20 January 2025
Oliver2
BY EMAIL: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request:
FA 24/12/00158
File Number:
FA24/12/00158
Dear Oliver2,
Freedom of Information (FOI) request – Decision
On 3 December 2024, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) received a request for
access to documents 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 documents:
Under the FOI Act, I seek a copy of the Ministerial Brief provided to the office of Home
Affairs Minister Tony Burke on 12/9/24 with the Brief PDR No. MS24-001570.
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 documents or to amend or annotate records.
3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the documents 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
documents to which you sought access
• advice from other Commonwealth Departments
6 Chan Street Belconnen ACT 2617
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 • www.homeaffairs.gov.au
4
Documents in scope of request
The Department has identified two documents as falling within the scope of your request. These
documents were in the possession of the Department on 3 December 2024 when your request
was received.
Attachment A is a schedule which describes the relevant documents and sets out my decision
in relation to each of them.
5
Decision
The decision in relation to the documents in the possession of the Department which fall within
the scope of your request is as follows:
• Exempt two documents in full from disclosure
6
Reasons for Decision
Where the schedule of documents indicates an exemption claim has been applied to a document
or part of document, my findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemption provision
applies to that information are set out below.
6.1 Section 34 – Cabinet documents
Section 34(1)(a) of the FOI Act permits exemption of a document if both of the following are
satisfied:
(i) the document has been submitted to the Cabinet for its consideration, or is or was
proposed by a Minister to be so submitted, and
(ii) it was brought into existence for the dominant purpose of submission for consideration
by the Cabinet
For a document to be exempted under section 34(1)(a) the document must have been submitted
to Cabinet for its consideration or proposed to be so submitted. The document must have been
brought into existence for the dominant purpose of being submitted to Cabinet.
I have sought advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and have applied their
advice to exempt document 2 in full.
A strong Cabinet system is fundamental to well-informed decision making and policy
development by the Government. The convention of the collective responsibility of Ministers for
government decisions is central to the Cabinet system of Government. Cabinet is a forum in
which Ministers, while working towards a collective position, are able to discuss proposals,
options and views with complete freedom. This requires that Cabinet deliberations are treated
confidentially.
The contained information which, if disclosed, would reveal Cabinet deliberations and information
that has not, to date, been officially disclosed.
Accordingly, I have decided that document two is exempt under section 34(1)(a) of the FOI Act.
Section 34(1)(c) of the FOI Act permits exemption of a document if it was brought into existence
for the dominant purpose of briefing a Minister on a document to which paragraph (a) applies.
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Document 1 was brought into existence for the dominant purpose of briefing the Minister for
Home Affairs, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Cyber Security on a
submission to Cabinet.
I have sought advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and have applied their
advice to exempt document 1 in full.
Document 1 contains information which, if disclosed, would reveal Cabinet deliberations and
information that has not, to date, been officially disclosed.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that document 1 is exempt under section 34(1)(c).
7
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.
8
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 will 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.
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 will 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.
9
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.
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You can make an FOI complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) at: FOI Complaint Form on the OAIC website.
10
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 Janelle
Position number: 60012007
Authorised Decision Maker
Department of Home Affairs
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