OFFICIAL

Reference: FOI/2023/150

Dear Applicant/MBV

Thank you for your email of 27 February 2023 in which you made a request
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department).

We sincerely apologise for the Department’s delay in acknowledging your
request. Due to an administrative error your request was not registered
and actioned by the Department within the processing period. We continue
to recognise the original request date of 27 February 2023 for the
purposes of applicable FOI timeframes. While the processing period is
overdue, we will process your request as quickly as possible. If you no
longer wish to proceed with your request, please let us know as soon as
possible.

You set out the terms of the request as follows:

I seek access to the following documents:

Any emails, text messages, Signal messages, WhatsApp messages, Skype
messages or records of conversations relating to the drafting of
EC22-000270.

and

any emails, text messages, Signal messages, WhatsApp messages, Skype
messages or records of conversations relating to the drafting of the
responses to Budget October 2022-23 Estimates Questions on Notice QON0031
and QON0032 (QONs which relate to EC22-000270).

Timeframe for receiving your decision

The 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the
day after the Department received your request on 27 February 2023, your
request was due on 29 March 2023. The Department will process your request
as quickly as possible.

Publication of documents

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[1]https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...,
subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any
objections to the publication of any of the information which may be
released to you please contact us by email at [2][DPMC request email].  If you
do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to
provide supporting reasons.

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:

o any person’s signature;
o the names and contact details of Australian Public Service officers
not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
o the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;
o the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level below
Chief of Staff.

If you consider that the information categorised above is relevant to the
terms of your request please let us know at [3][DPMC request email], otherwise
we will take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the
scope of your request (that is, the information will be treated as
irrelevant and deleted from any documents for release). The names and
other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless there is some
reason for that information to be exempt from release.

Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to discuss your
request.

Yours sincerely

Tina

Adviser

Freedom of Information (FOI)| Legal Policy Branch[]

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. [5][email address]  w. [6]pmc.gov.au

[7]cid:image001.jpg@01D888E5.6B56D250 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. https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://www.pmc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Dear MBV

I refer to your FOI Request to the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet dated 27 February 2023 seeking access to:

Any emails, text messages, Signal messages, WhatsApp messages, Skype
messages or records of conversations relating to the drafting of
EC22-000270.

and

any emails, text messages, Signal messages, WhatsApp messages, Skype
messages or records of conversations relating to the drafting of the
responses to Budget October 2022-23 Estimates Questions on Notice QON0031
and QON0032 (QONs which relate to EC22-000270).

Apologies for the delay in processing your request. The Department has
undertaken searches across three separate IT and records repositories and
documents relevant to the terms of your request have been located. We are
working with the decision maker to finalise a decision on access and
anticipate a decision will be made within the next 8 days.

Section 15AC of the FOI Act allows an extension of the processing period
once the current processing period has expired, and with approval from the
Office of the Information Commissioner. Due to the misfiling of your
request and the extensive searches undertaken to locate documents, the
Department will request an extension of time to 4 July 2023 to finalise
your request. Where possible, the Department will finalise the request
prior to the extended due date.

Feel free to contact me should you have any questions regarding the
processing of your request.

Kind regards

Tina

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

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D888E5.6B56D250 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/

Our reference: RQ23/03741

Agency reference: FOI-2023-150

MBV

By email: [FOI #9995 email]

Extension of time application by the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet

Dear MBC

I write to advise that on 27 July 2023 the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (the OAIC) received an application from the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) for an
extension of time, to process your FOI request of 27 February 2023.

The Department has applied for further time to deal with your request
under s 15AC of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) because the FOI
Act deems that the Department has refused your request, as the initial
decision period for your request has ended and the Department has not
provided you with notice of a decision.

The Department has advised the OAIC that:

The Department has requested an extension to 4 July 2023. A decision
maker at the OAIC will take any comments you may have to make into account
when deciding the application.

Please respond to this email by close of business 30 June 2023. If we do
not hear from you by this date, the decision maker at the OAIC will make a
decision on the basis of the information provided to the OAIC by the
Department.

You will be notified of the decision once the matter has been finalised.

Further information about extension of time requests may be found on our
website at [1]Extensions of time.

Contact

If you have any questions about this email, please contact me on 1300 363
992 or at [2][email address]. Please quote OAIC reference: RQ23/03741 in
all correspondence.

Kind regards

Bernie Lai

[3][IMG]   Bernie Lai <he/him>

Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Branch

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001

P 1300 363 992 E [4][email address]
 
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.  

