OFFICIAL

Reference: 2025/067 

Dear Mr Fairless

Thank you for your email of 4 April 2025 in which you made a request under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department). 

You set out the terms of the request as follows:

Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,

Background
As I’m sure you know, the government enters caretaker mode when the
election is called. When this happens, the department does a number of
things including putting things on social media, updating websites and the
like.  Unfortunately, this year somebody was a bit overzealous and
announced the government was operating in caretaker mode before the
election had been called!

Request
I’m looking for the following documents if possible:

1. All documents including plans, templates, and tasks that are performed
by the department in the months leading up to when an election is expected
to be called.
2. A copy of any internal communications related to the unintentional
tweet, including the content of communications via messaging apps.

Please feel free to consult me informally about any reductions you feel
might make this request easier to process. If possible, please consider
releasing these documents administratively. If you’re not able to do this
please consider this a formal FOI request.

Timeframe for receiving your decision

The 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the
day after the Department received your request, you should therefore
expect a decision from us by 5 May 2025. The processing period of 30 days
may be extended in certain circumstances and we will write to you
separately regarding 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]https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...,
subject to certain exceptions. 

If you think you might wish to raise any objections to the publication of
your requested document, 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 set out your reasons.

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:

·       any person’s signature;

·       the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);

·       the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;

·       the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.

If you consider the information categorised above is relevant to the terms
of your request please let us know at [3][DPMC request email], otherwise we will
take it that you agree this category of information may be reasonably
regarded as irrelevant and we will delete this information if it appears
in the documents that are otherwise responsive to your request. 

The names and other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless
there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release.
Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...

Yours sincerely

Coordinator | FOI Section

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

e. [5][email address]  w. [6]pmc.gov.au 

[7]http://url5193.checkbox.ai/wf/open?upn=u...

______________________________________________________________________ 
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. https://www.pmc.gov.au/about-us/accounta...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://pmc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Departmental reference: FOI/2025/067

Dear Mr Fairless

I refer your request of 4 April 2024 made under the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 seeking access to:

1. All documents including plans, templates, and tasks that are performed
by the department in the months leading up to when an election is expected
to be called.

2. A copy of any internal communications related to the unintentional
tweet, including the content of communications via messaging apps.

The requests captures a large number of the documents. Processing the
request in its current form would represent a substantial diversion of the
Department’s resources and give rise to a practical refusal reason.

However, the relevant area within the Department has suggested following
alternative scope:

1.       All documents relating to the preparation of social media content
for caretaker - including plans, templates, and tasks that are performed
by the department in the months leading up to when an election is expected
to be called.

2.       A copy of any internal communications related to the
unintentional tweet, including the content of communications via messaging
apps – excluding media reporting.

Revising the request in this manner not only would remove the potential
practical refusal reason, it also represents the fastest means of
obtaining a decision on your request.

Please respond

We would be grateful for your advice by 11 April 2025 as to whether you
wish to:

·         Revise the request in the manner suggested above; or

·         maintain your request in its current form.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Adviser | FOI Section[]

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

Ngunnawal Country, One National Circuit  Barton  ACT  2600  |  PO Box
6500  CANBERRA  ACT  2600
e. [1][email address]  w. [2]pmc.gov.au

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[4]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[5]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.

______________________________________________________________________ 
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. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...