Documents informing the response to Senate Order 330
Brendan Molloy made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Electoral Commission
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Australian Electoral Commission,
I hereby request, under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, copies of the following documents:
a) Correspondence between the AEC and any MP, Senator or Minister or their office regarding Senate Order 330 (10 July 2014); and
b) Documents from technical personnel that helped to inform the recommendation to the Minister that the release of the source code referred to in Senate Order 330 would "leave the voting system open to hacking or manipulation."[1]
I also make the application that all costs for the processing of this request be waived on the grounds that the release of this information is in the public interest, will enhance the transparency of the process and the public debate surrounding the software that underpins our democracy.
[1] http://lee-rhiannon.greensmps.org.au/sit...
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
Councillor
Pirate Party Australia
Thank you for contacting us.
This is an automatic response from the Australian Electoral Commission to confirm we have received your email.
For more information on enrolling to vote, federal elections or the AEC, visit www.aec.gov.au.
Please do not respond to this email.
Dear Australian Electoral Commission,
One thing I missed:
Some departments state that unless explicitly mentioned, names of personnel will be censored unless explicitly requested as part of the request.
I hereby request that no names of personnel are censored where not otherwise required by relevant legislation.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
Councillor
Pirate Party Australia
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Molloy
I refer to your email so 15 July 2014 6:41 PM and 15 July 2014 6:48 PM in
which you make the above FOI Request.
I enclose a scanned letter to you dated 16 July 2014 from Paul Pirani,
Chief Legal Officer of the Australian Electoral Commission acknowledging
receipt of your request and outlining how it will be processed.
Regards
Owen Jones
Owen Jones | Senior Lawyer
Legal Services Section | Legal, Parliamentary and Procurement Branch
Australian Electoral Commission
T: (02) 6271 4528 | F: (02) 6293 7657
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[1]Australian Electoral Commission logo [2]Australian Electoral
Commission
This email may contain legal advice that is subject to legal professional
privilege. Care should be taken to avoid unintended waiver of that
privilege. The Australian Electoral Commission’s Chief Legal Officer
should be consulted prior to any decision to disclose the existence or
content of any advice contained in this email to a third party.
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From: Brendan Molloy
[[3]mailto:[FOI #680 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 15 July 2014 6:48 PM
To: INFO
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Documents informing the
response to Senate Order 330
Dear Australian Electoral Commission,
One thing I missed:
Some departments state that unless explicitly mentioned, names of
personnel will be censored unless explicitly requested as part of the
request.
I hereby request that no names of personnel are censored where not
otherwise required by relevant legislation.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
Councillor
Pirate Party Australia
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[4][FOI #680 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.
[5]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
This request is being made by an individual using the Right to Know
website. The unique email address provided by the service for this request
satisfies s.15(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Brendan Molloy
[[7]mailto:[FOI #680 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 15 July 2014 6:41 PM
To: INFO
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Documents informing the response
to Senate Order 330
Dear Australian Electoral Commission,
I hereby request, under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, copies of the
following documents:
a) Correspondence between the AEC and any MP, Senator or Minister or their
office regarding Senate Order 330 (10 July 2014); and
b) Documents from technical personnel that helped to inform the
recommendation to the Minister that the release of the source code
referred to in Senate Order 330 would "leave the voting system open to
hacking or manipulation."[1]
I also make the application that all costs for the processing of this
request be waived on the grounds that the release of this information is
in the public interest, will enhance the transparency of the process and
the public debate surrounding the software that underpins our democracy.
[1]
[8]http://lee-rhiannon.greensmps.org.au/sit...
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
Councillor
Pirate Party Australia
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[9][FOI #680 email]
Is [10][AEC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Australian Electoral Commission? If so, please contact us
using this form:
[11]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
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.
[12]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
This request is being made by an individual using the Right to Know
website. The unique email address provided by the service for this request
satisfies s.15(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[13]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
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.
Dear Mr Jones,
As of this email, the deadline for this freedom of information request has been met.
