OFFICIAL
Dear John

I refer to your request below, dated 14 December 2024.

The Department of Defence observes a period of reduced activity and staffing through December and January (Christmas/New Year period) each year. It has been determined that it may not be possible to finalise your FOI request by the currently statutory due date, 13 January 2025, as it falls within the reduced activity period.

For this reason, this office is seeking your agreement to a 30 day extension of the statutory deadline under section 15AA [extension with agreement] of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Should you agree, the statutory deadline for you to receive a response to your request will be 12 February 2025. We will still endeavour to complete your request as soon as possible.

I would appreciate your response by COB 18 December 2024. A formal acknowledgement to you request will follow.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information Team
Media and Information Disclosure Branch
Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division
Department of Defence

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Dear John

Acknowledgement

I refer to your correspondence of 14 December 2024, seeking access to
documents held by the Department of Defence (Defence), under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). This email is to advise you that your
request has been received and allocated for Case Management.

The scope of your request is:

… the Army Standing Instructions - Personnel (ASI-P) document.

Timeframe

Thank you for agreeing to 30 day extension under section 15AA of the FOI
Act. Accordingly, the statutory timeframe to provide you with a decision
on your request ends on 12 February 2025. This period may be extended if
we need to consult with third parties, or for other reasons. We will
advise you if this happens.

Please note that where the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public
holiday, the timeframe will expire on the next working day. This is in
accordance with the FOI Guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act.

Disclaimer

Where staff details are captured in documents within the scope of your FOI
request, this information will be redacted; this includes private email
addresses, signatures, personnel (PMKeyS) numbers and mobile telephone
numbers, unless you specifically request such details. Defence excludes
duplicates of documents and any documents sent to or from you.
Furthermore, Defence only considers final versions of documents.

Charges

Defence may impose a charge for the work involved in providing access to
the documents in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Charges)
Regulations 2019. We will notify you if your request attracts a charge.
Please note that there is no charge for documents that contain the
personal information of the applicant.

Disclosure Log

Documents released under the FOI Act may be published on Defence’s
disclosure log, located on our website.

Contact Details

We will contact you via the email address you have provided. Please advise
if you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.

Should you have any questions relating to your request, please do not
hesitate to contact me via email: [1][email address].

Kind regards

Freedom of Information Team

Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

[2]Freedom of information requests | About | Defence

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email
may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessi...

OFFICIAL

Dear John

I refer to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request seeking access to the
following:

…the Army Standing Instructions - Personnel (ASI-P) document.

While processing your request it has identified a practical refusal under
section 24AA of the FOI Act may be warranted, as to process the request in
its entirety could result in an unreasonable diversion of the Departments
resources. This is because the ASI-P consists of 13 Parts containing
multiple Chapters each, meaning that in excess of a thousand pages would
be required to be carefully reviewed and considered prior to release. 

Noting the above, we would be grateful if you could specify the Part
and/or Chapter/s within the ASI-P you are most interested in. The Parts of
the ASI-P are as follows:

Part 1 – Preliminaries

Part 2  – Entry and Exit

Part 3  – Training and Employment Category Management

Part 4 – Career Management

Part 5  – Postings

Part 6  – Career and Development Opportunities

Part 7  – Reserve Service

Part 8  – Medical

Part 9  – Welfare Support

Part 10  – Alcohol and Prohibited substances

Part 11  – Honours and Awards

Part 12 – Miscellaneous Support and Management Policy

Part 13  – Establishments

So that we may continue processing your request as a priority, we ask that
the above be provided by 5:00pm 20 January 2025.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information Team

Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

[1]Freedom of information requests | About | Defence

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email
may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessi...

OFFICIAL

Dear John

I refer to our correspondence dated 17 January 2025, where we sought
clarification regarding the scope of your request.

We would be grateful for your response as soon as possible or by 5:00pm
tomorrow, 23 January 2025. Should you have any questions, please let us
know.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information Team

Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

[1]Freedom of information requests | About | Defence

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email
may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.

From: FOI Case Management
Sent: Friday, 17 January 2025 10:21 AM
To: '[FOI #12620 email]'
<[FOI #12620 email]>
Subject: Defence FOI 473/24/25 - Clarification of Scope

OFFICIAL

Dear John

I refer to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request seeking access to the
following:

…the Army Standing Instructions - Personnel (ASI-P) document.

While processing your request it has identified a practical refusal under
section 24AA of the FOI Act may be warranted, as to process the request in
its entirety could result in an unreasonable diversion of the Departments
resources. This is because the ASI-P consists of 13 Parts containing
multiple Chapters each, meaning that in excess of a thousand pages would
be required to be carefully reviewed and considered prior to release. 

Noting the above, we would be grateful if you could specify the Part
and/or Chapter/s within the ASI-P you are most interested in. The Parts of
the ASI-P are as follows:

Part 1 – Preliminaries

Part 2  – Entry and Exit

Part 3  – Training and Employment Category Management

Part 4 – Career Management

Part 5  – Postings

Part 6  – Career and Development Opportunities

Part 7  – Reserve Service

Part 8  – Medical

Part 9  – Welfare Support

Part 10  – Alcohol and Prohibited substances

Part 11  – Honours and Awards

Part 12 – Miscellaneous Support and Management Policy

Part 13  – Establishments

So that we may continue processing your request as a priority, we ask that
the above be provided by 5:00pm 20 January 2025.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information Team

Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

[2]Freedom of information requests | About | Defence

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email
may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessi...
2. https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessi...