Detail Incident Report 1-9JC23X
Dear Department of Immigration and Citizenship,
I would like to amend that the request I made today to the following:
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) I request the following documents:
Detail Incident Report 1-9JC23X, including all attached documents.
Regards,
Lawrence Bull
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00262; ADF2013/25006
To Mr Lawrence Bull
Dear Mr Bull
I am writing to you in response to your email on 24 July 2013, purportedly
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) and asking that the
Department of Immigration and Citizenship provide you with a copy of the
following document:
· ‘Serco Incident Report 1-9JC23X’.
The purpose of this email is to advise you that I consider the request to
be invalid under the FOI Act. I will explain my reasons in full below.
Requirements of the FOI Act
The requirements for a valid FOI request are set out in section 15(2) of
the Act, which provides that:
The request must:
(a) be in writing; and
(aa) state that the request is an application for the
purposes of this Act; and
(b) provide such information concerning the document as is
reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency, or the
Minister, to identify it; and
(c) give details of how notices under this Act may be sent
to the applicant (for example, by providing an electronic address to which
notices may be sent by electronic communication).
The Act envisages that an agency and the applicant will, where necessary
and appropriate, engage in dialogue about the request. The Act also
envisages that there may be instances when an agency will wish to send a
formal legal notice to an applicant, for example, when the agency believes
that it would be a substantial and unreasonable diversion of resources to
process the request or intends to charge the applicant for processing the
request. In addition, the Act provides applicants with review rights which
are activated by the act of the agency ‘notifying’ the applicant of the
decision.
In order to engage in this dialogue, the applicant must provide an address
through which the applicant intends to be contactable. It should be an
address through which the agency will be able to write to the applicant
and receive a response to the communication. It must also be an address
through which the agency can reasonably assume that legal notices will be
received, read and responded to by the applicant. This requirement has
been an element of a valid FOI request since the Act was first enacted in
1982.
Issues regarding your request
I am not satisfied that the email address you have provided meets the
requirement of ‘details of how notices under this Act may be sent to the
applicant’ (s.15(2)(c) of the Act. In particular, it does not appear to be
an address to which the agency could send a ‘notice’. The address you have
provided appears to be an address for publication of correspondence on the
internet.
Next steps
Please confirm that the email address that you have provided is an address
to which the Department can send you notices by close of business
Wednesday 14 August 2013. If you have not provided confirmation by that
time, I will close this request as invalid.
Yours sincerely
Angela O'Neil
Assistant Director
FOI & Privacy Policy
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: (02) 6264 1382
Email: [1][email address]
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Ms O'Neil,
I confirm that the email address provided is an address
to which the Department can send me notices.
Yours sincerely,
Lawrence Bull
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00262; ADF2013/25006
Dear Mr Bull
Thank you for confirming that you will respond to notices and communications that DIAC sends to this email address. As a result, I am satisfied that this is a valid address for delivery of notices to you under the Act and that the requirement in s.15(2)(b) of the Act has been met.
Your request will be allocated to a case officer as soon as practicable.
Yours sincerely
Angela O'Neil
Assistant Director
FOI & Privacy Policy
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: (02) 6264 1382
Email: [email address]
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00262; ADF2013/25006
Dear Mr Bull,
I refer to your request FA 13/08/00262, received on 2 August 2013 for the
following:
Serco Incident Report 1-9JC23X
I have made a final decision on this request.
Please see attached my signed Decision Letter, Decision Record & Schedule
of Documents and documents.
This request has now been closed.
Regards
Amy Thompson
Freedom of Information Helpdesk
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Amy Thompson,
The outcome of my amended request FA 13/08/00262 for "Detail Incident Report 1-9JC23X, including all attached documents." contained the report, but didn't contain any attached documents. Would you be able to arrange for these to be released?
Yours sincerely,
Lawrence Bull
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00262; ADF2013/25006
To Mr Lawrence Bull
Via email - Lawrence Bull [1][FOI #336 email]
Dear Mr Bull
Background
I refer to your request FA 13/08/00262 at 3.57pm on 2 August 2013 for
'Serco Incident Report 1-9JC23X' from
[2][email address] . At 4.00 pm on the same
day, you amended the request to be for 'Detail Incident Report 1-9JC23X,
including all attached documents'. This request was from
[3][FOI #336 email] . The Department accepted
the second request as the valid request. It was allocated to Ms Amy
Thompson for action.
On 23 August 2013, Ms Thompson provided you with her decision in which she
provided you with a redacted version of the incident report. The documents
not include any attachments to the incident report.
Advice
As Ms Thompson has made her decision under s.15 of the Act, her role as
the original decision maker is 'expended' and she cannot alter her
decision. However, s.54 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 allows you
to apply to the Department for an internal review of Ms Thompson’s
decision.
Next steps
Please confirm whether you wish the Department to treat your email as a
request for an internal review of Ms Thompson's decision.
Yours sincerely
Angela O'Neil
Assistant Director
FOI & Privacy Policy
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: (02) 6264 1382
Email: [email address]
Dear Ms O'Neil,
I would like the Department to treat my email as a request for an internal review.
Yours sincerely,
Lawrence Bull
Sensitive
Good afternoon Mr Bull,
The department have received your request for review, the reference number for your internal review is FA 13/08/00262-R1.
Thank you.
Ashley Smith
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: (02) 6264 1757
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00262-R1; ADF2013/25006
Dear Mr Bull
Re: Your Freedom of Information request
I am writing to inform you that I have been appointed to your internal
review of FOI request FA13/08/00262.
The internal review is for:
Attachments to Detail Incident report 1-9JC23X
As part of DIAC's FOI service standard, I will update you every 14 days
regarding progress of your request. However, please do not hesitate to
contact me if you have any questions or wish to discuss the request in the
interim.
I have received the documents that relate to this request and I have begun
my assessment of them
Regards
Mel Heggart
FOI and Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Tel: (02) 62643131
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00262-R1; ADF2013/25006
Dear Mr Bull,
I refer to your internal review request FA 13/08/00262-R1, received on 3
September 2013 for the following:
‘Attachments to Detail incident report 1-9JC23X.’
I have made a final decision on this request.
Please see attached my signed Decision Letter, Decision Record & Schedule
of Documents and documents.
This request has now been closed.
Regards
Mel Heggart
FOI and Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Tel: (02) 62643131
UNCLASSIFIED