[5]Subscribe to Information Matters

Notice:

The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
4. mailto:[email address]
5. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...

Our reference: RQ23/03741

Agency reference: FOI-2023-150

MBV Unknown

Sent by email: [1][FOI #9995 email]

CC: [2][DPMC request email]

Extension of time under s 15AC

Dear MBV,

Please find attached an FOI Extension of time decision relating to your
FOI request with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. A copy of
this decision has been provided to the Department today.

Kind regards,

Thomas Hanaee

[3][IMG] Assistant Review Adviser

Freedom of Information Regulatory Group

Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner

GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |
[4]oaic.gov.au

1300 363 992 | [5][email address]
[6][IMG] | [7][IMG] | [8][IMG] | [9]Subscribe to OAICnet newsletter

Notice:

The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #9995 email]
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.facebook.com/OAICgov
7. https://www.linkedin.com/company/office-...
8. https://twitter.com/OAICgov
9. https://www.oaic.gov.au/media-and-speech...

OFFICIAL
Dear MBV

Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in processing your FOI request.

By way of update, we continue to process your request and consultation with stakeholders on the documents relevant to the scope of your request remains ongoing. The request is being finalised as quickly as possible.

You will receive a separate email from the Department acknowledging your request for an internal review. As the Department did not make a decision on your request by the due date, it is also open to you to apply to the Australian Information Commissioner for a review. More information about Information Commissioner review is available at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...

Feel free to contact the Department should you have further questions regarding your request.

Kind regards

Tina | 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. [email address]  w. pmc.gov.au

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.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

FOI/2023/150IR

Dear “MBV”

We write in relation to your email of 6 July 2023 (below), in which you
made a request for an internal review of the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet’s (the Department) handling of your FOI request
FOI/2023/150 made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

Timeframe for receiving your internal review decision

We received your request for internal review on 6 July 2023 and the 30-day
statutory period for internal review commenced from the day after that
date. You should therefore expect the internal review decision from us by
7 August 2023.

Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

Kind regards

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. [2][email address]  w. [3]pmc.gov.au

[4]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.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

FOI/2023/150

Dear MBV

We write in relation to your request dated 6 July 2023 for an internal
review of the handling of your FOI request FOI/2023/150 by the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department).

Section 9.10 of the [1]FOI Guidelines provides that Internal review is not
available if an access refusal decision or access grant decision was:

o made by a minister (ss 54(1) and 54A(1))
o made personally by the principal officer of an agency (ss 54(1) and
54A(1))
o not made within the statutory timeframe, and is consequently a deemed
decision of an agency to refuse access to a document under s 15AC…

Information Commissioner Review

As the Department has not made a decision on your request within the
statutory timeframe, you may seek a review by the Information Commissioner
on the basis the decision is deemed to have been made by an agency or
minister. More information on Information Commissioner reviews can be
found [2]here.

FOI Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your FOI request, you can
make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner. A complaint
to the Information Commissioner must be made in writing. More information
about complaints is available [3]here.  

We will not take any further action on your internal review request.
Please note, the Department will continue to process your initial FOI
request to completion.

If you wish to discuss your request, you can contact the FOI Section by
email at [4][DPMC request email].

Kind regards

Tina | 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. [5][email address]  w. [6]pmc.gov.au

[7]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[8]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[9]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.

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 6 July 2023 2:07 PM
To: 'MBV' <[FOI #9995 email]>
Cc: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: FOI/2023/150IR - Freedom of Information - Acknowledgement of
Internal Review [SEC=OFFICIAL]

OFFICIAL

FOI/2023/150IR

Dear “MBV”

We write in relation to your email of 6 July 2023 (below), in which you
made a request for an internal review of the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet’s (the Department) handling of your FOI request
FOI/2023/150 made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

Timeframe for receiving your internal review decision

We received your request for internal review on 6 July 2023 and the 30-day
statutory period for internal review commenced from the day after that
date. You should therefore expect the internal review decision from us by
7 August 2023.

Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[10]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

Kind regards

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. [11][email address]  w. [12]pmc.gov.au

[13]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.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL
Dear MBV

Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in finalising your request.

The Department anticipates that the decision will be issued to you by the end of the week. We will keep you updated if any issues arise.

Kind regards

Tina | 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. [email address]  w. pmc.gov.au

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.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Dear MBV,

Please see the attached correspondence regarding your Freedom of
Information request.

Yours sincerely,

Tina

Adviser

Freedom of Information (FOI)| Legal Policy Branch[]

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:image001.jpg@01D888E5.6B56D250 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/