OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Williams

Thank you for your email below of 2 September 2019 to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C).

From 1 July 2019, the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) assumed responsibility for Indigenous affairs policy, which had previously been part of the Indigenous Affairs Group (IAG) within PM&C. The NIAA is a separate agency for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).

Accordingly, as your FOI request more closely aligns to the functions of the NIAA, your request has been transferred in full to that agency in accordance with paragraph 16(1)(b) of the FOI Act.

On 2 September 2019, the NIAA accepted the transfer of your FOI request and will contact you directly in relation to your request.

Sincerely

FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy | Legal Policy Branch
Government Division
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. +61 2 6271 5849
e. [email address] |
www.dpmc.gov.au
PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Williams <[FOI #5613 email]>
Sent: Monday, 2 September 2019 11:26 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Communication with the Indigenous Advisory Council

Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,

I seek access under the FOI Act to:
1) Any letters or emails from the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his Office to the Indigenous Advisory Council;
2) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency regarding communication between the Minister for Indigenous Australians and the Indigenous Advisory Council;
3) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his office regarding recommendations to replace Ms Andrea Mason as the Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council; and
4) Any documents with advice from the Minister for Indigenous Australians to the Prime Minister about the future of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

The time period for this request is from the Minister’s appointment on 29 May 2019 to present (2 September 2019), a period of almost 100 days.

Yours faithfully,
Tony Williams
Canberra

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #5613 email]

Is [email address] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

______________________________________________________________________

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.
______________________________________________________________________

hide quoted sections

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Mr Williams,

 

Thank you for your below email, transferred from the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet to the National Indigenous Australians Agency
(NIAA), in which you made a request under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 for access to the following:

 

1) Any letters or emails from the Minister for Indigenous Australians or
his Office to the Indigenous Advisory Council;

2) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency
regarding communication between the Minister for Indigenous Australians
and the Indigenous Advisory Council;

3) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to
the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his office regarding
recommendations to replace Ms Andrea Mason as the Chair of the Indigenous
Advisory Council; and

4) Any documents with advice from the Minister for Indigenous Australians
to the Prime Minister about the future of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

The time period for this request is from the Minister’s appointment on 29
May 2019 to present (2 September 2019), a period of almost 100 days.

 

Please note that, for the purpose of FOI, the NIAA and Minister Wyatt’s
office are considered separate entities. While both are subject to the FOI
Act, a request made to either will only capture documents held by that
entity (ie it’s not possible to make an FOI request that covers multiple
agencies).

 

One of the conditions of a valid FOI request is that the terms need to be
clear enough that the Agency or Minister can perform appropriate searches.
Given the above requirement, it’s not clear from the scope of your request
which of the points you would wish the NIAA to consider, and which you
would wish Minister Wyatt’s office to consider. Accordingly, we cannot
accept your request as valid with this scope.

 

I would appreciate if you could provide some clarification, having regard
to the above advice – if you would like to limit the request to either the
NIAA or the Minister’s Office, or whether you would prefer to lodge this
as two separate FOI requests, and provide a distinct scope for each of the
requests. You may provide this advice in two new emails, or in reply to
this email, whichever suits you better. If we receive no response from
you, then we will not take any further action on your request.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions about this process.

 

Regards,

 

Brad

Freedom of Information Adviser
National Indigenous Australians Agency
p. (02) 6152 3227 e. [1][NIAA request email]
w. [2]niaa.gov.au  w. [3]indigenous.gov.au

 
[4]cid:image006.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0 The National Indigenous Australians Agency 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.
 
[5]cid:image007.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0    
[6]cid:image008.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0     [7]cid:image009.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0     [8]cid:image010.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0

 

 

              

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Williams <[FOI #5613 email]>
Sent: Monday, 2 September 2019 11:26 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Communication with the
Indigenous Advisory Council

 

Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,

 

I seek access under the FOI Act to:

1) Any letters or emails from the Minister for Indigenous Australians or
his Office to the Indigenous Advisory Council;

2) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency
regarding communication between the Minister for Indigenous Australians
and the Indigenous Advisory Council;

3) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to
the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his office regarding
recommendations to replace Ms Andrea Mason as the Chair of the Indigenous
Advisory Council; and

4) Any documents with advice from the Minister for Indigenous Australians
to the Prime Minister about the future of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

 

The time period for this request is from the Minister’s appointment on 29
May 2019 to present (2 September 2019), a period of almost 100 days.

 

Yours faithfully,

Tony Williams

Canberra

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[9][FOI #5613 email]

 

Is [10][email address] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet? If so, please
contact us using this form:

[11]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...

