Detainee escapes in Darwin
Dear Department of Immigration and Citizenship,
Under the Freedom of Information Act (1982) I request all incident
reports (and their attachments) concerning the escape or recapture
of detainees in Darwin between 1 May 2013 and 15 May 2013.
Regards,
Lawrence Bull
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Bull,
Please see attached the acknowledgement letter for this request.
Thank you.
Ashley Smith
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: (02) 6264 1757
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Bull [mailto:[FOI #360 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 22 August 2013 12:42 PM
To: FOI
Subject: TRIM: Freedom of Information request - Detainee escapes in Darwin
Dear Department of Immigration and Citizenship,
Under the Freedom of Information Act (1982) I request all incident
reports (and their attachments) concerning the escape or recapture
of detainees in Darwin between 1 May 2013 and 15 May 2013.
Regards,
Lawrence Bull
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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requests to Department of Immigration and Citizenship? If so,
please contact us using this form:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/contact
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UNCLASSIFIED
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UNCLASSIFIED
UNOFFICIAL
Our references: FA 13/08/00966; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull,
Re: Your Freedom of Information request
I am writing to inform you that I have been appointed as the authorised
decision maker on your FOI request for:
“Under the Freedom of Information Act (1982) I request all incident
reports (and their attachments) concerning the escape or recapture of
detainees in Darwin between 1 May 2013 and 15 May 2013.”
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.
Regards
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
02 6264 4667
UNOFFICIAL
UNCLASSIFIED
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intended recipient is prohibited. DIAC respects your privacy and has
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. The official departmental privacy
policy can be viewed on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au. See:
http://www.immi.gov.au/functional/privac...
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UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00966; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull,
I am writing in regards to your FOI request seeking:
“Under the Freedom of Information Act (1982) I request all incident
reports (and their attachments) concerning the escape or recapture of
detainees in Darwin between 1 May 2013 and 15 May 2013.”
This email is to advise you of my decision that you are liable to pay a
charge in respect of the processing of your FOI request in accordance with
s 29 of the FOI Act.
Please see the attached letter for further information.
How to pay:
The deposit or full payment can be paid by cheque, money order or credit
card.
Cheques and money orders should be made payable to "Collector of Public
Monies DIAC" and sent to
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration & Citizenship
PO Box 25
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
AUSTRALIA
Should you choose to pay by credit card, please fill out the attached
credit card authorisation form and forward to FOI & Privacy Policy Section
at the above address, or email to [1][email address]. Please advise
whether you wish to pay the deposit only or the full charge.
Kind Regards
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
02 6264 4667
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Hi Shannon,
As per our phone conversation yesterday, I request a reduction in charges roughly proportional to the amount of new and relevant information redacted in the final release.
Yours sincerely,
Lawrence Bull
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00966; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull,
Thank you for your email.
Just to recap our telephone conversation - we discussed your concern that although you would be happy to pay the charges that you would not receive any useful information once redactions had been applied. I note that you requested to view the documents with proposed redactions before you made a decision on whether to pay the charges. My advice was that this was not possible and that you have three options to move forward with the processing of your request:
1. Accept the charges;
2. Contend that the charges have been wrongly assessed; or 3. Withdraw your request.
As we discussed you advised that you would be contending the charges on the basis that "the department is redacting more information now than in previous requests for Incident Detail Reports". Please correct me if I have misunderstood you.
It is under that understanding that I am considering your request for a reduction in charges.
Please see below a brief explanation of how charges are assessed.
"Charges imposed under a charges notice apply to all work undertaken to process the request. It includes the work undertaken in registering the request, acknowledging the request, creating relevant record keeping files, identifying the documents requested, collating the document, allocating to a decision maker, considering the documents against the requirements of the Act, consulting any relevant parties that might be affected by the release (either formally or informally), taking those comments into account, finalising the decision and then providing the decision to the applicant. As you can see, the charges notice is not limited to redacting information."
I will make a formal decision on your contention by the end of next week (13 September 2013).
Kind Regards
Shannon
_____________________________________
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB) Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: (02) 6264 4667
Email: [email address]
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Bull [mailto:[FOI #360 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 5 September 2013 9:57 AM
To: FOI
Subject: Re: Charges notification under s.29 of the FOI Act – FA 13/08/00966 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Hi Shannon,
As per our phone conversation yesterday, I request a reduction in
charges roughly proportional to the amount of new and relevant
information redacted in the final release.
Yours sincerely,
Lawrence Bull
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00966; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull,
I am writing in regards to your FOI request seeking:
“Under the Freedom of Information Act (1982) I request all
incident
reports (and their attachments) concerning the escape or recapture
of
detainees in Darwin between 1 May 2013 and 15 May 2013.”
