2020-21 Administration of the FOI Act 1991

Letter to the Attorney-General

Hon Vickie Chapman MP
Deputy Premier
Attorney-General

This annual report will be presented to Parliament to meet the statutory reporting requirements of Freedom of Information Act 1991 (FOI Act) and the requirements of Premier and Cabinet Circular PC013 Annual Reporting.

This is the thirtieth freedom of information (FOI) Annual Report to be tabled in Parliament since the commencement of the FOI Act in January 1992.

This report is verified to be accurate for the purposes of annual reporting to the Parliament of South Australia.

Submitted on behalf of State Records of South Australia on the Administration of the Freedom of Information Act 1991 by:

Simon Froude
Director, State Records

From the Attorney-General

This report provides an overview on the administration of the Freedom of Information Act 1991 (FOI Act) and details FOI application data for the 2020-21 financial year, as reported by agencies subject to the FOI Act. Agencies include South Australian state and local government agencies and universities.

This year agencies reported receiving 10 462 new FOI applications. This is consistent with the number of applications received in recent years.

During another challenging year due to COVID-19 related disruptions and restrictions, agencies continued to process applications within the 30-day timeframe. In line with the legislation, where this could not be achieved due to extensive consultation or search requirements, formal extensions of time were approved and communicated.

Release rates remained consistent with previous years as did the types of applications received and the types of applicants.

In November 2020, the Training for Accredited and Non-Accredited FOI Officers moved to online delivery. This new delivery method increases accessibility across the State while reducing ongoing cost and contact hours.

Finally, I would like to sincerely thank the many agency staff, in particular those designated as Accredited FOI Officers and other FOI support staff, as they continue to assist and serve the community by providing access to government information.

Vickie Chapman MP

Overview: Freedom of Information Act 1991

The objects of the FOI Act include a responsibility to:

promote openness in government and accountability of Ministers and other agencies and thereby enhance respect for the law and further good government in South Australia, and
facilitate more effective participation by members of the public in the processes involved in the making and administration of laws and policies.

This is achieved by:

ensuring that information concerning the operations of government is readily available to members of the public, Members of Parliament and the media
conferring on members of the public a legally enforceable right of access to documents held by South Australian state and local government and universities, subject only to such restrictions that are consistent with the public interest and the preservation of personal privacy
enabling each member of the public to apply for the amendment of government records concerning their personal affairs if those records are incomplete, incorrect, out-of-date or misleading.

The FOI Act and its subordinate regulations can be accessed via the South Australian legislation website at www.legislation.sa.gov.au.

State Records of South Australia (State Records) is a business unit with the Attorney-General’s Department and has within its remit responsibility for supporting the Minister (the Attorney-General) in the administration of the FOI Act.

This support includes:

provision of policy and legislative advice in relation to the operation of the FOI Act
development of information sheets and guidelines
preparation of the FOI annual report
management of the Freedom of Information Management System (FOIMS)
provision of regular and ad hoc reports to the Minister
provision of training and advice to agencies
response to public enquiries.

In order to produce the FOI annual report, all agencies subject to the FOI Act are required to make available to State Records statistical information relating to FOI applications and determinations as well as the number of contracts entered into containing approved confidentiality clauses.

Agencies subject to the FOI Act

Section 4 of the FOI Act defines those agencies that are subject to the FOI Act. The definition of ‘agency’ is inclusive of most South Australian state government agencies and statutory authorities, local government councils (municipal and district) and universities.

Schedule 2 of the FOI Act and the Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2008 prescribe those agencies that are exempt from the FOI Act.

Throughout this report a reference to agencies includes all entities subject to the FOI Act across the three sectors, ie state government, local government and universities.

Pursuant to Section 54AA of the FOI Act, FOI reporting requirements were gazetted on 15 June 2006. These requirements remained unchanged in 2020-21.

State Records derives annual FOI statistics from FOIMS to enable this annual report to be produced. FOIMS is a web-based system in which agencies record information about their FOI applications and determinations. Recording information in FOIMS enables agencies to meet their FOI related reporting obligations.

Additional information, including the costs incurred by agencies in the administration of the FOI Act, is collected via an online survey.

State Records is a business unit of the Attorney-General’s Department.

