UNCLASSIFIED

FOI/PMO/2015/007

Dear Mr Bridges

Thank you for your email dated 10 March 2015 in which you made a request
on behalf of the Right to Know website, to the Prime Minister under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) in the following terms:

1) Documents and correspondence (including, but not limited to, emails,
phone transcripts, reports, briefs,

meeting notes, file notes) between the Prime Minister and/or his office,
and Andrew Laming MP and/or his

office, generated between 1 October 2014 and 10 March 2015, regarding
Halal and/or religious food

certification or related issues.

2) Documents and correspondence (including, but not limited to, emails,
phone transcripts, reports, briefs,

meeting notes, file notes) between the Prime Minister and/or his office,
and Andrew Laming MP and/or his

office, generated between 8 September 2013 and 10 March 2015, regarding Mr
Laming's use of social media.

Handling of request

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) provides
administrative support to the Prime Minister in relation to Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests made to him. I am writing to advise you of
further information on the processing of your request to the Prime
Minister, set out below.

Timeframe for receiving your decision

Your request was received on 10 March 2015 and the 30 day statutory period
for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
Therefore the due date for a decision is 9 April 2015. The period of 30
days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if there
is any extension of time.

Charges

Agencies and Ministers may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a
charge in respect of a request for access to documents. If the
decision-maker in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) 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]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...,
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][Prime Minister 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

It is the Department’s policy to withhold the names and contact details of
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) as well as the mobile
or direct numbers of SES officers within the Department and other agencies
contained within documents that fall within scope of the request.
Similarly, it is the PMO’s policy to withhold the names and contact
details of PMO staff at a level below Senior Advisor. If you require this
information please let us know at [3][Prime Minister request email] so the decision-maker
may consider; otherwise we will take it that you agree to that information
being excluded from the scope of your request.

We will write again when the Department has more information. Further
information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner at
[4]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....

Yours sincerely

Regards

Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | Legal Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. 02 6271 5849

e. [5][email address]

[6]www.dpmc.gov.au | [7]www.indigenous.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

[8]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

______________________________________________________________________

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. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...
2. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
3. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/
7. http://www.indigenous.gov.au/

hide quoted sections

For Official Use Only

Dear Mr Bridges,

Thank you for your email seeking internal review in relation to your FOI
request to the Prime Minister - reference: FOI/PMO/2015/007.

Deemed refusal

In relation to your FOI request made to the Prime Minister, I confirm you
have not been provided with notice of a decision within the 30-day
statutory period for processing an FOI request. In these circumstances,
the Minister is taken to have made a decision personally refusing to give
access to the requested document under section 15AC of the FOI Act; this
is called a 'deemed refusal'.

Internal review is not available for deemed refusal decisions

Section 54E(2) of the FOI Act confirms that internal review is not
available in relation to a decision in relation to the provision of access
to a document upon a request that is taken to have been made under section
15AC of the FOI Act. In other words, internal review is not available for
a 'deemed refusal' decision. As there has been a 'deemed refusal' of your
FOI request under section 15AC of the FOI Act, you do not have a right to
internal review of that 'deemed refusal' decision. Nonetheless, the Prime
Minister's Office must continue to process your FOI request and advise of
a decision as soon as possible.

External review

You do have a right to seek external review with the Information
Commissioner, who may review decisions that are deemed to have been made
by a Minister where the statutory timeframe was not met. If you wish to
make an external review of the Prime Minister's 'deemed refusal' decision,
you must lodge the request to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner in writing in one of the following ways:

online: [1]www.oaic.gov.au

post: GPO Box 2999, Canberra ACT 2601

fax: +61 2 9284 9666

email: [2][email address]

in person: Level 8, Piccadilly Tower

133 Castlereagh Street

Sydney NSW

The Prime Minister's Office is continuing to process your FOI request and
will endeavour to notify you of a decision as soon as practicable.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me.

Regards

Monique

Monique Anderson | FOI Administration Officer/Adviser

Access and Administrative Review | Legal Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. +61 2 6271 5849

e. [3][Prime Minister request email] |

[4]www.dpmc.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

______________________________________________________________________

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. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
4. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/

hide quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Bridges 

I am writing in relation to three Freedom of Information requests you made
to the former Prime Minister (see attached).  I apologise for the delay in
responding to your requests.

The change in Prime Minister does not bring your requests to an end.
However, in reviewing the requests made to the former Prime Minister the
new Prime Minister’s office has indicated that they do not have documents
that are the subject of your requests (correspondence between the former
PM and Mr Andrew Lamming MP). 

I would be grateful for your advice as to whether you wish to continue
these requests or withdraw them in light of the changes in ministerial
arrangements. If you choose to continue the request I expect (based on
preliminary inquiries of the new Prime Minister’s office) that they will
not have documents that fall within the terms of your requests and a
decision will be made on that basis. 

Should you require any additional information or would like to discuss
this further please contact me.

Yours sincerely, Debbie

Debbie Arnold | Senior FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours, Symbols and Legal
Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. 02 6271 5849 |e. [1][email address]

[2]www.dpmc.gov.au | [3]www.indigenous.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA  ACT  2600

______________________________________________________________________

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. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/
3. http://www.indigenous.gov.au/

hide quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Bridges

Please see attached a decision in relation to your FOI request with the
Prime Minister – reference: FOI/PMO/2015/007.

Regards

Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours, Symbols and Legal
Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. 02 6271 5849

e. [1][email address]

[2]www.dpmc.gov.au | [3]www.indigenous.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

[4]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

Please note that the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet will be
closed during its annual shutdown period from close of business 24
December 2015 through to 3 January 2016—the Department will re-open for
normal business from 4 January 2016.

______________________________________________________________________

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. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/
3. http://www.indigenous.gov.au/

hide quoted sections