Corrospondence concerning the appointment of Philip Ruddock to special envoy role
Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Can you please release all emails, meeting dates and notes concerning the appointment of Philip Ruddock to the new role of special envoy for human rights.
I would like to see the exchanges between the PMO and or Mr Turnbull, Ms Bishop and her department staff with Mr Ruddock concerning how and why his role would be formed, what pay and conditions would be provided and when and how it would be announced.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Gladstone
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Gladstone
Thank you for your email of 27 October in which you seek access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to:
“all emails, meeting dates and notes concerning the appointment of Philip Ruddock to the new role of special envoy for human rights. I would like to see the exchanges between the PMO and or Mr Turnbull, Ms Bishop and her department staff with Mr Ruddock concerning how and why his role would be formed, what pay and conditions would be provided and when and how it would be announced.”
Searches are now being undertaken for documents relevant to your request. I will contact you again once the searches have been completed.
Partial transfer of your request:
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has accepted a partial transfer of your FOI request (i.e. for any documents that relate to exchanges between PMO and /or Mr Turnbull and Mr Ruddock) as this part of the request is more closely connected to the PMO’s functions.
Timeframe for receiving your decision:
We received your request on 27 October 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 27 November 2016. The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if there is any extension of time.
Scope of request:
If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large for processing, I will contact you to discuss re-scoping the request.
Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:
It is our policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all government officials, and the names and contact details of government officials and ministerial staff not in the Senior Executive Service (SES). If you require the mobile numbers of all government officials, or the names and contact details of non-SES officials, please let me know; otherwise we will take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope of your request.
Charges:
Please note that the Department issues charges for processing FOI requests. We will advise you of these charges when we are in a position to estimate the resources required to process your request.
Timing of release:
As the subject matter of your request will require DFAT to upload any documents released to you to the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log, I take this opportunity to advise you that the Department’s policy is to upload documents to the disclosure log on the same day the documents are released to you.
Personal Information:
Your personal information has been collected by the Department as a result of your correspondence, and will be used in order to process your FOI request. Your personal information is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988. The Department’s privacy policy is available at dfat.gov.au/privacy.html and contains information about access to or correction of your personal information, and how you may complain about a breach of your privacy. Please note that if we need to consult with other people regarding release of the documents you have requested, we may need to disclose your personal information. When we consult with other people about a request you have made, it may be apparent to those people that you have made a request, even if we do not disclose your identity. If you have concerns about the Department consulting with other people about your request, please let us know your concerns.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me by return email.
Please note a copy of this email has been sent to Helen Horsington, Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section, for her information.
Yours sincerely
Claudia Hernandez
Assistant Director, Legal
Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Dear Claudia,
Thank you for this response, I will respond once I have the information you have outlined.
Yours sincerely,
Nigel Gladstone
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Gladstone
Please find attached the charges applicable to your FOI request.
Regards,
The DFAT FOI team
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
Hi,
Thank you for the assessment of the costs for my request. I cannot justify more than $500 for this information so I hope to narrow the scope and price of my request. Would it be possible to get a summary of the process that the department and Mr Ruddock went through before his new role was announced? This could include the number of meetings held and a timeline or summary of how long the process was to create the role. I am happy to work with you to make it less expensive and time-consuming.
Yours sincerely,
Nigel Gladstone
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Gladstone
Thank you for your email of 24 November advising you wish to narrow the scope of your FOI request with a view to narrowing the processing charges associated with it.
The Department does not have a summary document which contains the information you requested in your email of 24 November. If you wish to proceed with your FOI request, please let us know if you would like to refine the scope of the documents captured by your request in any other way, noting that a refined request would be handled as a new request for the purposes of the statutory timeframes for access to documents. As your 24 November email did not narrow the scope of your request, and as previously notified to you on 14 November, you otherwise have until 14 December to take one of the actions advised to you or your request will be deemed withdrawn under section 29 of the FOI Act.
Yours sincerely,
The DFAT FOI Team
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such privilege is not waived and you should ensure that in your handling of the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Gladstone
Please find attached the decision on your FOI request that was transferred
from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Office of the
Prime Minister.
We tried to send the decision to you on 30 June 2017 (see email below),
but due to an issue with the Right to Know web site the email was not able
to be delivered and on the same day we contacted the Right to Know team
for assistance.
We have been advised today by a member of the Right to Know team that the
technical issue should now be resolved and to try sending you the decision
again.
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours and Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. 02 6271 5849
e. [1][email address]
[2]www.pmc.gov.au
PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[3]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element
From: FOI
Sent: Friday, 30 June 2017 5:59 PM
To: [FOI #2382 email]
Cc: FOI
Subject: PMO FOI request FOI/PMO/2016/049 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Gladstone
Please find attached the decision on your FOI request that was transferred
from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Office of the
Prime Minister.
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours and Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. 02 6271 5849
e. [4][email address]
[5]www.pmc.gov.au
PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[6]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element
References
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