ABCC and Building Code
Dear Prime Minister,
I seek access to the following documents under the FOI Act 1982:
1.Communication between the Prime Minister’s Office and any office holder, official or employee of the AWU, CFMMEU or ACTU during the period 1 June 2022 to 25 July 2022 in relation to the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), the Code for the Tendering and Performance of Building Work 2016 (Building Code) or the Code for the Tendering and Performance of Building Work Amendment Instrument (Amended Building Code).
2.Internal communications between members of the Prime Minister’s office (including the Prime Minister) during the period 1 June 2022 to 25 July 2022 in relation to the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), the Building Code or the Amended Building Code.
In this request a reference to the Prime Minister’s Office includes the Prime Minister.
For the avoidance of doubt, the request includes all forms of communication including emails (including attachments), memorandums or notes, electronic communications such as SMS, WhatsApp messages, iMessages and Signal messages.
Yours faithfully,
BE
OFFICIAL
Reference: PM/2022/006
Dear BM
The purpose of this email is to acknowledge the request you made to the
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for access under the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (the Act).
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) provides
administrative support to the PMO for the processing of their Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests. We have forwarded your request to the PMO for
consideration. When corresponding with PM&C about this request please
include the reference number of PM/2022/006.
FOI Timeframes
Your request was received on 8 August 2022. The 30 day statutory period
for processing your request commenced from the day after it was received,
you should therefore expect a decision by 7 September 2022.
The processing period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances
and we will write to you separately regarding any extension of time.
Yours sincerely
Leisha
Coordinator | FOI Section[]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. (02) 6271 5849
Ngunnawal Country | One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box
6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
e. [1][email address] w. [2]pmc.gov.au
[3]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
OFFICIAL
Reference: PM/2022/006
Dear BE
We refer your request of 8 August 2022 for access to documents held by the
Prime Minister’s Office under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
The current due date for a decision on this request is 7 September 2022.
Searches for relevant documents are being undertaken, regrettably though
the Prime Minister’s Office is not currently in a position to finalise the
decision by this date.
Accordingly, we are seeking your agreement to a 30-day extension of time
under section 15AA of the FOI Act. We will endeavour to notify you of the
decision prior to this extended date if possible.
If you agree to this request for an extension of time, we ask that you
confirm this in writing via return email by COB Tuesday 6 September 2022.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and quote
your reference number PM/22/006.
Kind regards
Janelle
Janelle | Senior Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section | Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. (02) 6271 5950
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
Dear FOI,
Thank you for your email.
It is difficult to consider the appropriateness of this request given that no reason at all has been given for the delay by the Prime Minister and his office in processing the request.
However, despite that, I am willing to agree to the 30 day extension provided that there are no further requests for extension (including if consultation is required with third parties) or requests to refine or reduce the scope. The extension is also agreed to on the basis that the parties both agree that the scope of the request does not represent an unreasonable diversion of resources (ie there is no practical refusal reason).
Given the lack of any reason being provided for the requested extension and the late stage at which the request was made (as well as the lengthy nature of the extension requested) the above conditions are appropriate and necessary to ensure that a decision is made without further unnecessary delay.
Yours sincerely,
BE
OFFICIAL
Reference: PM/2022/006
Dear BE
Thank you for your email and consideration of the request for an
extension.
The purpose of seeking an extension is to keep your FOI request within
time. The Office is committed to processing all requests that it receives
and endeavours to complete those requests within statutory timeframes. The
email explained that searches for records was ongoing, this is the reason
further time was required to allow those searches to be completed and
ensure sufficient time to finalise a decision under the FOI Act. If the
Office is in a position to finalise a decision prior to the extension it
will do so.
We note that the FOI Act has built in provisions and operations that
provide for extensions to enable agencies and Minister’s to manage their
FOI requests and keep them within time. The Office would like to work with
applicants in managing the timeframes of its requests and, based on
current information, the Office does not anticipate additional time being
required beyond these additional 30 days. Based on current information,
the Office also does not anticipate making a practical refusal notice. We
will keep you updated on the progress of this request if circumstances
change.
Yours sincerely
Janelle
Janelle | Senior Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section | Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. (02) 6271 5950
Ngunnawal Country, One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box
6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
e. [1][email address] w. [2]pmc.gov.au
[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[4]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0
[5]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.
OFFICIAL
Dear BE
Please see the attached correspondence regarding your Freedom of
Information request.
Regards Robyn
Robyn | Adviser
Freedom of Information | Government Division
p. 02 6271 5849| e. [1][Prime Minister request email]
[2]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
OFFICIAL
FOI Reference: PM/22/006IC
OAIC Reference: MR 22/01812
Good afternoon BE
We write to you on behalf of the Prime Minister’s office. Please see
attached a revised decision under section 55G of the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 in response to your request PM/22/006IC.
Kind regards
Tim
Adviser | FOI Section[]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. (02) 6271 5849
Ngunnawal Country | One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box
6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
e. [1][email address] w. [2]pmc.gov.au
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.pmc.gov.au/