Performance

Key objective

Agency’s contribution

Open and Transparent Government

Provide access to government information in accordance with the FOI Act

Provide training and information to agencies to enable them to comply with the requirements of the FOI Act

Specific objectives and performance

Agency objectives	Indicators	Performance
FOI advice to agencies and members of the public	Agency staff and the community have access to information and assistance relevant to accessing government information.	651 phone calls or email enquiries were responded to by State Records.
Publication of guidelines and information sheets to assist FOI Officers and the public	Information sheets, brochures and forms are maintained	State Records produces documents to assist FOI officers to process FOI applications. FOI related guidelines and information sheets can be found on the State Records website at http://archives.sa.gov.au/
Delivery of a new online accredited training for FOI officers	Accredited and non-accredited officer training is available.	67 students completed Accredited and non-Accredited Officer training. This training transitioned from classroom to an online format in November 2020. At the end of the reporting year a further 37 students had commenced the course.
Delivery of online FOI education - FOI General Awareness and FOI Refresher education	Centralised education is available to support FOI officers undertake their roles.	378 students enrolled to undertake the online FOI General Awareness and FOI Refresher courses during the reporting year.
Online submission and payment for FOI applications	An online mechanism is available for the community to lodge and pay for freedom of information applications.	State government agencies received 3089 applications through the online FOI Application Form.

Reporting required the Act

Freedom of Information Act 1991

Section 54 – Reports to Parliament

(1) The Minister administering this Act must –

a. as soon as practicable after 30 June and in any case before 31 October in each year prepare a report on the administration of this Act for the 12 months ending on 30 June; and

b. cause a copy of the report to be laid before both Houses of Parliament within six sitting days after preparation of the report is completed.

FOI Act statistical information 2020-21

Agencies provide FOI application information through FOIMS and an annual survey to enable a consolidated statistical report to be prepared. The accuracy of the data relies on agencies entering correct data into FOIMS and providing responses to the annual survey.
FOI Act statistical information is available in Attachment 1 to this report and on Data.SA.

The following freedom of information statistical data has been compiled by State Records of South Australia from information provided by South Australian state and local government agencies and universities bound by the Freedom of Information Act 1991 (FOI Act).

FOI data sets for prior financial years can also be found at Data.SA, and in past FOI annual reports on the State Records website.

TABLE 1 Applications to be processed

Application	State		Local		Unis		All Sectors
	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20
New	9 841	9 784	587	516	34	44	10 463	10 344
Carried Over	2 849	2 808	213	147	18	9	3 080	2 964
Total	12 690	12 592	800	663	52	53	13 542	13 308

TABLE 2 Applications to be processed and application category

Sector	Personal Affairs			Non-Personal Affairs
	Qty.	2020-21 %	2019-20 %	Qty.	2020-21 %	2019-20 %
New applications 2019-20
State Government	7 952	81%	78%	1 889	19%	22%
Local Government	143	24%	15%	444	76%	85%
Universities	9	26%	41%	25	74%	59%
Total	8 104	77%	75%	2 358	23%	25%
Applications unfinished at the end of 2018-19
State Government	2 033	71%	69%	816	29%	31%
Local Government	45	21%	19%	168	79%	81%
Universities	2	11%	22%	16	89%	78%
Total	2 080	68%	66%	1000	32%	34%
Total to be processed 2019-20	10 184	75%	73%	3 358	25%	27%

TABLE 3 Applications received by applicant type

Applicant type	State		Local		Unis		All sectors
	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20
Member of the Public	4 547	4 000	353	235	9	24	4 909	4 259
Lawyer / Agent	2 972	3 597	63	59	3	2	3 038	3 658
Member of Parliament	1 035	1 066	124	175	1	1	1 160	1 242
Other	1 133	983	43	29	11	7	1 187	1 019
Media	154	138	4	18	10	10	168	166
Total	9 841	9 784	587	516	34	44	10 462	10 344

TABLE 4 Response times

Time	State		Local		Unis		All Sectors
	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20
0-15 days	2 246	2 671	173	164	17	10	2 436	2 845
16-30 days	2 849	2 498	231	234	25	13	3 105	2 745
>30 days	4 063	4 434	106	87	12	9	4 181	4 530

TABLE 5 Formal extensions of time

Extension reason	State	Local	Unis	All Sectors 2020-21	All Sectors 2019-20
Section 14(1)(a) – searching	690	22	3	715	321
Section 14(1)(b) – consultation	180	18	4	202	396
Total	870	40	7	917	717

TABLE 6 Negotiated extensions

Extension reason	State	Local	Unis	All Sectors 2020-21	All Sectors 2019-20
Negotiated	72	14	0	86	142

TABLE 7 Outcomes of applications

Sector	Application Category	Full Release		Partial Release		Refused
	Application Category	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20
State	Personal	3 614	3 859	2 904	2 689	734	726
	Non-Personal	555	608	572	882	547	594
	Total	4 169	4 467	3 476	3 571	1 281	1 320
Local	Personal	27	21	70	36	18	6
	Non-Personal	165	191	144	131	71	55
	Total	192	212	214	167	89	61
Universities	Personal	2	1	6	15	1	2
	Non-Personal	9	4	14	7	11	5
	Total	11	5	20	22	12	7
All Sectors	Personal	3 614	3 881	2 980	2 740	753	734
	Non-Personal	729	803	730	1 020	629	654
	Total	4 372	4 684	3 710	3 760	1 382	1 388

TABLE 8 Reasons for refusing access

Details	State	Local	Unis	Total	Total
				2020-21	2019-20
Section 15 - Application incomplete/wrongly directed*	12	1	0	13	14
Section 18(1) - Unreasonable diversion of an agency’s resources *	56	4	0	60	112
Section 18(2a) - Abuse of right of access *	12	4	8	24	93
Section 18(3) - Fees not paid	26	9	1	36	18
Section 19(2) - Deemed refusal - over 30 days to respond	332	3	0	335	308
Section 20(1) - Exempt *	3 539	173	21	3 733	3 719
Section 20(1)(b)(c)(d) – Documents otherwise available *	77	48	0	125	85
Exempt agency	33	0	0	33	44
Document does not exist/lost	375	26	0	401	361

TABLE 9 Exemptions

Most commonly applied exemptions	2020-21	2019-20
Clause 4 – documents affecting law enforcement and public safety	968	897
Clause 6 – documents affecting personal affairs	2 622	2 614
Clause 7 – documents affecting business affairs	200	218
Clause 9 – internal working documents	291	328
Clause 10 – documents subject to legal professional privilege	131	150
Clause 12 – documents the subject of secrecy provisions	503	463
Clause 13 – documents containing confidential material	326	348
Clause 16 – documents concerning the operations of agencies	302	277

TABLE 10 Amendment of personal information

Outcome	2020-21	2019-20
Amendment in full	14	9
Partial amendment	2	4
Notation added	3	11
Amendment refused	39	68
Total	58	92

TABLE 11 Reasons for refusal to amend personal information records

Reason	2020-21	2019-20
Records are not incomplete, incorrect, out-of-date or misleading	37	68
Application contains matter that is incorrect or misleading	2	0
Procedures for amending records are prescribed by or under the provisions of another legislative instrument	0	1
Total	39	69

TABLE 12 Contracts reported approved confidentiality clauses

Sector	2019-20	2019-20
State Government	26	27
Local Government	25	19
Universities	0	0
Total	51	46

TABLE 13 Cabinet documents 10 years or older - requests for to access

Requests	2020-21	2019-20	2018-19
By MPs	42	11	5
By Public	119	87	44
By Media	20	13	91
Total	181	111	140

TABLE 14 Cabinet documents 10 years or older – access determinations

Determination	2020-21	2019-20	2018-19
Released in full	103	0	47
Released in part	70	127	58
Refused in full	4	10	7
Withdrawn	0	0	0
Total	177	137	112

TABLE 15 The cost of administering FOI

Cost category	2020-21 $	2019-20 $	2018-19 $
Salary	16 030 262	15 344 767	12 894 695
Other expenses	703 470	631 448	558 101
Total	16 733 732	15 976 215	13 452 796

TABLE 16 Staffing

Sector	Number of staff		Full-time equivalent
Sector	2020-21	2019-20	2020-21	2019-20
State Government	618	585	142.7	148.2
Local Government	175	154	21.3	15.9
Universities	45	95	4.0	6.5
Total	838	834	168.0	170.6

TABLE 17 Application and processing fees collected

Sector	2020-21 $	2019-20 $	2018-19 $
State Government	322 028	376 187	290 230
Local Government	31 979	24 201	10 025
Universities	898	3 426	490
Total	354 905	403 814	300 745

TABLE 18 Applications for review received

Applications reviewed	2020-21	2019-20
Internal review	424	355
External review - Ombudsman	359	273
External review - South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal	33	21
Total	816	649

TABLE 19 Outcome of internal review applications

Outcome	2020-21	2019-20
Decision confirmed	138	133
Decision varied	85	193
Decision reversed	63	36

