Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001

Via email: foidr@oaic.gov.au

Dear Sir/Madam
Re: Consultation – Disclosure of public servants' names and contact details
1.	Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments in relation to the discussion paper on the disclosure of public servants' names and contact under FOI. 
2.	The Bureau's comments in relation to each consultation question are set out below.
3.	Does your agency have concerns about releasing the names and contact details of staff in response to FOI requests? If so, what are your concerns? Has your agency experienced any specific work health and safety issues as a result of a person’s name or contact details being released in response to an FOI request?
Yes - staff working in climate science have previously been subject to adverse exposure to the wider public by virtue of their work being contentious in the public forum.
Another frequent concern specifically in relation to operational areas of the Bureau, is that release of names and direct contact details may impact the ability of the Bureau to carry out work during severe weather events. During these times there are set protocols for communication and any interruption/disruption to these processes could have a detrimental or potentially fatal effect. For these reasons the Bureau has argued that names and direct contact details of operational staff is exempt under s47E(d) as the release could likely have a substantial and adverse effect on the operations. The Bureau aims to contribute to zero lives lost through natural hazards, as an organisational objective. 
4.	Have your agency’s views on this issue changed over time? If so, please describe any factors that have affected your agency’s approach, including technological, environmental or legal factors.

While FOI decision-makers and managers responding to third party matters at the Bureau have set out reasons for exempting names of staff from release over several years, overall this view has strengthened. In large part this is due to the increasingly easy access to personal information online. The ease of access to personal information through social media and interest group sites online means that any public servant details released through FOI can easily be matched to other content available online to piece together more details of an individual's personal information; this directly increases the risk of invasion of privacy for those individuals.
5.	Does your agency advise staff, including contractors undertaking functions on behalf of the agency, that names and contact details may be released in response to an FOI request as part of your agency’s training and induction programs?

Yes - this information has been included as a standard part of Corporate Induction over the past 2 years. It is also included in the Intro to FOI@BOM tailored training session that is being delivered to targeted teams across the Bureau.
6.	How do you balance work health and safety considerations with the objects of the FOI Act, which include increasing public participation in Government processes with a view to promoting better-informed decision making and increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government’s activities?

One practical measures that enables scrutiny and accountability while protecting individual privacy, is to remove names and direct contact details but provide position titles and/or generic/de-identified contact details. 
For the past five years we have also implemented an internal procedure to seek the applicant's consent to remove the names and direct contact details of staff and third parties, as a matter of course during the management of requests. In the majority of cases, the applicant consents to the removal of this information and the Bureau is able to release parts of the document that still identify which roles or sections of the Bureau have undertaken the work or have responsibility for the matters.
7.	If your agency considers that disclosure of a public servant’s name or contact details will negatively impact their health or safety, what evidence do you require before deciding that their name or contact details are exempt from disclosure?

In relation to the health and safety of staff in climate science roles, they provided evidence of the potential negative impact to the FOI Coordinator at the time of the request. 
8.	Do you consider the FOI Guidelines provide enough guidance for agencies when considering these issues?

The Guidelines could provide further consideration of the effects of newer technologies on making access to personal information very easy and how this could be considered in relation to 47F exemption.
9.	In what circumstances do you consider that a public servant’s personal information (name and contact details) are irrelevant to the FOI request?

The Bureau generally takes the view of avoiding deeming any material irrelevant, particularly without an applicant's consent. However, one view could be that where the position title or role description and/or Program/team name is identified, along with a method of contact, the individual name and direct contact details) are irrelevant to the request. This is a common occurrence with FOI documents at the Bureau, as there are established avenues for contact for each service area.

10.	Where you have withheld the names and contact details of public servants, what impact does deleting this information from documents have on the time it takes to process FOI requests?

Additional time to prepare documents for release (marking up and applying redactions), however where names are removed with consent the time taken to mark these redactions is not calculated into any possible charges.

Yours sincerely

Benjamin Ackhurst
FOI Officer

26/07/2019