NORTHERN Department of Ground Level, RCG Centre

^.... TERRITORY
GOVERNMENT
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, HOUSING
AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
47 Mitchell Street, Darwin NT 0800
Postal address
GPO Box 4621, Darwin NT 0801
infoact. dighcd@nt. gov, au

0889998490

File reference
IA20/0099

I September 2020

Mr Royce Kurinelovs
Professional Freelance Journalist

Via Email: mail ro cekurmelovs. coin

Dear Mr Kurinelovs

Re: Request for Government Information

Thank you for your request for government information which has now been processed in
accordance with sections 19(I)(a) & (b) and 20 of the Information Act 2002 (the Act). This letter
represents my Notice of Decision in relation to your request for:

A copy of the most recent funding agreement or "service level agreement" between the
Department and Indigenous Essential Services (I understand this would be the 2019-2020
financial year), and, '

A copy of any documentation regarding compliance, audit, monitoring or evaluation of this

agreement.

Assessment

in response to your request, detailed searches of the Department's holdings were conducted and
documents relevant to the scope of your request, were retrieved and assessed.

Upon examination of the "Agreement for Provision of Essential Services to Nominated Aboriginal
Communities 2019 - 2021" (the Agreement), it was noted that the principal owner of the
Agreement is the Indigenous Essential Services Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Power and Water
Corporation (PWC). Both of which are not required to comply with the provisions of the Act.

The parent corporation, PWC operates as a Government Owned Corporation (GoC) and
operates commercially as a private entity. Section 5(4) of the Act provides that a GoC is only
classed as a public sector organisation for the purposes of personal information. All corporate
documents and business records are not accessible as they are not subject to the Act.

As a subsidiary of PWC, IES also operate exclusively as a private entity. As such release of
corporate documents, agreements and details of its business operations are outside the
provisions of the Act and cannot be released under the freedom of information without consent.

PWC have advised that it will not consent to the release of the Agreement. A confidentiality
provision requiring consent from both parties to agree to release prior to any dissemination, is
included in the Agreement.

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 Request for Government Information

I have also considered section 57(I)(b) of the Act which provides that information may be exempt
if its disclosure is likely to expose the undertaking unreasonably to disadvantage. I consider that
disclosure of the information requested would expose both PWC and IES unreasonably to
disadvantage.

Notice of Decision

For the reasons stated above, I am of the view that the documents you have requested are
exempt from disclosure under freedom of information.

Your Right of Review

If you are aggrieved by my decision you can apply to the Department under section 38 of the Act
for an internal review of the decision. The review is to be undertaken by an impartial,
independent officer who was not involved in the original decision making process.

Any application for an internal review must be made within 30 days of receipt of the decision and
must:

. Be made in writing, including by email sent to Infoact. dl hcd nt. ovau.

. Specify your name and address for correspondence.
. Identify the decision and your original application for access.
Clearly set out the reasons you are seeking the review and any evidence to support your
argument.

Following receipt of the review decision, should you disagree with the outcome, you can make a
formal complaint to the Information Commission within 90 days of receiving the review decision.
Further information regarding your right of complaint can be obtained directly from the Office of
the Information Commissioner at WWWinfocom. nt. ovau or phoning 1800 005610.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Yours sincerely

^--^

Dwayne MCInnes
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Remote Program Delivery Office and Community Services

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