Correspondence
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I would like to access under the FOI act copies of correspondence and/or records of conversations involving the Prime Minister's Office related to the decision to remove children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea in 2013.
Thank you for your assistance with this request.
Yours faithfully,
Eleanor Davey
OFFICIAL
OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/046
Dear Ms Davey
We refer to your email of 23 March 2021, requesting access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the following:
I would like to access under the FOI act copies of correspondence and/or
records of conversations involving the Prime Minister's Office related to
the decision to remove children and families from the Regional Processing
Centre in Papua New Guinea in 2013.
Validity of your current request
Section 15 of the FOI Act requires that a request for access to documents
under the FOI Act must, amongst other requirements, provide such
information as is reasonably necessary to enable the agency to identify
the document/s being sought.
The relevant line area within the Department has advised that additional
information is required to identify the documents you are seeking.
Firstly, it is unclear from the terms of your request what you mean by
‘correspondence and/or records of conversations involving the Prime
Minister's Office’. Please confirm if you are referring to correspondence
and/or records of conversations with the Prime Minister’s Office, held by
the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that reference a
decision to remove children and families from the Regional Processing
Centre in Papua New Guinea.
Secondly, your request does not indicate a specific time period for the
documents you are seeking. It would assist the Department to undertake
searches for documents if you could specify a time period, for example,
documents created during a two month period preceding initial media
reports of the removal of children and families from the Regional
Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea (i.e. 20 April 2013 to 20 June
2013).
Processing of your request will commence once it meets the requirements of
section 15 of the FOI Act.
You are able to contact us if you require further assistance.
Kind regards
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section| Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
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6271 5849 |
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Dear FOI,
Thank you for your reply and for the helpful advice included within. Yes, I can confirm that I am looking for correspondence and/or records of conversations with the Prime Minister’s Office, held by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that reference a decision to remove children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea.
In terms of time frame, I confirm that the search should be limited to documents created during a two month period preceding initial media reports of the removal of children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea (i.e. 20 April 2013 to 20 June 2013).
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Davey
Thank you for your email. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
is currently unattended for the Easter long weekend which extends from 5pm
Thursday 1 April 2021 through to 7am on Tuesday 6 April 2021 . If you
have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us from Tuesday 6 April
onwards.
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy | Legal Policy Branch
Government Division
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. +61 2 6271 5849
e. [1][DPMC request email] |
[2]www.pmc.gov.au
PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
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you
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OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/046
Dear Ms Davey
We write in relation to your email dated 23 March 2021, and received by
the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in
which you made a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) for access to the following:
I would like to access under the FOI act copies of correspondence and/or
records of conversations involving the Prime Minister's Office related to
the decision to remove children and families from the Regional Processing
Centre in Papua New Guinea in 2013.
On 30 March 2021, the Department wrote to you to advise that your request
did not provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the
Department to identify the documents being sought, and was therefore not a
valid FOI request. On 2 April 2021, your revised your request to be for
the following:
I am looking for correspondence and/or records of conversations with the
Prime Minister’s Office, held by the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet, that reference a decision to remove children and families from
the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea.
In terms of time frame, I confirm that the search should be limited to
documents created during a two month period preceding initial media
reports of the removal of children and families from the Regional
Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea (i.e. 20 April 2013 to 20 June
2013).
Timeframe for receiving your decision
We received your valid request on 2 April 2021 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
You should therefore expect a decision from us by 3 May 2021. The period
of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if
there is 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 any of the information 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
provide supporting 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.
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 signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers
or Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or
direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at [3][DPMC request email] so
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).
We will write again when the Department has more information. 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
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section| Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
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6271 5849 |
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[8]https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/...
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
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______________________________________________________________________
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
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message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
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2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
7. mailto:[DPMC request email]
9. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
10. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
11. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
12. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
13. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov....
OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/046
Dear Ms Davey
Please find attached correspondence regarding your request under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section| Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[1]http://www.dcducks.com/wp-content/themes...
6271 5849 |
[2]http://cdn.mysitemyway.com/icons-waterma... request email]
|
[4]https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/...
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[6]cid:image001.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00[7]cid:image002.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00[8]cid:image003.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00 [9]cid:image004.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
[10]cid:image005.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
______________________________________________________________________
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
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______________________________________________________________________
References
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7. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
8. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
9. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov....
Dear FOI,
Thank you for this information. Based on the analysis of the documents and time required to process them, I ask that my request be changed to the following:
Correspondence and/or records of conversations with the Prime Minister’s Office, held by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that reference a decision to remove children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea, limited to documents created during a two week period preceding initial media reports of the removal of children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea (i.e. 6 June 2013 to 20 June 2013).
I hope that this will be feasible. Thank you for your assistance.
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Davey
OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/046
Dear Ms Davey
We refer to our email below and note that your response to our Practical
Refusal Consultation Notice dated 13 April 2021 was due by yesterday, 27
April 2021.
As we did not receive a response from you within the consultation period,
your request is deemed to have been withdrawn under section 24AB(7) of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982.
