Further to my 3 x FOI requests submitted to XXXX in July 2021 (attached) I am advised by the OIC that Section 11.9 of the act applies. As you will know, Section 11.9 states that '...a record in the possession of a service provider shall, if and in so far as it relates to the service, be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be held by the FOI body, and there shall be deemed to be included in the contract for the service a provision that the service provider shall, if so requested by the FOI body for the purposes of this Act, give the record to the FOI body for retention by it for such period as is reasonable in the particular circumstances ....' The OIC further advised me that '... For the purposes of the Act, a service provider means a person who, at the time the request was made, was not an FOI body but was providing a service for an FOI body under a contract for services, including an administrative arrangement between the parties....' Given that the department has a Service Level Agreement (attached) with XXXX there can be no disputing that XXXX is providing a service for an FOI body (DAFM). Therefore I request that the department gather the records from XXXX and process them in accordance with the act.