OFFICIAL
Good afternoon,

I refer to your email, below, seeking access to information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act):

Practical refusal
I am writing to advise that, in its current form, your request is not considered valid under section 15(2)(b) [Requests for access] of the FOI Act, as you have not provided enough information regarding the documents you are seeking, to enable a responsible officer of the agency to identify them.

Section 24(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
(1) If an agency or Minister is satisfied, when dealing with a request for a document that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to the request (see section 24AA), the agency or Minister:
(a) must undertake a request consultation process (see section 24AB); and
(b) if, after the request consultation process, the agency or Minister is satisfied that the practical refusal reason still exists—the agency or Minister may refuse to give access to the document in accordance with the request.

Section 24AA(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
(1) For the purposes of section 24, a practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request for a document if either (or both) of the following applies:
(a) the work involved in processing the request:
(i) in the case of an agency – would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations; or
(b) the request does not satisfy the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b) (identification of documents).

On this basis, Defence intends to refuse your request.

Request consultation process
In accordance with section 24AB of the FOI Act, Defence is required to consult with you, in relation to the intention to refuse access to your request in its current form. As such, you now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to proceed.

Revising your request can mean narrowing the scope of the request to make it more manageable, or explaining in more detail the documents you wish to access. For example, by providing more specific information about exactly what documents you are interested in.

You now have 14 days to contact us and do one of the following:

a. withdraw your request
b. revise the scope of your request
c. indicate that you do not wish to revise your request.

If you revise your request in a way that adequately addresses the practical refusal reason outlined above, we will recommence processing your request.

If you do not contact us within 14 days, that is by 5pm, 13 May 2024, your FOI request will be taken to have been withdrawn under subsection 24AB(7) and will not be dealt with any further.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

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

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.

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OFFICIAL
Dear MHS,

Thank you for your email below requesting access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

I note you are requesting personal information via the Right to Know website. Details from the Right to Know website advises ‘If you'd like to request personal information you can do so privately by asking the public authority directly.’ The reason for this is requests made using Right to Know are publicly visible.

Grateful if you can please direct your Freedom of Information request to [email address].

In addition, please confirm you wish to withdraw your Right to Know request.

Please contact me know if you would like to discuss.

Thank you and regards,

Erin
Freedom of Information
Media and Information Disclosure Branch
Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division
Department of 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.

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OFFICIAL

Dear MHS

Acknowledgement

I refer to your correspondence of 29 April 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 allocated for Case Management.

The scope of your request is:

…any Certificate of Discharge and/or similar document for  "Troy Joseph
Thompson (formerly Birnbrauer)" who served in the ADF, with the 109th
Signals Squadron, and/or with the Special Air Service Regiment's 152
Signal Squadron, and/or with the 105th Signals Squadron.

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.

Timeframe

The statutory timeframe to provide you with a decision on your request
ends on 29 May 2024. 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.

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.

I am the Case Manager for this request. Should you have any questions
relating to your request, please do not hesitate to contact me via email:
[1][email address].

Kind regards

Erin
Freedom of Information
Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of 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]

OFFICIAL

Dear MHS,

I refer to your correspondence of 29 April 2024, seeking access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the following documents:

…any Certificate of Discharge and/or similar document for  "Troy Joseph
Thompson (formerly Birnbrauer)" who served in the ADF, with the 109th
Signals Squadron, and/or with the Special Air Service Regiment's 152
Signal Squadron, and/or with the 105th Signals Squadron.

The Accredited Decision Maker has determined that your request includes
documents which contain another individual’s personal information. In
accordance with section 27A of the FOI Act, we are required to consult
with that individual before making a decision on the release of the
documents.

Section 15(6) of the FOI Act provides for a 30-day extension to allow for
this consultation process. Therefore, the deadline for providing you with
a decision on your request now ends on 28 June 2024.

Please contact our office via email: [1][email address]
if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Erin
Freedom of Information
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 MHS

Please find attached the Decision relating to Defence FOI 851/23/24. 

Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you are entitled to request a review of
this decision. Your review rights are attached.

Please contact this office should you require any further information.

Regards

Erin
Freedom of Information
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...