OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
AND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
Freedom of Information Request 008/24/25 – Notice of Access Decision 1. I refer to the application by James Smith (the applicant), dated and received on
31 January 2025, made under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) for access to
the following documents:
Please provide copies of any documents relating to the appointment of General (Rtd)
Angus Campbell AO as Australia’s Ambassador to Belgium, the European Union
(EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Luxembourg.
This may include:
-
briefing memos
-
recommendation documents
-
approval documents
-
emails, letters, or other correspondence
FOI decision maker
2. I am the authorised officer pursuant to section 23 of the FOI Act to make a decision on
this FOI request.
Documents identified
3. I identified no official documents as matching the scope of the request.
Decision
4. I am the authorised officer pursuant to section 23 of the FOI Act to make a decision on
this FOI request.
Material taken into account
5. In making my decision, I had regard to:
a. the terms of the request;
b. relevant provisions in the FOI Act; and
c. the Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (the Guidelines).
Reasons for decision
Section 24A – Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or
have not been received
6. Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act states:
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(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
(ii) does not exist.
7. Paragraph 3.89 of the Guidelines provides that:
Agencies and ministers should undertake a reasonable search on a flexible and common
sense interpretation of the terms of the request.
8. Paragraph 3.90 of the Guidelines further states:
It may also be prudent for agencies and ministers to explain in its decision the steps that
were taken to search for the document…
This may assist the applicant in understanding how the searches were conducted and
whether there is any merit in seeking further review of the decision by the agency or
minister.
9. To ensure that ‘all reasonable steps’ have been taken in relation to this request, every
reasonable avenue of identifying documents related to the scope of the request has been
exhausted.
10. Thorough document searches were conducted by relevant office staff of electronic
systems, including the Parliamentary Document Management System (PDMS), for documents
matching the scope of the applicant’s request. No documents were located within the scope of
the request.
11. I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to locate the documents sought
by the applicant. I am satisfied that the requested documents do not exist within the minister’s
records, and refuse access to the request under section 24A(l) of the FOI Act.
Further information
12. If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply to the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner for review. More information can be found at Attachment A.
samantha.ferry Digitally signed by
samantha.ferry
Date: 2025.03.03 23:11:51 +11'00'
Samantha Ferry
Authorised Decision Maker
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence
3 March 2025
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Attachment A – FOI review rights
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply to the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner for review. More information can be found at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-
rights/freedom-of-information-reviews/information-commissioner-review
Information Commissioner review
An application for review by the Information Commission must be made in writing within 60
days of the date of the decision letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:
Online:
https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=ICReview&layoutcode=ICReviewWF
OAIC Enquires Line: 1300 363 992.
Document Outline
