Access to Speaker's Brief
Dear Department of the House of Representatives,
I am writing today as a member of the general public who wishes to obtain a copy of the Speaker's Brief for the 44th Parliament.
I note that while the Department of the House of Representatives is not subject to Freedom of information as a result of legislative changes I consider it is in the public interest that the brief be released.
I note that the Speaker's brief has been released previously under FOI as it is noted in your disclosure log http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/P...
I therefore kindly request that access to the brief be considered.I look forward to hearing from you in that regard.
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Hinds
Dear Mr Hinds,
Thank you for your email and I apologise for the delay in responding to you. Your request will be considered and I will advise you of the outcome of that consideration.
Yours sincerely
James Catchpole
Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms
Department of the House of Representatives
Parliament House
PO Box 6021, Canberra, ACT, 2600
ph: 02 6277 4888 mob: 0407 994021
www.aph.gov.au/house
Dear Mr Hinds
I refer to your request below for a copy of the Speaker's Brief for the 44th Parliament.
After consideration, the Department of the House of Representatives has decided not to make the Speaker's Brief for the 44th Parliament public.
As you note, the department, along with the other parliamentary departments, is now excluded from the application of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. However, detailed and up to date information about the department's operations is available in the department's 2012-13 Annual Report, 2013-2016 Corporate Plan and 2013-2014 Portfolio Budget Statements. All these documents are available publicly via the parliament house website at: http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/P...
If you have any questions about this advice, please contact the Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, James Catchpole, on (02) 6277 4888.
Yours sincerely
Robyn McClelland
Serjeant-at-Arms
Henare Degan left an annotation ()
It would be interesting to ask them why they are refusing access.
Hopefully they'll be just ask helpful and upfront about this as the Department is in responding to FOI requests.