OFFICIAL

Dear James,

Freedom of information request no. 578/23/24

I refer to your request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act) in which you have sought access to:

“I request copies of all correspondence between the Department of Defence,
ADF or Minister for Defence with the Afghanistan Inquiry Implementation
Oversight Panel.”

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).

I am writing to inform you that the work involved in processing your
request in its current form would substantially and unreasonably divert
the resources of this agency from its other operations due to its size.
This is called a ‘practical refusal reason’ (section 24AA).

On this basis, Defence intends to refuse access to the documents you
requested. However, before a final decision is made to do this, you have
an opportunity to revise your request. This is called a ‘request
consultation process’ as set out under section 24AB of the FOI Act. You
have 14 days to respond to this notice in one of the ways set out below.

Why the Accredited Decision Maker intends to refuse your request

In your request you have sought documents relating to ‘all correspondence’
between the Department of Defence, the ADF or the Minister for Defence and
the Afghanistan Inquiry Implementation Oversight Panel. Please be advised
that a request for all documents concerning a particular subject will
likely attract refusal under section 24AA of the FOI Act because, with few
exceptions, it would simply not be possible for the decision maker to
certify that he or she has identified every copy of every document in the
Department's possession. To do so would require a search of every hard
copy file and the electronic communication and records management systems
used by Defence. It is considered that the workload involved in
conscientiously attempting to do so would involve a substantial and
unreasonable diversion of the resources of the agency.

Preliminary searches for documents have revealed that the Afghanistan
Inquiry Implementation Oversight Panel communicated directly with
accountable officers across Defence, approximating to at least 50
individuals. Therefore, in order to locate all documents relevant to the
scope of your request, searches of the email inboxes of more than 50
Defence personnel would be required to be undertaken. Using a conservative
estimate of 1 hour to search each inbox, it would take 50 hours to conduct
the search and retrieval phase of the process alone.

Furthermore, as you have requested access to all correspondence, the
subject matter could range from routine or logistical to more substantive
matters, and has the potential to incorporate potentially thousands of
documents sent by Defence to the Afghanistan Inquiry Implementation
Oversight Panel since its establishment.

Taking the above into consideration, under section 24AA of the FOI Act and
for the purposes of section 24 of the FOI Act, Defence considers that a
'practical refusal reason' exists in relation to your FOI request. 
Specifically, Defence considers that the work involved in processing the
request in its current form would substantially and unreasonably divert
the resources of the Defence from its other operations.  In particular, a
very significant amount of resources would have to be diverted to arrange
for the required searches to be undertaken, to then review any documents
that were identified as being possibly relevant to your request.  And
finally, to undertake the decision making process on any documents that
did meet the parameters of your request.

This diversion would constitute a significant impact on the resources of
the agency, and would have an unreasonable, substantial and adverse effect
in the ability of areas to conduct their normal business.

In accordance with section 24AB of the FOI Act, Defence is required to
consult with you advising of the intention to refuse access to your
request in its current form.

Request consultation process

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, our agency will be able to pinpoint
the documents more quickly and avoid using excessive resources to process
documents you are not interested in.

Before the end of the consultation period, you must do one of the
following, in writing:

·         withdraw your request

·         make a revised request

·         tell us that you do not wish to revise your request.

The consultation period runs for 14 days and starts on the day after you
received this notice.

During this period, you are welcome to seek my assistance to revise your
request. If you revise your request in a way that adequately addresses the
practical refusal grounds outlined above, we will recommence processing
it.

In your consideration of submitting a revised request, the line area has
requested you provide further detail regarding the exact documents to
which you are seeking access to. This is because as the scope is currently
written, your request encapsulates access to every form of correspondence
pertaining to the subject matter (i.e. emails, text messages, letters
etc.). Moreover, any correspondence sent between members of the
Afghanistan Inquiry Implementation Oversight Panel and Defence are being
captured by the scope, even if they are considered routine correspondence.
This means that all documents that have even a minor connection to the
subject matter fall within scope and are required to be reviewed and
considered.

You may also like to consider:

·         limiting your request to be for one type of correspondence,
individual and/or search term; and

·         providing more detail in relation to the specific documents to
which you are seeking access.

If you do not do one of the three things listed above during the
consultation period, on or before 5:00pm Friday, 19 January 2024, your
request will be taken to have been withdrawn.