 

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

[12]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

 

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

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:[NIAA request email]
2. https://niaa.gov.au/
3. https://www.indigenous.gov.au/
5. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov.au
6. https://www.instagram.com/indigenous_gov/
7. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
8. https://www.youtube.com/user/IndigenousG...
9. mailto:[FOI #5613 email]
10. mailto:[email address]
11. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
12. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

hide quoted sections

OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Williams,

Thank you for the prompt response. Before we can process your request, I'd appreciate if you could provide a new scope, which reflects the documents you're specifically seeking from the NIAA. You may choose to retain your original scope, noting the previously discussed limitations of our document holdings, but you may also wish to make changes that reflect this to better suit your purposes.

Regards,

Brad
Freedom of Information Adviser
National Indigenous Australians Agency
p. (02) 6152 3227 e. [NIAA request email]
w. niaa.gov.au  w. indigenous.gov.au

The National Indigenous Australians Agency 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.

               

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Williams <[FOI #5613 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 4 September 2019 11:06 PM
To: FOI NIAA <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Communication with the Indigenous Advisory Council [SEC=OFFICIAL]

Dear FOI NIAA,

Thank you for your email. I agree to limit the request to documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Williams

-----Original Message-----

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Mr Williams,

 

Thank you for your below email, transferred from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), in which you made a request under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 for access to the following:

 

1) Any letters or emails from the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his Office to the Indigenous Advisory Council;

2) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency regarding communication between the Minister for Indigenous Australians and the Indigenous Advisory Council;

3) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his office regarding recommendations to replace Ms Andrea Mason as the Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council; and

4) Any documents with advice from the Minister for Indigenous Australians to the Prime Minister about the future of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

The time period for this request is from the Minister’s appointment on 29 May 2019 to present (2 September 2019), a period of almost 100 days.

 

Please note that, for the purpose of FOI, the NIAA and Minister Wyatt’s office are considered separate entities. While both are subject to the FOI Act, a request made to either will only capture documents held by that entity (ie it’s not possible to make an FOI request that covers multiple agencies).

 

One of the conditions of a valid FOI request is that the terms need to be clear enough that the Agency or Minister can perform appropriate searches.
Given the above requirement, it’s not clear from the scope of your request which of the points you would wish the NIAA to consider, and which you would wish Minister Wyatt’s office to consider. Accordingly, we cannot accept your request as valid with this scope.

 

I would appreciate if you could provide some clarification, having regard to the above advice – if you would like to limit the request to either the NIAA or the Minister’s Office, or whether you would prefer to lodge this as two separate FOI requests, and provide a distinct scope for each of the requests. You may provide this advice in two new emails, or in reply to this email, whichever suits you better. If we receive no response from you, then we will not take any further action on your request.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions about this process.

 

Regards,

 

Brad

Freedom of Information Adviser
National Indigenous Australians Agency
p. (02) 6152 3227 e. [1][email address] w. [2]niaa.gov.au  w. [3]indigenous.gov.au

 
[4]cid:image006.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0 The National Indigenous Australians Agency 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.
 
[5]cid:image007.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0
[6]cid:image008.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0     [7]cid:image009.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0     [8]cid:image010.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0

 

 

              

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #5613 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

______________________________________________________________________

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.
______________________________________________________________________

hide quoted sections

OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Williams,

Thank you again for your prompt response. We'll begin processing with the below scope, and I'll be back in touch shortly with further information.

Regards,

Brad
Freedom of Information Adviser
National Indigenous Australians Agency
p. (02) 6152 3227 e. [NIAA request email]
w. niaa.gov.au  w. indigenous.gov.au

The National Indigenous Australians Agency 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.

               

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Williams <[FOI #5613 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 5 September 2019 10:16 AM
To: FOI NIAA <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Communication with the Indigenous Advisory Council [SEC=OFFICIAL]

Dear FOI NIAA,

Thanks for your email. For clarity, I

1) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency regarding communication between the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his Office and the Indigenous Advisory Council;

2) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his office regarding recommendations to replace Ms Andrea Mason as the Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council;

3) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his Office regarding the future of the Indigenous Advisory Council including any possible meetings; and

3) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency with advice from the Minister for Indigenous Australians to the Prime Minister about the future of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Williams

-----Original Message-----

OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Williams,

Thank you for the prompt response. Before we can process your request, I'd appreciate if you could provide a new scope, which reflects the documents you're specifically seeking from the NIAA. You may choose to retain your original scope, noting the previously discussed limitations of our document holdings, but you may also wish to make changes that reflect this to better suit your purposes.

Regards,

Brad
Freedom of Information Adviser
National Indigenous Australians Agency
p. (02) 6152 3227 e. [email address]
w. niaa.gov.au  w. indigenous.gov.au

The National Indigenous Australians Agency 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.

               

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #5613 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

______________________________________________________________________

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.
______________________________________________________________________

hide quoted sections

OFFICIAL

 

FOI/1920/027

 

Dear Mr Williams,

 

I’m writing regarding your Freedom of Information request, made to the
National Indigenous Australians Agency (the NIAA) on 5 September 2019, for
the following:

 

1) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency
regarding communication between the Minister for Indigenous Australians or
his Office and the Indigenous Advisory Council;

2) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to
the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his office regarding
recommendations to replace Ms Andrea Mason as the Chair of the Indigenous
Advisory Council;

3) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to
the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his Office regarding the future
of the Indigenous Advisory Council including any possible meetings; and

4) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency with
advice from the Minister for Indigenous Australians to the Prime Minister
about the future of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

 

The time period for this request is from the Minister’s appointment on 29
May 2019 to present (2 September 2019), a period of almost 100 days.

Your request was received on 5 September 2019, which means that the due
date for your request is currently 5 October 2019.

The timeframe may be further extended in certain circumstances, including
with your agreement, where the NIAA applies to the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner, of to undertake third party
consultation. I will advise you if there are any further extensions of
time.

 

Publication of documents

 

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may also be
published online on our [1]Disclosure Log, 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 let me know. If
you wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to
provide supporting reasons.

 

Exclusion of certain information

 

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the NIAA’s
standard practise to withhold:

 

Staff names

·         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.

 

Duplicate documents

·         duplicate documents

·         duplicate emails that appear as part of email chains

·         publicly available documents

·         draft documents where a later version is included

 

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. If
you require any of the above information, please let me know so that the
decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will take it that you agree to
that information being excluded from the scope of your request (that is,
the information will be treated as irrelevant and redacted from any
documents for release).

 

I will be in touch when I have more information. If you have any questions
in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Regards,

 

Brad Collins

Freedom of Information Adviser
National Indigenous Australians Agency
p. (02) 6152 3227 e. [2][NIAA request email]
w. [3]niaa.gov.au  w. [4]indigenous.gov.au

 
[5]cid:image006.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0 The National Indigenous Australians Agency 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.
 
[6]cid:image007.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0    
[7]cid:image008.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0     [8]cid:image009.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0     [9]cid:image010.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Williams <[FOI #5613 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 5 September 2019 10:16 AM
To: FOI NIAA <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Communication with the
Indigenous Advisory Council [SEC=OFFICIAL]

 

Dear FOI NIAA,

 

Thanks for your email. For clarity, I

 

1) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency
regarding communication between the Minister for Indigenous Australians or
his Office and the Indigenous Advisory Council;

 

2) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to
the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his office regarding
recommendations to replace Ms Andrea Mason as the Chair of the Indigenous
Advisory Council;

 

3) Any documents provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to
the Minister for Indigenous Australians or his Office regarding the future
of the Indigenous Advisory Council including any possible meetings; and

 

3) Any documents held by the National Indigenous Australians Agency with
advice from the Minister for Indigenous Australians to the Prime Minister
about the future of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Tony Williams

 

-----Original Message-----

 

OFFICIAL

Dear Mr Williams,

 

Thank you for the prompt response. Before we can process your request, I'd
appreciate if you could provide a new scope, which reflects the documents
you're specifically seeking from the NIAA. You may choose to retain your
original scope, noting the previously discussed limitations of our
document holdings, but you may also wish to make changes that reflect this
to better suit your purposes.

 

Regards,

 

Brad

Freedom of Information Adviser

National Indigenous Australians Agency

p. (02) 6152 3227 e. [email address]

w. niaa.gov.au  w. indigenous.gov.au

 

 

The National Indigenous Australians Agency 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.

 

               

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[10][FOI #5613 email]

 

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

[11]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

 

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

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.niaa.gov.au/foi/agency-foi-d...
2. mailto:[NIAA request email]
3. https://niaa.gov.au/
4. https://www.indigenous.gov.au/
6. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov.au
7. https://www.instagram.com/indigenous_gov/
8. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
9. https://www.youtube.com/user/IndigenousG...
10. mailto:[FOI #5613 email]
11. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

hide quoted sections

OFFICIAL

 

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Mr Williams,

 

Please find attached the access decision and documents relating to Freedom
of Information request FOI/1920/027.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions about your request.

 

Regards,

 

Brad Collins

Freedom of Information Adviser
National Indigenous Australians Agency
p. (02) 6152 3227 e. [1][NIAA request email]
w. [2]niaa.gov.au  w. [3]indigenous.gov.au

 
[4]cid:image006.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0 The National Indigenous Australians Agency 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.
 
[5]cid:image007.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0    
[6]cid:image008.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0     [7]cid:image009.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0     [8]cid:image010.png@01D53D5A.A7E129C0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

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:[NIAA request email]
2. https://niaa.gov.au/
3. https://www.indigenous.gov.au/
5. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov.au
6. https://www.instagram.com/indigenous_gov/
7. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
8. https://www.youtube.com/user/IndigenousG...

hide quoted sections