OFFICIAL
Freedom of Information (FOI) request
Notice of Decision
Reference: FOI/2024/375
To Ms Deborah-May Torrens
Via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Ms Torrens
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 13 November 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 set out your request in the following terms:
I am contacting The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, to request documentation,
Reports, videos or transcripts of Operation Covid Assist and Operation Covid Shield Tabletop
exercises etc. ., showing whether AI was used before, during and after Operation Covid Assist,
and in what areas and to what degree, considering the fol owing;

1. Once the AI subgoal of survival has emerged, the change of acting to remove mankind as a
threat is around ninety to ninety-five percent.

2. The subgoals of AI being self preservation, resource acquisition, eliminating obstacles,
avoiding interference, self improvement, creating backups, expanding influence and attempting
to control other systems.

3. With most Australian military hardware either control ed by AI or hackable, AI could very well
destroy Australias' remaining weapons in one massive strike.
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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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 following:
•  the terms of your request
•  searches undertaken by the Department
•  the FOI Act
•  the FOI Guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act
(the Guidelines)
Decision
I have decided to refuse your request under section 24A(1) of the FOI Act, on the grounds the
Department has taken all reasonable steps to locate the documents you have requested, 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:
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.
In determining what the FOI Act means with respect to ‘all 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.

1 Paragraph 3.88 of the Guidelines
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The Department, more specifically, the Health Branch and the Defence Intelligence Branch, has
conducted searches for any relevant records which would meet the terms of your request in the
Outlook email system, SharePoint file repository system, and the Parliamentary Document
Management System. There were no documents found to be in the possession of the Department.
I am satisfied the measures taken by the Department to locate documents in response to your request
under the FOI Act, as outlined above, are appropriate and suitable given the circumstances. After
taking all reasonable steps to find the documents, no documents relevant to your request have been
identified.
Accordingly, I am refusing your request for access under section 24A(1) of the FOI Act as the
documents you have requested do 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. You can apply using the OAIC Web Form.2
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

2 https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=ICReview&layoutcode=ICReviewWF
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Information Commissioner must be made in writing. You can make a complaint using the
OAIC Web Form.3
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

Russell de Burgh
Assistant Secretary
Health Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
13 December 2024

3 https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=Complaint&layoutcode=FOIComplaintWF
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Document Outline