TABLE 20 Applications unfinished at 30 June 2019

Sector	Within 30 day timeframe	Outside 30 day timeframe	Total
State Government	691	2 623	3 314
Local Government	34	251	285
Universities	1	7	8
Total	726	2 881	3 607

TABLE 21 Overdue applications unfinished at 30 June 2020

Sector	Personal	Non-Personal	Total
State Government	1 807	816	2 623
Local Government	60	191	251
Universities	1	6	7
Total	1 868	1 013	2 881

Division/Agency	Personal			Non Personal			Total
Attorney-General and Planning	81			84			165
Attorney-General’s Department	25			27			52
Consumer and Business Services	29			9			38
Courts Administration Authority	6			8			14
Electoral Commission of South Australia	0			10			10
Fines Enforcement & Recovery Unit	4			0			4
Forensic Science SA	6			0			6
Independent Gambling Authority	0			4			4
Legal Services Commission	3			3			6
Office of the Attorney General - Hon Vickie Chapman MP	4			23			27
Office of the Public Advocate	4			0			4
Child Protection	274			38			312
Department for Child Protection	270			22			292
Office of the Minister for Child Protection	4			16			20
Education	135			83			218
Department for Education	131			65			196
Education Standards Board	0			1			1
History Trust of South Australia	0			1			1
Office of the Minister for Education	0			11			11
TAFE SA	0			5			5
Teachers Registration Board of South Australia	4			0			4
Energy and Mining	0			52			52
Department for Energy & Mining	0			42			42
Office of the Minister - van Holst Pellekaan MP	0			10			10
Environment and Water	25			130			155
Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges NRMB	1			0			1
Department for Environment and Water	15			45			60
Dog and Cat Management Board	1			2			3
Environment Protection Authority	2			40			42
Green Industries SA	0			3			3
Limestone Coast Landscape Board	1			0			1
Office of the Minister - Hon David Speirs MP	3			16			19
SA Arid Lands NRMB	0			1			1
SA Murray Darling Basin NRMB	0			2			2
Health and Wellbeing	5953	666			6619
Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network	251	29			280
CALHN - Central Adelaide Local Health Network	2212	98			2310
CHSALHN Corporate	1	1			2
CHSALHN Mental Health	11	2			13
Department for Health & Wellbeing	9	177			186
Eyre & Far North Local Health Network	72	18			90
Flinders & Upper North Local Health Network	453	55			508
Lifetime Support Authority	1	0			1
Limestone Coast Local Health Network	236	7			243
NALHN - Lyell McEwin Hospital	673	155			828
Office of the Minister - Hon Stephen Wade MLC	0	20			20
Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network	141	31			172
SA Health - Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia	10	3			13
SAAS - SA Ambulance Service	202	13			215
SALHN - Southern Adelaide Local Health Network	1175	24			1199
Women's and Children's Health Network	357	26			383
Yorke & Northern Local Health Network	149	7			156
Human Services	126	138			264
Department of Human Services	58	47			105
Office of the Minister - Communities & Social Inclusion (IH)	0	1			1
Office of the Minister - Hon Michelle Lensink MLC	0	25			25
Screening Unit	4	0			4
South Australian Housing Authority	64	65			129
Innovation and Skills	8	45			53
Department for Innovation & Skills	5	30			35
Office of the Minister - Hon David Pisoni MP	3	15			18
Police, Emergency Services and Corrections	3051	343			3394
Department for Correctional Services	721	66			787
Office f/ Minister for Police, Emgncy Srvc & Crrctn	0	10			10
SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission	0	7			7
SA Metropolitan Fire Service	0	11			11
SA State Emergency Service	1	7			8
South Australia Police	2327	231			2558
South Australian Country Fire Service	2	11			13
Premier and Cabinet	6		449			455
Economic Development Board	0		5			5
Energy Division	0		23			23
Mineral and Energy Resources	0		1			1
Defence SA	0		3			3
Department of the Premier and Cabinet	5		346			351
Office of the Premier - Hon Steven Marshall MP	1		69			70
South Australian Museum	0		1			1
State Library of South Australia	0		1			1
Primary Industries and Regional Development	5		62			67
Department for Primary Industries & Regions SA	1		38			39
ForestrySA	0		6			6
Office of the Minister for PIRD	4		17			21
Veterinary Surgeons Board of SA	0		1			1
Trade and Investment	3		51			54
Department for Trade & Investment	0		15			15
Office of the Minister - Hon Stephen Patterson MP	0		12			12
South Australian Tourism Commission	0		29			29
Infrastructure and Transport	21		272			293
Adelaide Cemeteries Authority	1		0			1
Department for Infrastructure & Transport	13		180			193
Homestart Finance	0		4			4
Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing	0		7			7
Office of the Minister - Hon Corey Wingard MP	1		48			49
Office of the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport	0		18			18
Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator	3		6			9
Rail Commissioner	0		4			4
Urban Renewal Authority (Renewal SA)	1		4			5
West Beach Trust (Adelaide Shores)	2		1			3
Treasury	300		287			587
Compulsory Third Party Regulator	1		0			1
Department of Treasury and Finance	84		127			211
Essential Services Commission of SA	1		1			2
Office for the Public Sector	0		1			1
Office of the Treasurer - Hon Robert Lucas MLC	3		153			156
Return to WorkSA	209		5			214
Super SA	2		0			2

