Appointment of new Independent National Security Legislation Monitor

Jon Lawrence made this Freedom of Information request to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

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 refused by Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,

I am writing to request any documents relating to the process of appointing a new Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, since the announcement by the Attorney-General on 16th July that 'the government has decided to retain the position'.

I do not seek any documents that identify any potential candidates for the position, merely documents that demonstrate what actions the Department has taken in relation to filling the position, including such matters as the following:
- approval of budget for the recruitment process
- approval of budget for the salary of the new Monitor
- approval to proceed with the recruitment process
- updates on the recruitment process
- the expected timeframe for the conclusion of the recruitment process.

Yours faithfully,

Jon Lawrence

FOI, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

FOI/2014/203

 

Dear Mr Lawrence,

 

Thank you for your email dated 14 November 2014, received by the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which
you made a request to the Department under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (the FOI Act) in the following terms:

 

I am writing to request any documents relating to the process of
appointing a new Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, since
the announcement by the Attorney-General on 16th July that 'the government
has decided to retain the position'.

 

I do not seek any documents that identify any potential candidates for the
position, merely documents that demonstrate what actions the Department
has taken in relation to filling the position, including such matters as
the following:

- approval of budget for the recruitment process

- approval of budget for the salary of the new Monitor

- approval to proceed with the recruitment process

- updates on the recruitment process

- the expected timeframe for the conclusion of the recruitment process.

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

We received your request on 14 November 2014 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that
date. Accordingly, the due date for a decision on your request is 14
December 2014. As this date falls on a weekend, the Department may notify
the decision on the next available business day being Monday, 15 December
2014. The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We
will advise you if there is 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]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/foi/ips/disclosur..., 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

 

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. The
names and other details of departmental or agency SES officers will not be
withheld unless there is some reason for that information to be exempt
from release. If you require the names and contact details of non-SES
officers or the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers please let us
know at [3][DPMC 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_....

 

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/foi/ips/disclosur...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC 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

FOI, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

2 Attachments

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Lawrence

 

Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request with
the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (ref: FOI/2014/203).

 

Yours sincerely

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | 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

 

The Department acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders both past
and present.

 

[4]Description: Description: Description:
cid:image001.png@01CEF5A2.F4275AD0

 

______________________________________________________________________

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