Accommodation costs AFP staff Port Moresby

George Porter made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Federal Police

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Australian Federal Police,

I seek copies of the following documents pursuant to the FOI Act:

- Any agreements, memoranda of understanding, or contracts between the AFP and DFAT (including its Overseas Property Office) in respect of the accommodation of AFP employees at Port Road 2 appartments in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea during calendar years 2016-2019;

- Documents evidencing payments by the AFP to DFAT (including its Overseas Property Office) in respect of the accommodation of AFP employees at Port Road 2 appartments in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea during calendar years 2016-2019;

- Communications since November 2018 between the AFP and the Department of Finance touching upon the issue of whether allowances, including rent free accommodation, paid to AFP staff posted or deployed overseas should be treated as salary for superannuation purposes.

Yours faithfully,

George Porter

FOI, Australian Federal Police

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Bowler, Jodi, Australian Federal Police

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

 

 

Good Morning

 

YOUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

 

I refer to your application dated 27 August 2019, in which you seek access
to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) as
follows:

 

“I seek copies of the following documents pursuant to the FOI Act:

- Any agreements, memoranda of understanding, or contracts between the AFP
and DFAT (including its

Overseas Property Office) in respect of the accommodation of AFP employees
at Port Road 2 apartments in

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea during calendar years 2016-2019;

- Documents evidencing payments by the AFP to DFAT (including its Overseas
Property Office) in respect of

the accommodation of AFP employees at Port Road 2 apartments in Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea during

calendar years 2016-2019;

- Communications since November 2018 between the AFP and the Department of
Finance touching upon the

issue of whether allowances, including rent free accommodation, paid to
AFP staff posted or deployed overseas

should be treated as salary for superannuation purposes.”

 

Timeframe

 

Your request was received by this agency on 27 August 2019, and the 30 day
statutory period for processing your request commenced from that date. The
due date for your request is  26 September 2019.

 

Information considered irrelevant to the scope of your request

 

The AFP, in its management of FOI requests, excludes the following
information on the basis that is irrelevant to the scope of a request:

 

-      Names of AFP members, other than the Senior Executive.

-      Direct telephone numbers, signatures and mobile telephone numbers
of AFP members.

-      Duplicate documents, including duplicate emails.  The AFP will only
provide emails where they form a final email chain and the
authors/recipients are contained within the final email. 

-      Information that is publicly available, for example, newspaper
articles, online publications including information available on the AFP
Information Publication Scheme and the AFP disclosure log.

 

If you object to the AFP excluding any of the above information, please
advise this office within seven days of receipt of this email.

 

Disclosure of your Identity

 

Should the AFP be required to consult with third parties in accordance
with the sections 26A, 27 and 27A of the Act, please advise us if you have
any objections to those parties knowing your identity for the purposes of
the consultation.  If we do not receive your consent, we will not disclose
your identity to third parties.

 

Charges

 

You will be notified of any charges in accordance with the Freedom of
Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations, should they apply, in relation
to your request as soon as practicable. 

 

Information Publication Scheme

 

Please be advised that effective 1 May 2011 and in accordance with section
8(2) of the Act, an agency is required to publish information on the AFP
website following the notification of a decision in respect of a freedom
of information request.  Details of the decision will be published in a
Disclosure Log which can be found at
[1]https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/informat....

 

The requirement to publish information released under FOI reinforces the
objectives of the FOI Act to promote a pro-disclosure culture across
government and to increase recognition that information held by government
is a national resource.  Exceptions to the requirement to publish
information would apply to personal information and information concerning
the business affairs of a person if it was considered ‘unreasonable’ to do
so. 

 

If, however, after noting the above, you wish to raise any concerns about
the publication of information concerning your request prior to the
notification of a decision, please advise this office in writing before 26
September 2019.

 

 

 

JODI (AFP22841)FOI OFFICER
CHIEF COUNSEL PORTFOLIO

Tel 02 5126 9366
[2]www.afp.gov.au
[3]Australian Federal Police

 

UNCLASSIFIED

 

UNCLASSIFIED

 

 

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FOI, Australian Federal Police

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Porter,

 

I refer to your email dated 27 August 2019 in which you seek access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982

 

Upon consideration of your request, the AFP is of the view that your
request will take longer than 30 days to process.  The delay is
regrettable, however, due to the complexity in nature and the requirement
to undertake further enquiries with the line areas to ensure all relevant
documents are located, it will not be possible to advise you of a decision
by 26 August 2019.

 

Accordingly, pursuant to section 15AA of the Act, I seek your agreement to
extend the period to notify you of a decision to on or before 26 October
2019.

 

I apologise for the delay and any inconvenience this may cause you and
will endeavour to provide you with a decision as soon as possible.

 

I would be grateful if you would advise this office in writing of your
agreement to the proposed extension of time. 

 

If you have any queries in relation to this matter, please do not hesitate
to contact me.

