/commonwealth-grants-
rules-and-guidelines.pdf
6 "Requesting FOIA Fee Waivers | US EPA", US EPA (Webpage, 2019) https://www.epa.gov/foia/requesting-
foia-fee-waivers

which will help the government in framing policy or formulate implementation strategy for
better governance.
According to the given facts of the case, the journalist has requested on the subject matter with
regards to the operational activities of the government and the role of public officials in the
government offices. Therefore the concerned subject matter of the request is under the
circumstances where the public authority can waive off the fees required for the application of
such FOI request by the applicant.
Conclusion:
Therefore, going through various provisions of the FOI Act and analyzing such requirements it
can be said that the issues that have been identified from the given facts of the case has been
reasonably identified and has been supported by legal principles and statutory enactments.

Reference:
"FOI Regulations", OAIC (Webpage, 2019) https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/the-foi-
act/foi-regulations/
"Freedom Of Information", OAIC (Webpage, 2019) https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/
"Requesting FOIA Fee Waivers | US EPA", US EPA (Webpage, 2019)
https://www.epa.gov/foia/requesting-foia-fee-waivers
Edit.Finance.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) http://edit.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/commonwealth-
grants-rules-and-guidelines.pdf
FOIA.gov - Freedom of Information Ac. 2019. "FOIA.Gov - Freedom Of Information Act:
Data". Foia.Gov. https://www.foia.gov/data.html.
Lawsociety.org.uk. 2019. "Common Legal Issues - The Law Society". Lawsociety.Org.Uk.
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-public/common-legal-issues/.

Oaic.Gov.Au (Webpage, 2019) https://www.oaic.gov.au/assets/freedom-of-information/guidance-and-
advice/foi-guidelines/foi-guidelines-combined-january-2019.pdf
Rahmatzai, Najibullah, AhmedA. Zaitoun, MohamedHussein Madkour, Abdullah Ahmady,
Zainullah Hazim, and MagdiA.A. Mousa. 2016. "MORPHOLOGICAL, PATHOGENIC,
CULTURAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY OF THE ISOLATES
OFALTERNARIASOLANICAUSING EARLY BLIGHT OF TOMATO.". International
Journal Of Advanced Research 4 (11): 808-817. doi:10.21474/ijar01/2151.
Rao, Sharad. 2006. "Rules Of Natural Justice As Applied In Sports". Commonwealth Law
Bulletin 32 (2): 247-251. doi:10.1080/03050710600907072.
Waldman, Scott. 2018. "Climate Change Doubters Are Finalists For Environmental Protection
Agency Science Advisory Board". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aav7763.

7 (Rao 2006)
8 (FOIA.gov - Freedom of Information Ac 2019)
9 (Rahmatzai et al. 2016)
10 (Lawsociety.org.uk 2019)
11(Waldman 2018)