It is open to you to make a fresh request to the Department at any time.
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section| Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[1]http://www.dcducks.com/wp-content/themes...
6271 5849 |
[2]http://cdn.mysitemyway.com/icons-waterma... request email]
|
[4]https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/...
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[6]cid:image001.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00[7]cid:image002.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00[8]cid:image003.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00 [9]cid:image004.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
[10]cid:image005.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
From: FOI <[11][email address]>
Sent: Tuesday, 13 April 2021 4:45 PM
To: 'Eleanor Davey' <[12][FOI #7170 email]>
Cc: FOI <[13][email address]>
Subject: FOI/2021/046 - Freedom of information - Practical Refusal
Consultation Notice [SEC=OFFICIAL]
OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/046
Dear Ms Davey
Please find attached correspondence regarding your request under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section| Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[14]http://www.dcducks.com/wp-content/themes...
6271 5849 |
[15]http://cdn.mysitemyway.com/icons-waterma... request email]
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[17]https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/...
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
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[23]cid:image005.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
______________________________________________________________________
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
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
5. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
6. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
7. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
8. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
9. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov....
11. mailto:[email address]
12. mailto:[FOI #7170 email]
13. mailto:[email address]
16. mailto:[DPMC request email]
18. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
19. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
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21. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
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Dear FOI,
My email system has informed me that the previous message did not make it to you. Please find below a copy of that message, sent on 27 April.
Thank you for your understanding, with kind regards,
Eleanor Davey.
-------------------------
Thank you for this information. Based on the analysis of the documents and time required to process them, I ask that my request be changed to the following:
Correspondence and/or records of conversations with the Prime Minister’s Office, held by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that reference a decision to remove children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea, limited to documents created during a two week period preceding initial media reports of the removal of children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea (i.e. 6 June 2013 to 20 June 2013).
I hope that this will be feasible. Thank you for your assistance.
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Davey
OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/074
Dear Ms Davey
We write in relation to your email dated 11 May 2021, and received by the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which
you made a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act)
for access to the following:
Correspondence and/or records of conversations with the Prime Minister’s
Office, held by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, that
reference a decision to remove children and families from the Regional
Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea, limited to documents created during
a two week period preceding initial media reports of the removal of
children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New
Guinea (i.e. 6 June 2013 to 20 June 2013).
Timeframe for receiving your decision
We received your valid request on 11 May 2021 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
You should therefore expect a decision from us by 10 June 2021. The period
of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if
there is 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 any of the information 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
provide supporting 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.
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 signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers
or Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or
direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at [3][DPMC request email] so
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).
We will write again when the Department has more information. 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
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section| Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[5]http://www.dcducks.com/wp-content/themes...
6271 5849 |
[6]http://cdn.mysitemyway.com/icons-waterma... request email]
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[8]https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/...
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
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[14]cid:image005.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
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you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
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you
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message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
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2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
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12. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
13. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov....
OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/074
Dear Ms Davey
Please find attached correspondence regarding your request under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section| Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[1]http://www.dcducks.com/wp-content/themes...
6271 5849 |
[2]http://cdn.mysitemyway.com/icons-waterma... request email]
|
[4]https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/...
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[6]cid:image001.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00[7]cid:image002.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00[8]cid:image003.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00 [9]cid:image004.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
[10]cid:image005.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
______________________________________________________________________
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
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______________________________________________________________________
References
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7. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
8. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
9. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov....
Dear FOI,
Thank you for the correspondence dated 2 June 2021 which outline the basis for a practical refusal reason regarding the request FOI/2021/074. I would like to acknowledge that practical refusal reason and revise the request.
I would like to update the request as follows: "Documentation held by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet that references a decision or potential decision to remove children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea, limited to documents created during a four week period preceding initial media reports of the removal of children and families from the Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea (i.e. 23 May 2013 to 20 June 2013) and excluding email correspondence."
I hope that this change in type of documentation will reduce the large volume of documents identified as in scope and thereby address the need for a practical refusal. Note that I have also expanded the time frame which had previously been reduced as I believe that excluding email will affect a large proportion of documents. Thank you for your assistance with this request.
Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Davey
){kind=link}
OFFICIAL
FOI/2021/074
Dear Ms Davey
Please find attached the decision regarding your request under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982.
If you have any questions regarding this decision, or require any
assistance from the Department in relation to any future FOI requests,
please do not hesitate to contact us in the telephone number and/or email
address below.
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section| Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[1]http://www.dcducks.com/wp-content/themes...
6271 5849 |
[2]http://cdn.mysitemyway.com/icons-waterma... request email]
|
[4]https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/...
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[6]cid:image001.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00[7]cid:image002.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00[8]cid:image003.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00 [9]cid:image004.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
[10]cid:image005.jpg@01D30607.6CF4DA00
______________________________________________________________________
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
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
5. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
6. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
7. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
8. https://twitter.com/indigenous_gov
9. https://www.facebook.com/indigenous.gov....