 

Kind regards,

 

TANYA (AFP14692)
FOI TEAM MEMBER
CHIEF COUNSEL

Tel +61(0) 2 51269366
[1]www.afp.gov.au
[2]Australian Federal Police

 

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Dear Tanya,

To enable me to consider your request for an extension of time, could you please advise whether an extension to 26 October would also allow you to complete any consultations with other agencies.

Yours sincerely,

George Porter

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

**********************************************************************
WARNING

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use by the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you
are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for
delivering the message to the intended recipient be advised that you
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AFP Web site: http://www.afp.gov.au
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FOI, Australian Federal Police

UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Porter,

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately, I am unable to confirm if additional time will be required to undertake any necessary consultations until such time that all the documents have been received and assessed.

The delay we are currently experiencing is due to the number of areas who are yet to provide documents for FOI assessment. We have requested that a response be provided by 13 September however, a request for additional time was sought due to operational requirements and the need to ensure that all relevant documents are captured.

I apologise for the inconvenience and will endeavour to try and provide you with a decision within the 60 day period.

I look forward to your response.

Kind regards,

TANYA (AFP14692)
FOI TEAM MEMBER
CHIEF COUNSEL
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Tel +61(0) 2 51269366
www.afp.gov.au

UNCLASSIFIED

-----Original Message-----
From: George Porter <[FOI #5595 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 10 September 2019 9:35 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - CRM 2020/138 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Dear Tanya,

To enable me to consider your request for an extension of time, could you please advise whether an extension to 26 October would also allow you to complete any consultations with other agencies.

Yours sincerely,

George Porter

-----Original Message-----

Dear Mr Porter,

 

I refer to your email dated 27 August 2019 in which you seek access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982

 

Upon consideration of your request, the AFP is of the view that your request will take longer than 30 days to process.  The delay is regrettable, however, due to the complexity in nature and the requirement to undertake further enquiries with the line areas to ensure all relevant documents are located, it will not be possible to advise you of a decision by 26 August 2019.

 

Accordingly, pursuant to section 15AA of the Act, I seek your agreement to extend the period to notify you of a decision to on or before 26 October 2019.

 

I apologise for the delay and any inconvenience this may cause you and will endeavour to provide you with a decision as soon as possible.

 

I would be grateful if you would advise this office in writing of your agreement to the proposed extension of time. 

 

If you have any queries in relation to this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Kind regards,

 

TANYA (AFP14692)
FOI TEAM MEMBER
CHIEF COUNSEL

Tel +61(0) 2 51269366
[1]www.afp.gov.au
[2]Australian Federal Police

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.afp.gov.au/
2. http://www.afp.gov.au/

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Dear Tanya,

I reluctantly agree to an extension until 26 October. Please note that I am not inclined to agree to any further extensions.

Yours sincerely,

George Porter

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

**********************************************************************
WARNING

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that is confidential and subject of legal privilege intended only for
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are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for
delivering the message to the intended recipient be advised that you
have received this message in error and that any use, copying,
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Dear Australian Federal Police,

I note that the extension of time I agreed to expires today. Could you please advise when I may expect to receive a decision in respect of my request.

Yours faithfully,

George Porter

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

**********************************************************************
WARNING

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that is confidential and subject of legal privilege intended only for
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are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for
delivering the message to the intended recipient be advised that you
have received this message in error and that any use, copying,
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Dear Australian Federal Police,

I refer to my communication of 26 October, to which I have not received a substantive response.

I note that your failure to make a decision by that date constitutes a deemed refusal of my request entitling me to seek review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Given the delays currently being encountered in processing such reviews, I propose to narrow the scope of my request in an effort to elicit a timely decision.

I now seek only those parts of any agreements, memoranda of understanding, or contracts between the AFP and DFAT (including its Overseas Property Office) in respect of the accommodation of AFP employees at Port Road 2 appartments in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, that contain information about the amount paid by the AFP to DFAT for such accommodation. I seek this information in respect of agreements, memoranda of understanding, or contracts current during calendar years 2016-2019.

I am aware that similar information has been released by the AFP on at least one other occasion.

I would appreciate it if on this occasion you would extend me the courtesy of a substantive response. Failing that, it is my intention to seek review with the OAIC in respect of the entirety of my original request.

Yours faithfully,

George Porter

FOI, Australian Federal Police

Thank you for your email.

Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.

This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.

If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.

Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...

The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.

The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131

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FOI, Australian Federal Police

2 Attachments

UNCLASSIFIED

 

Our ref: CRM 2020/138

 

 

Dear Mr Porter,

 

Your Freedom of Information Request – Decision

 

Please find attached the AFP’s decision regarding your recent request
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

 

Due to email size restrictions, the documents relating to your request
will be sent in two (2) parts.

 

Kind regards,

 

TANYA (AFP14692)
FOI TEAM MEMBER
CHIEF COUNSEL

Tel +61(0) 2 51269366
[1]www.afp.gov.au
[2]Australian Federal Police

UNCLASSIFIED

 

 

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FOI, Australian Federal Police

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

 

UNCLASSIFIED

 

 

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