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Freedom of Information (FOI) request
Notice of Decision
Reference: FOI/2024/231
Trav S
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Trav S
I refer to your request to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), received on 22 July 2024.
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
Scope of request
You requested access to:
… a document recording the number of Humanitarian Overseas Service Medals awarded
to the General Electric contingent to Bandah Aceh.
Authorised decision-maker
I am authorised to make this decision in accordance with arrangements approved by the
Department’s Secretary under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Material taken into account
In reaching my decision I have had regard to the fol owing:
•  the terms of your request
•  searches and inquires undertaken by the Department
•  the FOI Act
•  the Guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act
(the Guidelines)
Postal Address: PO Box 6500, CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: +61 2 6271 5849   Fax: +61 2 6271 5776   www.pmc.gov.au ABN: 18 108 001 191

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Decision
I have decided to refuse your request under section 24A(1) of the FOI Act, on the grounds that the
Department has taken al  reasonable steps to locate the documents responsive to your request, and
those documents do not exist.
Reason for decision
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding to refuse your request for access are set out below.
1.  Documents cannot be found or do not exist
Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
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
(ii)  does not exist.
In determining what the FOI Act means with respect to ‘al  reasonable steps’, I have had regard to the
Guidelines which discuss the meaning of ‘reasonable’ in section 24A(1)(a). It is not designed to go
beyond the limit assigned by reason, not to be extravagant or excessive, rather to be moderate and of
such an effort to be appropriate or suitable to the circumstances1.
The Department has undertaken inquiries and searches within the Honours and Symbols Section of
the Parliamentary and Government Branch regarding any relevant records that would meet the terms
of your request. That is for a document that would record the ‘number’ of medals awarded for the
subject of your request.
This Honours and Symbols Section provides policy advice on the operation of the Australian honours
system and administers applications of the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal (the Medal). This is
the area in the Department who would hold documents, relating to the terms of your request, if they
existed. They have conducted searches of their record repositories for any documents that may be
responsive to your request. The Department does not hold a record, either in discrete form or within a
database,2 of the number of Medals awarded to the General Electric contingent to Banda Aceh.

1 Paragraph 3.88 of the Guidelines
2 Section 17 of the FOI Act
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Further, they had regard to the process of awarding these medals and that it is the Governor-General
who makes the decision. Information about the awarding of medals would be held by the Office of
the Official Secretary to the Governor-General.3
I am satisfied that the measures taken by the Department to locate a document in response to your
request are appropriate and suitable given the circumstances. After taking al  reasonable steps to find
documents, no documents relevant to your request have been identified.
I am refusing your request for access under section 24A(1) of the FOI Act as the document you have
requested does not exist.
Review rights
If you disagree with my decision, you may apply for internal review or Information Commissioner
review of the decision.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Department for an internal review of
my decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days after the date of this letter,
please attach the reasons why you disagree with the decision.
Applications for review should be sent to xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Information Commissioner review
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner to
review my decision. An application for review by the Information Commissioner must be made in
writing within 60 days after the date of this letter.
More information about Information Commissioner review is available here.4
FOI Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your FOI request, please let us know what we could
have done better. We may be able to rectify the problem. If you are not satisfied with our response,
you can make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner. A complaint to the

3 https://www.pmc.gov.au/honours-and-symbols/australian-honours-system/administering-
honours#honours_symbols
4 https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-
information-reviews/information-commissioner-review
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Information Commissioner must be made in writing. More information about complaints is available
here.5
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your requests, you can contact the FOI Section by email at
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.

Yours sincerely

David Belgrove
Assistant Secretary
Parliamentary and Government Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
21 August 2024

5 https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-
information-complaints/make-an-foi-complaint
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Document Outline