OFFICIAL

Reference: 2024/375 

Dear Deborah-May

Thank you for your email of 13 November 2024 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).  You set out the terms
of the request as follows:

I am contacting The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, to
request documentation, Reports, videos or transcripts of Operation Covid
Assist and Operation Covid Shield Tabletop exercises etc..., showing
whether AI was used before, during and after Operation Covid Assist, and
in what areas and to what degree, considering the following;

1. Once the AI subgoal of survival has emerged, the change of acting to
remove mankind as a threat is around ninety to ninety-five percent.

2. The subgoals of AI being self preservation, resource acquisition,
eliminating obstacles, avoiding interference, self improvement, creating
backups, expanding influence and attempting to control other systems.

3. With most Australian military hardware either controlled by AI or
hackable, AI could very well destroy Australias' remaining weapons in one
massive strike.

Timeframe for receiving your decision

The 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the
day after the Department received your request, you should therefore
expect a decision from us by 13 December 2024.  The processing period of
30 days may be extended in certain circumstances and we will write to you
separately regarding any extension of time. 

Charges

Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you
are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of
the charge as soon 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 your requested document, 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 set
out your 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:

·       any person’s signature;

·       the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);

·       the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;

·       the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.

If you consider 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 this category of information may be reasonably
regarded as irrelevant and we will delete this information if it appears
in the documents that are otherwise responsive to your request. 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 at
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...

Yours sincerely

Coordinator | FOI Section

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

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

[7]Image removed by sender.

______________________________________________________________________ 
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/about-us/accounta...
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://pmc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Departmental reference: FOI/2024/375

Dear Ms Torrens

I refer your request of 13 October 2024 for access to documents held by
the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982.

The current due date for a decision on this request is 13 December 2024.
Regrettably, the Department 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 to 13 January 2025 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 a 30-day extension of time, I ask that
you confirm this in writing via return email by 8 December 2024.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

PM&C FOI Team

Adviser

FOI Section | 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: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

Departmental Reference: FOI/2024/375

Dear Ms Torrens

Please find attached the decision regarding your request under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982.

Yours sincerely

Kyara

Kyara (she/her)

Adviser

FOI Section | 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: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/