UNCLASSIFIED

Good afternoon

Thank you for your email. Your email has been forwarded for consideration/action.

Someone from our office will be in contact.

Kind regards

FOI Operations
[email address]
(02) 6266 2200
http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Good afternoon Mr Palmer, 

1.         I refer to your request dated 19 February 2015, in which you
sought access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act).  In particular you sought:

Copies of all briefings, communications, forms, reports or notes
mentioning or regarding the not-for-profit media organisation WikiLeaks or
its Australian staff, including but not limited to Julian Assange.

I wish to exclude from the scope of my request:

1) Duplicates of documents and drafts;

2) With the exception of WikiLeaks staff, the personal information of any
individuals contained in the documents;

3) Documents which are already publicly known or accessible.

I suggest these exclusions to make the process more practical, and would
therefore be happy to further reframe my request if it is helpful. Please
do not hesitate to contact me by reply email if I may be of further
assistance.

I request that all costs for all aspects of the processing of this request
be waived on the grounds that the release of this information is in the
public interest.

Scope of Request

2.         Please be advised that a request for any/all documents
concerning a particular subject will likely attract refusal under section
24AA of the FOI Act because, with few exceptions, it would simply not be
possible for the decision maker to certify that he or she has identified
every copy of every single document in the Department’s possession, which
falls within the scope of the request, without conducting a search of
every hard copy file and all individuals electronic communication records
in the Department of Defence.  It is considered that the workload involved
in conscientiously attempting to do so would involve a substantial and
unreasonable diversion of resources of the agency.

3.         Further, while you have attempted to narrow the scope of your
request by excluding duplicates etc, unfortunately, it would still require
searches of documents held by every group and service in Defence.  Taking
this into account, our office has determined that the scope of your
request, in its current form, is considered too broad to be processed and
would therefore attract a practical refusal under section 24AA of the FOI
Act.

Practical Refusal Reason

4.         Under section 24AA of the FOI Act and for the purposes of
section 24 of the FOI Act, Defence considers that a “practical refusal
reason” exists in relation to your FOI request.  Specifically, Defence
considers that the work involved in processing the request in its current
form, would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of Defence
from its other operations.  In particular, a very significant amount of
resources would have to be diverted from other Defence activities to
identify, locate and collate the documents within Defence, and to decide
whether to grant, refuse or defer access to the large number of documents
to which your request relates, or to grant access to edited copies of such
documents, including resources that would have to be used to examine the
documents, or to consult with any person or body in relation to the
request, and to make copies, or edited copies, of the documents, and to
notify any interim or final decision on the request. 

5.         This diversion would constitute a significant drain on the
resources of the areas involved and would have an unreasonable,
substantial and adverse effect on the ability of those areas to conduct
their normal business and in fact would make it virtually impossible for
the affected areas to carry out their normal functions. 

Consultation

6.         Consequently, in accordance with section 24AB of the FOI Act,
Defence is required to consult with you advising of the intention to
refuse access to your request in its current form. 

7.         In accordance with paragraph 24AB(2)(c) of the FOI Act, I am
the nominated person with whom you should contact with a view of agreeing
to one of the following options:

a.                   withdraw your request;

b.                   revise your request; or

c.                   indicate that you do not wish to revise your request;

8.         You should note that, in accordance with section 24AB(9) of the
FOI Act, Defence is only required to undertake the above consultation
process once, and that you are required to contact me within 14 days of
receipt of this notice. 

9.         If you decide to revise the scope of your request I would
suggest identifying a specific area or areas in Defence.  Furthermore, it
may also assist if you could provide further information about the subset
of documents you are seeking, i.e. is there a specific issue or angle you
are interested in.

10.        I would encourage you to contact me if you have any queries
about this matter, and moving forward.

Kind regards

 
Theresa Stinson
Assistant Director - Media Case Management FOI
Ministerial and Executive Coordination & Communication Division
 
Building F065
Level 2-012
Gallipoli Barracks
ENOGGERA   QLD   4051
 
Ph: (07) 3332 6359
 
Alternative email: [1][email address]
 
Website:[2]http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm
Privacy Statement:[3]http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
 
FOI Act: [4]http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C0...
FOI Guidelines:
[5]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
 

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm
3. http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
4. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C0...
5. http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...

UNCLASSIFIED

Good afternoon Mr Palmer,

Thank you for your clarification below, can you please advise if the following scope accurately reflects what you are seeking.

I seek access to documents authored by the Defence Industry Innovation Board. Specifically, copies of all briefings, communications, forms, reports or notes mentioning or regarding the not-for-profit media organisation WikiLeaks or its Australian staff, including but not limited to Julian Assange.

I wish to exclude from the scope of my request:

1) Duplicates of documents and drafts;

2) With the exception of WikiLeaks staff, the personal information of any individuals contained in the documents;

3) Documents which are already publicly known or accessible.

Kind regards

Theresa Stinson
AD-MCM
FOI
MECC Division
Ph: (07) 3332 6359

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Good afternoon Mr Palmer,
 
Please find attached the decision relating to FOI 258/14/15, along with a
copy of your rights of review.
 
Kind regards
 
Theresa Stinson
Assistant Director - Media Case Management FOI
Ministerial and Executive Coordination & Communication Division
 
Building F065
Level 2-012
Gallipoli Barracks
ENOGGERA   QLD   4051
 
Ph: (07) 3332 6359
 
Alternative email: [1][email address]
 
Website:[2]http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm
Privacy Statement:[3]http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
 
FOI Act: [4]http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C0...
FOI Guidelines:
[5]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
 

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm
3. http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
4. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C0...
5. http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...