ASIO budget 2012 and 2014
Dear Inspector General of Intelligence and Security,
I make request for the total budget expenditure for the Australian Security Intelligence Orginisation for the year 2012 and the year 2014
I trust your office to honor my request
Yours faithfully,
Ken McLeod
Thank you for contacting the Inspector-General of Intelligence and
Security.
Office hours are Monday to Friday 8.30am – 5pm.
Your email will be considered on the first business day after receipt.
Responses will generally be received within 5 working days. Should you
wish to phone, the number for general inquiries is 02 6271 5692.
*Please note the office is closed on public holidays and each year between
Christmas and New Year (25 December – 1 January inclusive).
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr McLeod
I am writing to acknowledge your email of 17 December 2014, in which you sought information about ASIO's recent budget appropriations, by means of a Freedom of Information request.
For your information, ASIO is an exempt agency for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), so any requests for applications for information about ASIO under the FOI Act cannot succeed. That said, detailed information about ASIO's budget(s) are matters of public record and can be accessed via the following websites:
http://www.ag.gov.au/Publications/Budget...
The first website will take you to budget papers prepared by the Treasury, and will provide you with access to all published budget papers. As the Budget covers all Commonwealth agencies these papers are quite large and you may find them complex to navigate.
The second link will take you to the website for the Attorney-General's Department. This is relevant because ASIO sits in the Attorney-General's portfolio. Information about ASIO's budgets will be found by clicking on the Portfolio Budget Statement (PBS) button on the above website, and then searching for ASIO. This website also provides easy access to up to 10 years of Portfolio Budget Statements.
I trust that this information is helpful to you.
Regards
Neville Bryan
Principal Investigation and Review Officer PID Authorised Officer Office of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
Phone: 61 2 6271 5299
Web: www.igis.gov.au
E-mail: [email address]
Address: 1 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600
Thank you for contacting the Inspector-General of Intelligence and
Security.
Office hours are Monday to Friday 8.30am – 5pm.
Your email will be considered on the first business day after receipt.
Responses will generally be received within 5 working days. Should you
wish to phone, the number for general inquiries is 02 6271 5692.
*Please note the office is closed on public holidays and each year between
Christmas and New Year (25 December – 1 January inclusive).
Ken McLeod left an annotation ()
Thank you for your concern.
I am not sure if the links provide the requested information, however
as stated by the officer the links can be quite complex to navigate. Therefore my original request I would deem refused.
Furthermore the Australian Security Intelligence Orginisation are not governed by the FOI Act.
Peter Feerick left an annotation ()
Ken is entirely correct in his marking of this FOI request as refused. As the reply stated, ASIO is except from the scope of the FOI Act. As a result, they refused the FOI request, but said that the information was on public record, and provided links to this information.
In Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, all the exceptions are listed. The exempt government agencies are listed in Schedule 2 - Part 1, and includes:
Aboriginal Land Councils and Land Trusts
Auditor General
Australian Government Solicitor
Australian Secret Intelligence Service
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
Inspector General of Intelligence and Security
National Workplace Relations Consultative Council
Office of National Assessments
Parliamentary Budget Office
Parliamentary Budget Officer
There is a second listing in Schedule 2 Part 2, of exempt agencies in relation to specific documents.
The reality is you need to read Section 7 to identify which agencies are exempt in relation to what documents, and it is a convoluted nightmare. In general, I believe that the Governor-General and ASIO are exempt from the FOI Act, and it gets murky after that.
Henare Degan left an annotation ()
I note this request is marked as refused. Did the links the authority provide not contain the requested information?