This email is to advise you of my decision that you are liable to
pay a
charge in respect of the processing of your FOI request in
accordance with
s 29 of the FOI Act.
Please see the attached letter for further information.
How to pay:
The deposit or full payment can be paid by cheque, money order or
credit
card.
Cheques and money orders should be made payable to "Collector of
Public
Monies DIAC" and sent to
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration & Citizenship
PO Box 25
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
AUSTRALIA
Should you choose to pay by credit card, please fill out the
attached
credit card authorisation form and forward to FOI & Privacy Policy
Section
at the above address, or email to [1][DIAC request email]. Please
advise
whether you wish to pay the deposit only or the full charge.
Kind Regards
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
02 6264 4667
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DIAC request email]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #360 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a
last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an
acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government
information.
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UNCLASSIFIED
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Important Notice: If you have received this email by mistake, please advise
the sender and delete the message and attachments immediately. This email,
including attachments, may contain confidential, sensitive, legally privileged
and/or copyright information. Any review, retransmission, dissemination
or other use of this information by persons or entities other than the
intended recipient is prohibited. DIAC respects your privacy and has
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. The official departmental privacy
policy can be viewed on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au. See:
http://www.immi.gov.au/functional/privac...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Shannon,
Yes, that is correct. I will be contending the charges on the basis that the Department is now redacting the content of these reports almost entirely.
Yours sincerely,
Lawrence Bull
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00966; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull,
Thank you for your email.
Please see attached my formal decision in relation to the charges contention.
Kind Regards
Shannon
_____________________________________
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB) Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: (02) 6264 4667
Email: [email address]
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Bull [mailto:[FOI #360 email]]
Sent: Friday, 6 September 2013 3:46 PM
To: FOI
Subject: RE: Charges notification under s.29 of the FOI Act – FA 13/08/00966 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Hi Shannon,
Yes, that is correct. I will be contending the charges on the basis
that the Department is now redacting the content of these reports
almost entirely.
Yours sincerely,
Lawrence Bull
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00966; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull,
Thank you for your email.
Just to recap our telephone conversation - we discussed your
concern that although you would be happy to pay the charges that
you would not receive any useful information once redactions had
been applied. I note that you requested to view the documents with
proposed redactions before you made a decision on whether to pay
the charges. My advice was that this was not possible and that you
have three options to move forward with the processing of your
request:
1. Accept the charges;
2. Contend that the charges have been wrongly assessed; or 3.
Withdraw your request.
As we discussed you advised that you would be contending the
charges on the basis that "the department is redacting more
information now than in previous requests for Incident Detail
Reports". Please correct me if I have misunderstood you.
It is under that understanding that I am considering your request
for a reduction in charges.
Please see below a brief explanation of how charges are assessed.
"Charges imposed under a charges notice apply to all work
undertaken to process the request. It includes the work undertaken
in registering the request, acknowledging the request, creating
relevant record keeping files, identifying the documents requested,
collating the document, allocating to a decision maker, considering
the documents against the requirements of the Act, consulting any
relevant parties that might be affected by the release (either
formally or informally), taking those comments into account,
finalising the decision and then providing the decision to the
applicant. As you can see, the charges notice is not limited to
redacting information."
I will make a formal decision on your contention by the end of next
week (13 September 2013).
Kind Regards
Shannon
_____________________________________
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Ministerial, Executive and External Accountability Branch (MEEAB)
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: (02) 6264 4667
Email: [email address]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #360 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a
last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an
acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government
information.
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UNCLASSIFIED
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Important Notice: If you have received this email by mistake, please advise
the sender and delete the message and attachments immediately. This email,
including attachments, may contain confidential, sensitive, legally privileged
and/or copyright information. Any review, retransmission, dissemination
or other use of this information by persons or entities other than the
intended recipient is prohibited. DIAC respects your privacy and has
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. The official departmental privacy
policy can be viewed on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au. See:
http://www.immi.gov.au/functional/privac...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00966; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull,
I refer to your request FA 13/08/00966, received on 22 August 2013 for the
following:
“Under the Freedom of Information Act (1982) I request all incident
reports (and their attachments) concerning the escape or recapture of
detainees in Darwin between 1 May 2013 and 15 May 2013.”
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
Shannon Bevan
FOI Officer
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
02 6264 4667
Freedom of Information Helpdesk
Department of Immigration and Border Protection
UNCLASSIFIED
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Important Notice: If you have received this email by mistake, please
advise
the sender and delete the message and attachments immediately. This email,
including attachments, may contain confidential, sensitive, legally
privileged
and/or copyright information. Any review, retransmission, dissemination
or other use of this information by persons or entities other than the
intended recipient is prohibited. DIAC respects your privacy and has
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. The official departmental privacy
policy can be viewed on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au. See:
http://www.immi.gov.au/functional/privac...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Department of Immigration and Border Protection,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Immigration and Citizenship's handling of my FOI request FA 13/08/00966 'Detainee escapes in Darwin'.
