Act No. 12 of 2013 - assented/signed copy and documents submitted for Royal Assent
Dear Office of Parliamentary Counsel,
Is it possible to provide the following on Act No. 12 of 2013, the Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Act 2013?
I am looking for:
- A copy of the Act as passed with signature of the Royal Assent.
- Documents submitted to the Governor-General for royal assent to the Act (including the certificate from either the House of Representatives or the Senate, and the certificate signed by the Attorney-General recommending assent).
Thanks Yous!
Yours faithfully,
Tyler
The sender of this email certifies that its contents, and any attachments,
are of an 'OFFICIAL' nature.
Good morning,
Freedom of Information request no. 23-2025
I refer to your request for access to documents related to the Royal
Assent of the Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Act 2013 .
OPC received your request on 2 January 2025 and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
You should therefore expect a decision from us by 1 February 2025. The
period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third parties or
for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.
If you require this information, please let us know so the decision maker
may consider releasing it. Otherwise, we will take it that you agree to
this information being excluded from the scope of your request (that is,
the information will be treated as irrelevant and redacted from any
documents for release).
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log
([1]https://www.opc.gov.au/corporate‑informa...),
subject to certain exceptions. For example, personal information will not
be published where this would be unreasonable.
We will contact you using the email address you provided. Please advise if
you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.
Kind Regards,
FOI Contact Officer
a: 28 Sydney Ave Forrest ACT 2603
t: 02 6120 1400
e: [2][OPC request email]
w: [3]www.opc.gov.au
P Please consider the environmental impact before you print this email
[4]Indigenous Signature 1
The sender of this email certifies that its contents, and any attachments,
are of an 'OFFICIAL' nature.
Good afternoon,
I refer to your request to OPC under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(FOI Act) for access to documents.
The purpose of this email is to advise you that part of your request has
been transferred to another agency.
Under section 16(1) of the FOI Act, OPC with the agreement of the other
agency, may transfer part of the request to the other agency if the
requested document is not in the possession of OPC but is in the
possession of the other agency or if the subject matter of the document is
more closely connected with the functions of the other agency.
OPC, with agreement, transferred part of your request as the documents are
in the possession of the Office of the Official Secretary to the
Governor-General.
The part of your request that has been transferred is:
o Documents submitted to the Governor-General for royal assent to the
Act (including the certificate from either the House of
Representatives or the Senate, and the certificate signed by the
Attorney-General recommending assent).
We received your request on 2 January 2025 and the 30-day statutory period
for processing your request commenced from the day after that date. The
transfer of your request does not affect the due date for completion of
your request. You should therefore expect a decision from the the Office
of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General by 1 February 2025.
However, the statutory period of 30 days may be extended if the Office of
the Official Secretary to the Governor-General needs to consult third
parties or for other reasons. The Office of the Official Secretary to the
Governor-General will advise you if this happens.
If you have any questions about this transfer, please contact us by email
to [1][email address].
If you have any other questions about your request, the contact details
for the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General are
[2][email address].
Kind regards,
FOI Contact Officer
a: 28 Sydney Ave Forrest ACT 2603
t: 02 6120 1400
e: [3][OPC request email]
w: [4]www.opc.gov.au
P Please consider the environmental impact before you print this email
[5]Indigenous Signature 1
Dear Office of Parliamentary Counsel,
Thank yous for your message on 9 January 2025, you informed you transferred part of the request to the Office of the official secretary of the governor-general.
I just recalled that in similar requests in the past such as the one with OPC reference number T24/267 and others concerning Acts of Parliament enacted in earlier years, it was the OPC which held all of the documents requested and provided copies of all very very kindly. But if in this case part of the documents are now actually with the office of the official secretary of the governor-general, i will also be grateful for assistance from the office of the official secretary of the governor-general, as well as OPC.
Thank yous
Yours faithfully,
Tyler
The sender of this email certifies that its contents, and any attachments,
are of an 'OFFICIAL' nature.
