Dear J Pemberton

Thank you for your email to the Attorney-General’s Department Freedom of Information (FOI) section.

Your correspondence relates to a specific question and is not considered to be a valid request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), as it does not contain sufficient detail to allow the department to identify the documents to which you are seeking access. If you wish to make a request for documents held by the department, please provide information about the documents to which you seek access.

Sections 15(1) and (2) of the FOI Act provide that:
(1) … a person who wishes to obtain access to a document of an agency … may request access to the document
(2) The request must …
(b) provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency to identify it …

Furthermore, part 3.47 of the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner states that – The request must provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency or the minister to identify the document that is requested (s 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act) (see paragraph [3.109]).

In order to submit a valid FOI request, please ensure that the request:
• be in writing (email is sufficient),
• state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act,
• describe the documents you seek in enough detail to allow the decision-maker to identify and find them, and
• provide an address for reply.

Regards

FOI Case Officer

Freedom of Information and Parliamentary | Strategy and Governance Branch Attorney-General’s Department
T: 02 6141 6666| E: [AGD request email]

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