OFFICE OF THE OFFICIAL SECRETARY
TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL
23 July 2024
Via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Alex,
Re: Application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Ref: FOI2024074
I refer to your email of 2 July 2024 in which you make a request under the
Commonwealth
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) for:
“I seek access to all Correspondence involving members of the Office
containing reference to any of the following pieces of legislation:
(a) Crown References Amendment Bil 2023 (cth)
(b) Statute Law Amendment (References to the Sovereign) Bil 2023 (Vic)
(c) Constitution Amendment (Demise of the Crown) Bil 2017 (WA)”
I am the authorised decision maker under section 23 of the FOI Act and this
letter sets out my decision on your request for access.
Material taken into account
In making my decision, I have had regard to the following:
• the terms of your request;
• advice from Agency officers with responsibility for matters relating to the
documents to which you sought access;
• the relevant provisions of the FOI Act; and
• the Commonwealth’s guidelines on FOI.
Application of the FOI Act
The FOI Act has a limited application to the Official Secretary to the Governor-
General. Section 6A provides that the Act does not apply to any request for
access to a document of the Of icial Secretary unless the document relates to
matters of an administrative nature. In Kline v Official Secretary to the Governor
General [2013] HCA 52 the High Court said:
‘the exception of a class of document which relates to "matters of an
GOVERNMENT HOUSE CANBERRA ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA
TELEPHONE (02) 6283 3533 FACSIMILE (02) 6281 3760 WEBSITE
WWW.GG.GOV.AU
administrative nature" connotes documents which concern the
management and administration of office resources.’
Further, the High Court held the phrase does not apply to documents that relate
to the discharge of the Governor-General's 'substantive powers and functions'.
24A - Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or
have not been received
Document lost or non‑
existent
(1) An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a) all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b) the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i) is in the agency’s or Minister’s possession but cannot be found; or
(i ) does not exist.
Decision
The Of ice has been unable to identify any documents within the scope of your
request.
Accordingly, I advise that I must reject your request under section 24A of the
FOI Act on the basis that the document(s) sought cannot be found, do not exist
or have not been received.
Information provided outside the Office’s FOI obligations
As part of the Governor-General’s substantive powers and functions the
Governor-General signs Instruments and Legislation, however the Of ice is
involved in this process only when they are ready to be submitted for assent. At
this point, staff of the Office are involved in coordinating the receipt of bil s to be
considered by the Governor-General; the Of ice also advises Parliament when
assent has been given. The Office is not involved in the drafting of legislation.
More information about Royal Assent is available via the Parliament of Australia
website:
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_
practice_and_procedure/Practice7/HTML/Chapter10/Presentation_of_bil s_for_a
ssent
The Governor-General gives Royal assent to Commonwealth legislation only;
state bil s are given assent by the relevant state Governors, and similar
processes apply for territory legislation (for example, in the ACT, the Clerk of the
Assembly certifies a copy of the bil as passed, and the Speaker asks the
Parliamentary Counsel to notify the act on the ACT Legislation Register). Of the
three bil s to which your request pertained, two – the Statute Law Amendment
(References to the Sovereign) Bil 2023 (Vic) and the Constitution Amendment
(Demise of the Crown) Bil 2017 (WA) – are state legislation which would be
considered by the Governors of Victoria and Western Australia, respectively.
The Commonwealth legislation your request refers to – the Crown References
Amendment Bil 2023 – has, at time of writing, not yet passed both houses of
GOVERNMENT HOUSE CANBERRA ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA
TELEPHONE (02) 6283 3533 FACSIMILE (02) 6281 3760 WEBSITE
WWW.GG.GOV.AU
Parliament so is not ready to be submitted for Royal assent. You can check the
status of bil s via the Parliament of Australia website:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bil s_Legislation
Review rights
You are entitled to seek review of this decision. Your rights are set out at
Attachment A to this letter.
Yours sincerely
Jeff Barnes
Deputy Official Secretary to the Governor-General
GOVERNMENT HOUSE CANBERRA ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA
TELEPHONE (02) 6283 3533 FACSIMILE (02) 6281 3760 WEBSITE
WWW.GG.GOV.AU
ATTACHMENT A — INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW
1. APPLICATION FOR INTERNAL REVIEW OF DECISION
You can request internal review within 30 days of you receiving this decision. An
internal review wil be conducted by a different officer from the original decision-
maker.
No particular form is required but it would assist the decision-maker if you could
set out in the application the grounds on which you consider that the decision
should be reviewed. Applications for internal review can be made:
• via email to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxx.xx
• by mail to The Official Secretary to the Governor-General, Government
House, CANBERRA ACT 2600
If you choose to seek an internal review, you wil afterward have a right to apply
for Information Commissioner review (IC review) of the internal review decision.
OR
2. INFORMATION COMMISSIONER REVIEW OR COMPLAINT
You also have the right to seek IC review of this decision. For FOI applicants, an
application for IC review must be made in writing within 60 days of the decision.
For third parties who object to disclosure of their information, an application for
IC review must be made in writing within 30 days of the decision.
If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your FOI request, you
can lodge a complaint with the OAIC. However, the OAIC suggests that
complaints are made to the agency in the first instance.
While there is no particular form required to make a complaint to the OAIC, the
complaint should be in writing and set out the reasons for why you are
dissatisfied with the way your request was processed. It should also identify this
office as the agency about which you are complaining.
You can make an IC review application or make an FOI complaint in one of the
following ways:
• online at https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-
complaints/
• via email t
o xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
• by mail to GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001, or
• by fax to 02 9284 9666.
More information about the Information Commissioner reviews and complaints is
available at its website:
www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-review-
process.