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

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 James,

Please find attached the Decision and documents relating to Defence FOI
578/23/24.  A schedule of documents is also attached.

FOI Disclosure Log

In accordance with the requirements of section 11C of the FOI Act, Defence
is required to publish details of information released under the FOI Act.
Defence publishes identified documents relating to finalised requests
within ten working days of receipt by the applicant. Defence will also
publish the statement of reasons with privacy deletions. 

Review Rights

If you disagree with the decision made by the Department of Defence or the
Minister under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), you can
ask for the decision to be reviewed. You may want to seek review if you
sought certain documents and were not given full access, if your
application to have your personal information amended was not accepted or
your comments in response to formal consultation were not accepted.

You must apply in writing and should include a copy of the notice of the
decision provided and the points to which you are objecting and why.  You
may apply directly to the Information Commissioner, within 60 days of
receiving your decision.

Further information about the external review process or how to make a
complaint to the Information Commissioner is available:

Online: [1]www.oaic.gov.au

Post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2000

Email: [2][email address]

Regards,

Erin
Freedom of Infomation
Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

[3]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. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessi...

Our reference: RQ24/00629

Agency reference: FOI 577/23/24

Department of Defence

James Smith

Extension of time under s 15AC

Dear Parties,

Please find attached an extension of time decision relating to the above
referenced FOI request.

Regards,

[1][IMG]   Hannah Holswilder

Director, Freedom of Information Branch

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

Adelaide | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001

E [2][email address]
 
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.  

[3]Subscribe to Information Matters

Notice:

The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...

Our reference: RQ24/00638

Agency reference: FOI 578/23/24

Department of Defence

James Smith

Extension of time under s 15AC

Dear Parties,

Please find attached an extension of time decision relating to the above
referenced FOI request.

Regards,

[1][IMG]   Hannah Holswilder

Director, Freedom of Information Branch

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

Adelaide | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001

E [2][email address]
 
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.  

[3]Subscribe to Information Matters

Notice:

The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...

Our reference: MR24/00177
Agency reference: TBA / Inquiry 1000

Applicant Name James Smith

By email: [1][FOI #10985 email]

Jame Smith’s Your review application about the DOD - Department of
Defence

Good afternoon James Smith,

On 21 December 2023, you made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to
the DOD - Department of Defence (the Agency).

On 01 February 2024, you requested an Information Commissioner (IC) review
of your information access request to the Agency because you had not
received a decision by the due date. 

As you have now received a decision, the reason for your IC review
application appears to be resolved.   

The OAIC would like to confirm whether you wish to proceed with your IC
review application, noting that the Department’s decision is to, refuse
access in full.

Action required by you before 01 May 2024:  

1.       If [the decision has satisfied your request and] you no longer
require an IC review, please reply to this email stating “I no longer
require an IC review”.

2.       If you wish to proceed with your IC review application, you must
tell us which parts of the decision you disagree with and why, including:

·         which documents you consider were not provided or should have
been provided, or

·         which exemptions you consider should not have been applied.

Intention not to continue to undertake Applicant name’s/your IC review

The Commissioner’s written [2]direction to IC review applicants provides
that:

·         where an applicant wishes to proceed with a review of a
substantive or revised decision, they must explain why they disagree with
the decision and the basis on which they wish to proceed with the IC
review [1.33], and

·         applicants must respond to enquiries from the OAIC within the
period provided unless there are circumstances warranting a longer period
to respond [1.22].

Section 54W(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 provides that the IC
may decide not to continue to undertake a review where an applicant fails
to comply with a direction of the IC.  

As such, if we do not hear from you by 01 May Month 2024, we intend to
exercise the discretion to finalise your IC review application.

Assistance

If you are unable to respond by 01 May 2024, please respond to this email
and request an extension of time to provide your response.  

If you require an interpreter, please call the Translating and
Interpreting Service on 131 450, and ask for help speaking with the Office
of the Australian Information Commissioner. Alternatively, you may wish to
be supported by a person of your choosing anytime throughout this
process. 

If you require assistance regarding this email, please contact us at
[3][email address].

Please quote the reference MR24/00177 in all correspondence.

Kind regards,

[4][IMG]   Sussan J

Review Adviser

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001

P: 1300 363 992 E: [5][email address]
 
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.  

[6]Subscribe to Information Matters

Notice:

The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #10985 email]
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...