Information in this document was redacted under s.47F(1) "A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased person)."
The FOI Act 1982 states: "personal information has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act 1988."
The Privacy Act 1988 states: "personal information" means information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.
Therefore I would like to see the following information un-redacted:
1. The numerical counts of detainees in all instances
2. In the fields: "Client was armed:" (yes/no)
3. In the field: "Location Details:"
4. Page 6 of 9 contains redactions of 'descriptions' in their entirety. In this instance I ask for the redactions to be reduced to their minimum necessary size, or a guarantee that each word, if uncovered, would identify one or more individuals.
5. The first sentence of page 7 of 9 has been redacted so as not to contain even a verb. This seems excessive as it is unlikely that the individuals would be identifiable by a verb. I ask that unnecessary redactions are removed.
6. The 'Officer Report Form' and 'Incident Report Form' were both redacted almost entirely under s. 47E(d). There was no mention of this clause in the Decision Record or in any other correspondence.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/de...
Regards,
Lawrence Bull
UNCLASSIFIED
Our Reference: FA 13/08/00966-R1; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull
Acknowledgement of Request for Internal Review
This letter refers to an internal review request received on 8 October
2013. Your request has been allocated FOI Request Number FA
13/08/00966-R1. Please include your FOI Request Number in all
correspondence with the Freedom of Information Section.
Processing times
The statutory time allowed under the FOI Act for processing internal
review requests is 30 days.
If you wish to discuss this matter, I can be contacted using the details
provided below.
Yours sincerely
Janelle
__________________________________
Janelle Raineri
FOI Inbox Manager
FOI & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration and Border Protection
Email: [email address]
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Bull [mailto:[FOI #360 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 8 October 2013 3:06 PM
To: FOI
Subject: TRIM: Internal review of Freedom of Information request -
Detainee escapes in Darwin
Dear Department of Immigration and Border Protection,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of
Immigration and Citizenship's handling of my FOI request FA
13/08/00966 'Detainee escapes in Darwin'.
Information in this document was redacted under s.47F(1) "A
document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act
would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information
about any person (including a deceased person)."
The FOI Act 1982 states: "personal information has the same meaning
as in the Privacy Act 1988."
The Privacy Act 1988 states: "personal information" means
information or an opinion (including information or an opinion
forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether
recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose
identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the
information or opinion.
Therefore I would like to see the following information
un-redacted:
1. The numerical counts of detainees in all instances
2. In the fields: "Client was armed:" (yes/no)
3. In the field: "Location Details:"
4. Page 6 of 9 contains redactions of 'descriptions' in their
entirety. In this instance I ask for the redactions to be reduced
to their minimum necessary size, or a guarantee that each word, if
uncovered, would identify one or more individuals.
5. The first sentence of page 7 of 9 has been redacted so as not to
contain even a verb. This seems excessive as it is unlikely that
the individuals would be identifiable by a verb. I ask that
unnecessary redactions are removed.
6. The 'Officer Report Form' and 'Incident Report Form' were both
redacted almost entirely under s. 47E(d). There was no mention of
this clause in the Decision Record or in any other correspondence.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
[1]http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/de...
Regards,
Lawrence Bull
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[2][FOI #360 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a
last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an
acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government
information.
[3]http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UNCLASSIFIED
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Important Notice: If you have received this email by mistake, please
advise
the sender and delete the message and attachments immediately. This email,
including attachments, may contain confidential, sensitive, legally
privileged
and/or copyright information. Any review, retransmission, dissemination
or other use of this information by persons or entities other than the
intended recipient is prohibited. DIAC respects your privacy and has
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. The official departmental privacy
policy can be viewed on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au. See:
http://www.immi.gov.au/functional/privac...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/de...
2. mailto:[FOI #360 email]
3. http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
4. http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
UNCLASSIFIED
Our references: FA 13/08/00966-R1 ; ADF2013/27262
Dear Mr Bull
I refer to your request for internal review FA 13/08/00966-R1, received on
8 October 2013 seeking review of the decision from the department for the
following:
all incident reports (and their attachments) concerning the escape or
recapture of detainees in Darwin between 1 May 2013 and 15 May 2013
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
Rowan Patterson
Assistant Director
Freedom of Information & Privacy Policy Section
Department of Immigration and Border Protection
Email [1][email address]
UNCLASSIFIED
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the sender and delete the message and attachments immediately. This email,
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and/or copyright information. Any review, retransmission, dissemination
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intended recipient is prohibited. DIBP respects your privacy and has
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988. The official departmental privacy
policy can be viewed on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au. See:
http://www.immi.gov.au/functional/privac...
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References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]