Dear Department of Defence,

Websites have a "robots.txt" file that helps search engines work out what they should be indexing and shouldn't be.

The Department of Defence's robots.txt file (located at https://www.defence.gov.au/robots.txt) has the below information at the bottom:

++++++++++
# No ducments

User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /sites/default/*.pdf$
Disallow: /sites/default/*.doc$
Disallow: /sites/default/*.docx$
Disallow: /sites/default/*.xls$
Disallow: /sites/default/*.xlsx$
++++++++++

I request access to the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982:
1. Documents that informed the decision to block Google's web crawler from indexing pdf, doc, docx, xls, and xlsx files contained on the site.

Yours faithfully,

CR

FOI Case Management, Department of Defence

OFFICIAL

Dear CR

 

Acknowledgement

I refer to your correspondence of 18 July 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 received and allocated for Case Management.

 

The scope of your request is:

 

1. Documents that informed the decision to block Google's web crawler from
indexing pdf, doc, docx, xls, and xlsx files contained on the site.

 

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 17 August 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.

 

Should you have any questions relating to your request, please do not
hesitate to contact the FOI team via email:
[1][email address].

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

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...

FOI Case Management, Department of Defence

OFFICIAL

Dear CR,

 

I refer to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request for access to:

 

Documents that informed the decision to block Google's web crawler from
indexing pdf, doc, docx, xls, and xlsx files contained on the site. 

 

The current statutory deadline for you to receive a response to your
Defence FOI request is 17 August 2024.

 

Due to staff availability and completing priorities our office is seeking
your agreement to a 14 day extension of the statutory deadline under
section 15AA [extension with agreement] of the FOI Act. We will endeavour
to process your request as soon as we can.

 

Should you agree, the statutory deadline for you to receive a response to
your request will expire on 31 August 2024.

 

It would be much appreciated if you could confirm your agreement to this
extension of time via e-mail by 5:00pm 17 August 2024. I apologise for the
short turnaround.

 

Should you have any questions regarding this matter please do not hesitate
to contact me.

 

Thank you and regards,

 

Freedom of Information Team

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...

Dear Freedom of Information Team,

I agree to an extension of time, on the condition that any charges applicable are waived.

Yours sincerely,

CR

FOI Case Management, Department of Defence

2 Attachments

OFFICIAL

Dear CR

 

Please find attached the Decision relating to Defence FOI 062/24/25.

 

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

 

Freedom of Information Team

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...