I look forward to an update as soon as possible.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
Dear Australian Electoral Commission,
This FOI request is now several days overdue. Please update me on its progress as soon as possible.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
Sensitive:Legal
Dear Mr Molloy
I refer to your email of 19 August 2014 11:07 AM about your FOI Request.
Deemed refusal decision
I agree that the time allowed for completing processing of your FOI
Request has expired. As a consequence section 15AC of the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 applies to your FOI Request. Subject to any extension
allowed by the Australian Information Commissioner under subsection
15AC(5), you may exercise your review rights (as explained below).
Current position of processing your FOI Request
A recommendation is being prepared to the decision maker about your FOI
Request. It is a matter for you whether you wait for that decision or
proceed to exercise your review rights.
Your review rights
If you are dissatisfied with the deemed decision, you may apply for
internal review or for Information Commissioner review of the decision. We
encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it may provide a
more rapid resolution of your concerns. We also suggest that you await the
substantive decision before exercising this right.
Internal Review
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the AEC for
an internal review of the deemed decision. The internal review application
must be made within 30 days of the date of the deemed refusal.
Where possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the
decision is necessary. The internal review will be carried out by another
officer within 30 days.
Information Commissioner review
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian
Information Commissioner to review my decision. An application for review
by the Information Commissioner must be made in writing within 60 days of
the date of the deemed refusal, and be lodged in one of the following
ways:
online:
[1]https://forms.australia.gov.au/forms/oai...
email: [2][email address]
post: GPO Box 2999, Canberra ACT 2601
in person: Level 3, 175 Pitt Street,
Sydney NSW
More information about Information Commissioner review is available on the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website. Go to
[3]www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/review_complaints.html#foi_merit_reviews.
Questions about the deemed decision
If you wish to discuss this decision, please contact me. My contact
details appear below in my signature block.
Regards
Owen Jones
Owen Jones | Senior Lawyer
Legal Services Section | Legal, Parliamentary and Procurement Branch
Australian Electoral Commission
T: (02) 6271 4528 | F: (02) 6293 7657
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[4]Australian Electoral Commission logo [5]Australian Electoral
Commission
This email may contain legal advice that is subject to legal professional
privilege. Care should be taken to avoid unintended waiver of that
privilege. The Australian Electoral Commission’s Chief Legal Officer
should be consulted prior to any decision to disclose the existence or
content of any advice contained in this email to a third party.
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Dear Mr Jones,
Please provide a status update on the development of the decision maker's recommendation.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Malloy
I refer to your email of 27 August 2014 11:40 AM inquiring about progress
of your FOI Request made by your emails dated 15 July 2014 6:41 p.m. and
15 July 2014 6:48 p.m. in which you requested access to documents
relating to correspondence and briefings about Senate Order 330 (10 July
2014).
I enclose a scanned letter to you dated 29 August 2014 from Mr Michael
Ross, Acting Chief Legal Officer of the Australian Electoral Commission
notifying you of his decision on your FOI Request.
Regards
Owen Jones
Owen Jones | Senior Lawyer
Legal Services Section | Legal, Parliamentary and Procurement Branch
Australian Electoral Commission
T: (02) 6271 4528 | F: (02) 6293 7657
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]Australian Electoral Commission logo [2]Australian Electoral
Commission
This email may contain legal advice that is subject to legal professional
privilege. Care should be taken to avoid unintended waiver of that
privilege. The Australian Electoral Commission’s Chief Legal Officer
should be consulted prior to any decision to disclose the existence or
content of any advice contained in this email to a third party.
Dear Mr Jones,
Thanks for the reply. I am satisfied with the response, albeit completely flabbergasted.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
Michael Cordover left an annotation ()
In relation to the note about s 47F (excluding personal information i.e. names of personnel), it's worth noting the FOI Guidelines at para 6.140 state:
"Where public servants' personal information is included in a document because of their usual duties or responsibilities, it would not be unreasonable to disclose unless special circumstances existed."
See http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform... for more.