Dr de Brouwer's letter to senior bureaucrats
I refer to Henry Belot’s article, “Public servants must do more to manage conflicts of interest, APS Commissioner tells top bureaucrats”, published on the website of The Guardian Australia: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-ne....
According to the article, the APS Commissioner sent a letter to senior bureaucrats in December 2023 in which he, amongst other things, asked senior bureaucrats to:
a) “ensure you and your senior executive service employees have up-to-date declarations in place, as well as strategies in your agency to mitigate or manage conflicts that are identified” and
b) “ensure similar arrangements are in place for all relevant agency functions and processes, such that conflict of interest declarations are triggered for those participating in activities such as recruitment, procurement, awarding grants, or performing regulatory roles.”
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), I request access to the letter referred to in Mr Belot’s article, in which Dr de Brouwer’s noted his concerns about conflicts of interest to senior bureaucrats in the Australian Public Service.
Please provide the requested document by email to this address.
Yours faithfully,
FOIBLES
OFFICIAL
Dear FOIBLES
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 for access to documents held by the Australian Public
Service Commission (Commission).
The timeframe for responding to your request is 30 days from the date of
receipt. Therefore, the due date for this request is 25 March 2024.
This timeframe may be extended in certain circumstances. You will be
notified if these circumstances arise and the timeframe is extended.
Kind regards
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
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This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally
privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has
been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please
delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult
with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or
attachments to a third party.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
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you
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______________________________________________________________________
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OFFICIAL
Dear FOIBLES
I refer to your recent correspondence seeking access for documents under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
We note that individual copies of the letter you are requesting were sent
to Department heads, however, we confirm that the content remained the
same across all letters.
Can you please confirm whether you are satisfied with us excluding
individual versions?
We would be grateful if you could provide confirmation by COB 29 Thursday
February 2024.
Kind regards
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
w: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
[2]three hexagons[3]twitter icon [4]facebook
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This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally
privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has
been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please
delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult
with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or
attachments to a third party.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. http://www.apsc.gov.au/
3. https://twitter.com/PublicServiceAU
4. https://www.facebook.com/AusPublicService/
OFFICIAL
Dear Applicant,
Please see attached decision notice and document in relation to your FOI
request.
Kind regards
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
w: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
[2]three hexagons[3]twitter icon [4]facebook
icon
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally
privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has
been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please
delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult
with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or
attachments to a third party.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. http://www.apsc.gov.au/
3. https://twitter.com/PublicServiceAU
4. https://www.facebook.com/AusPublicService/
Dear Australian Public Service Commission,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Public Service Commission's handling of my FOI request 'Dr de Brouwer's letter to senior bureaucrats'.
On 27 February 2024, you contacted me and asked me whether I was happy for you not to provide indivudal copies of the letter that I requested under the FOI Act. I agreed to that. I did not agree to the decision maker redacting the details of public servants in the APSC.
On the last page of the letter that was released, there is a reference to the "Assistant Commissioner" for "Integrity Performance Employment Policy".
The Assistant Commissioner for Integrity Performance and Employment Policy in the APSC is Kylie Barber. Her contact number is 02 6202 3763 and her email address is kylie.barber(at)apsc.gov.au. Kylie Barber is an SES Band 1 employee. Kylie Barber's name, position, contact number, classification and email address are all all published on the APSC's website. Those details are also published in the Public Service Gazette. They are not, as the decision maker claimed, irrelevant to my request and should not have been redacted pursuant to section 22 of the FOI Act.
As part of the internal review, please remove the redactions from Kylie Barber's name, her contact number and her email address.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/d...
Yours faithfully,
FOIBLES
OFFICIAL
Dear FOIBLES
The Australian Public Service Commission (the Commission) is writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for internal review under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
The timeframe for responding to your internal review request is 30 days from the date of receipt. This timeframe for internal review may be extended in very limited circumstances. You will be notified if these circumstances arise and the timeframe is extended.
Please note that there is a new LEX number for your internal review request. All correspondences will be referred under LEX 945(833).
Kind regards
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or attachments to a third party.
OFFICIAL
Dear FOIBLES
Please see attached decision notice and document in relation to your
internal review request.
Kind regards
FOI OFFICER
Legal Services
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 4, B Block, Treasury Building, Parkes Place West, PARKES ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176 CANBERRA ACT 2601
w: [1]www.apsc.gov.au
[2]three hexagons[3]twitter icon [4]facebook
icon
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or legally
privileged information, and neither are waived or lost if the email has
been sent in error. If you have received this email in error, please
delete it (including any copies) and notify the sender. Please consult
with APSC Legal Services before using disclosing any part of this email or
attachments to a third party.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. http://www.apsc.gov.au/
3. https://twitter.com/PublicServiceAU
4. https://www.facebook.com/AusPublicService/