Good morning,
In response to your FOI Request received by the Office of Parliamentary
Counsel on 7 December 2024, please find attached the decision by the
Agency’s authorised decision-maker under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Kind regards,
FOI Contact Officer
a: 28 Sydney Ave Forrest ACT 2603
t: 02 6120 1400
e: [1][OPC request email]
w: [2]www.opc.gov.au
P Please consider the environmental impact before you print this email
[3]Indigenous Signature 1
Dear OPC,
Thank yous!
I will wait for information from the office of the official secretary of the governor-general on
- Documents submitted to the Governor-General for royal assent to the Act (including the certificate from either the House of Representatives or the Senate, and the certificate signed by the Attorney-General recommending assent).
Thank yous!
Yours faithfully,
Tyler
Dear Tyler,
Our ref: FOI2025001
As per the email sent to you by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) dated 9 January 2025, part of your Freedom of Information request was transferred to the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, as OPC determined that the subject-matter more closely connected with the functions of the Office.
Accordingly, please find attached the OOSGG component of the response to your FOI request.
Kind regards,
Freedom of Information Contact Officer
Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General
W: www.gg.gov.au
OPC ref: no. 23-2025 (T25/5)
OOSGG ref: FOI2025001
Dear Office of Parliamentary Counsel and Office of the Official Secretary of the Governor-General,
Please pass this on to the person(s) who conduct(s) Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of the handling by the Office of the Official Secretary of the Governor-General and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel of my FOI request ‘Act No. 12 of 2013 - assented/signed copy and documents submitted for Royal Assent'. A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...
My request for review concerns my request for:
"Documents submitted to the Governor-General for royal assent to the Act (including the certificate from either the House of Representatives or the Senate, and the certificate signed by the Attorney-General recommending assent)"
on which OOSGG replied to me on 30 January 2025.
My reasons and concerns for requesting review are as follows.
1, OSSGG
OSSGG's letter on 30 January 2025 mentioned two provisions in the FOI Act for refusal of my above request. The two provisions were sections 6A and 24A of the FOI Act.
I understand the OSSGG's reasons under section 6A of the FOI Act. But I wonder if section 24A is also relevant here, and if the answer is yes, then which other office/department would have copy of the documents being sought.
I ask this question about section 24A, because on past occasions, OPC have very helpfully provided such documents relating to other Acts of the Commonwealth Parliament, which included (one) a letter from either the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President of the Senate to the Governor-General, about the passage of a bill for the Governor-General's assent, and (two) a certificate or note from the Attorney-General to the Governor-General on whether any amendments to the bill should be proposed and whether the bill should be reserved for the monarch's pleasure. (And on some occasions, OPC have also included copy of a note from the First Parliamentary Counsel to the Attorney-General on the matters to be addressed by the certificate or note from the Attorney-General to the Governor-General).
For example, OPC has very helpfully provided such information in OPC FOI request no. 28-2025
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...
On this basis, can OSSGG review and confirm whether both sections 6A and 24A are applicable (to the extent that my present request relates to OSSGG)?
2, OPC
I understood that OPC does not have copy of these documents, and this was the reason why this part of my request (for the above documents) was transferred to OSSGG.
Can OPC review and confirm: whether OPC does have these documents in its possession (and as such may provide copy of these documents as requested)? And if OPC does not have these documents, then which offices/departments should have copies of these documents (e.g. Attorney-General? Attorney-General's Department?) to which this part of my request should be transferred?
(I assume that records of at least documents (one) and (two) would be retained for proper records, which I understand may be the case in various jurisdictions in the world; and are not destroyed which appears to be a possibility suggested in OSSGG's letter which did not however say whether the documents sought were in fact destroyed or otherwise)
Early advice from both OSSGG and OPC is very very much appreciated
Thank yous!
Yours faithfully,
Tyler