Agency	Total
South Australia Police	78
Department for Correctional Services	11
Southern Adelaide Local Health Network	10
Central Adelaide Local Health Network	6
Department for Child Protection	3
Northern Adelaide Local Health Network	2
Women's and Children's Health Network	1
Department for Education	1
Limestone Coast Local Health Network	1
South Australian Housing Authority	1

University	Personal	Non Personal	Total
Flinders University	5	6	11
University of Adelaide	5	29	34
University of South Australia	1	6	7

Region	Personal	Non Personal	Total
Adelaide Hills Council	23	10	33
Adelaide Plains Council	2	1	3
Alexandrina Council	1	10	11
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara	7	51	58
Barunga West Council	0	3	3
Campbelltown City Council	0	7	7
City of Adelaide	2	29	31
City of Burnside	0	13	13
City of Charles Sturt	19	30	49
City of Holdfast Bay	16	91	107
City of Marion	0	15	15
City of Mitcham	6	10	16
City of Mount Gambier	0	3	3
City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters	1	0	1
City of Onkaparinga	17	24	41
City of Playford	2	21	23
City of Port Adelaide Enfield	4	12	16
City of Port Lincoln	1	4	5
City of Prospect	2	6	8
City of Salisbury	12	6	18
City of Tea Tree Gully	16	40	56
City of Unley	3	10	13
City of Victor Harbor	3	7	10
City of West Torrens	7	4	11
Clare & Gilbert Valleys Council	0	1	1
Coorong District Council	1	4	5
Corporation of the Town of Walkerville	0	2	2
District Council of Ceduna	0	1	1
District Council of Cleve	0	1	1
District Council of Coober Pedy	0	3	3
District Council of Elliston	0	1	1
District Council of Franklin Harbour	0	2	2
District Council of Grant	0	2	2
District Council of Karoonda East Murray	0	1	1
District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula	0	3	3
District Council of Loxton Waikerie	0	3	3
District Council of Mount Barker	1	2	3
District Council of Mount Remarkable	3	2	5
District Council of Orroroo Carrieton	0	1	1
District Council of Peterborough	1	2	3
District Council of Robe	0	12	12
District Council of Streaky Bay	0	5	5
District Council of The Copper Coast	0	32	32
District Council of Tumby Bay	0	5	5
District Council of Wudinna	0	1	1
District Council of Yankalilla	0	2	2
Eastern Health Authority Inc.	0	3	3
Information Management Services	3	4	7
Kangaroo Island Council	5	4	9
Kingston District Council	0	3	3
Light Regional Council	1	20	21
Mid Murray Council	0	6	6
Naracoorte Lucindale Council	0	4	4
Port Augusta City Council	10	3	13
Port Pirie Regional Council	5	2	7
Regional Council of Goyder	0	2	2
Renmark Paringa Council	1	5	6
Roxby Downs Council	0	1	1
Rural City of Murray Bridge	1	11	12
Tatiara District Council	0	1	1
The Barossa Council	5	9	14
The Berri Barmera Council	1	1	2
Town of Gawler	2	21	23
Wattle Range Council	2	11	13
Whyalla City Council	0	5	5
Yorke Peninsula Council	2	0	2

Addendum

To the 2020-21 Annual Report on the Administration of the Freedom of Information Act 1991 dated 28 October 2021.

This addendum is provided to correct figures that were inaccurately documented in Table 18 in the above Annual Report.

TABLE 18 Applications for review received
Applications reviewed	2020-21	2019-20
Internal review	334	283
External review - Ombudsman	359	273
External review - South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal	33	21
Total	726	577