14 January 2025
Oliver Smith
BY EMAIL: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA 24/10/01917
File Number: FA24/10/01917
Dear Oliver Smith
Freedom of Information (FOI) request – Decision
On 30 October 2024, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) received a request for
access to document under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
1
Scope of request
You have requested access to the following document:
Under the FOI Act, I seek a list of the Ministerial Briefs provided by the department to the
office of the the Hon Julian Hil MP as the Assistant Minister for Citizenship and
Multicultural Affairs for the months of September and October 2024, including the PDR
number, title and date the brief was provided to the minister’s office. When it comes to the
title of the brief, if the department would be required to consult on the release of the title
and that consultation would take longer than the 30 day time limit set out in legislation to
respond to this request, then the title of the brief can be redacted to expedite this request.
To further expedite this request, please exclude al briefs in relation to visa/citizenship
issues pertaining to an individual.
2
Authority to make decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in respect of
requests to access document or to amend or annotate records.
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 · xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx · www.homeaffairs.gov.au
3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the document relevant to the request
• the FOI Act
• Guidelines published by the Office of the Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines)
• advice from Departmental officers with responsibility for matters relating to the
document to which you sought access
4
Document in scope of request
In accordance with section 17 of the FOI Act, the Department has used its computer system to
produce one document that contains information that falls within the scope of your request. The
data produced in the document existed in the possession of the Department on 30 October 2024
when your FOI request was received.
5
Decision
The decision in relation to the document in the possession of the Department which fall within
the scope of your request is as follows:
• Release one document in full
6
Legislation
A copy of the FOI Act is available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562. If you
are unable to access the legislation through this website, please contact our office for a copy.
7
Your review rights
Internal review
You do not have the right to seek an internal review of this decision. This is because section
54E(b) of the FOI Act provides that, when an agency is deemed to have refused an FOI request
under section 15AC of the FOI Act, the applicant does not have the right to seek an internal
review of the deemed decision.
The Department was deemed to have refused your request under section 15AC of the FOI Act
because it did not make this decision within the statutory timeframes for the request.
While the Department has now made a substantive decision on your request, section 15AC of
the FOI Act continues to apply to your request, which means that any request you make for
internal review wil be invalid.
Information Commissioner review
You can instead request the Australian Information Commissioner to review this decision. If you
want to request an Information Commissioner review, you must make your request to the Office
of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) within 60 days of being notified of this
decision.
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You can apply for an Information Commissioner review at: Information Commissioner review
application form on the OAIC website.
If you have already applied for an Information Commissioner review, there is no need to make a
new review request. The OAIC wil contact you shortly to give you an opportunity to advise
whether you wish the review to continue, and to provide your reasons for continuing the review.
You can find more information about Information Commissioner reviews on the OAIC website.
8
Making a complaint
You may make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner if you have concerns
about how the Department has handled your request under the FOI Act. This is a separate
process to the process of requesting a review of the decision as indicated above.
You can make an FOI complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) at: FOI Complaint Form on the OAIC website.
9
Contacting the FOI Section
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Section at
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
[Electronically signed]
Melissa
Position No. 49000706
Authorised Decision Maker
Department of Home Affairs
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