UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 15/02/01192 ; ADF2015/6737

 

Dear Lauren Croft

 

I refer to your request for access to information, received on Friday 20
February 2015 for:

 

…information on drugs, specifically party drugs, coming into Australia.

 

I need some statistics on estimated drug volumes and street values
intercepted coming into Australia categorised by drug and also by how
these were intercepted (e.g. attempted smuggling at airports by
individuals, found in cargo shipments, mailed from overseas). Also, how
much drugs come into Australia, catergorized by type and how they get into
Australia as well as how much is seized.

 

I also need to know how many of the shipments intercepted have been
designer/synthetic drugs, as well as what proportion (of all drugs

intercepted) this is equal to.

 

This email is to advise that the department has not accepted your request
as valid under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). This is
because your request is for 'information' and not for a document in the
department's possession at the time of your request. I will outline more
fully the reasons for this below.

 

Access to Documents

The right to request documents under the FOI Act is outlined in the
Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC):

 

Section 11(1) of the FOI Act gives every person a legally enforceable
right to obtain access to a document of an agency or an official document
of a minister, unless the document is exempt. [para 2.1]

 

The right of access enshrined in the FOI Act applies to ‘documents’. This
term is defined in s 4(1) to include maps, photographs, and any article
from which sounds, images or writing are capable of being reproduced (for
example, emails). There is no general obligation on agencies to reduce
information to written documentary form in order to facilitate an FOI
request, except in relation to information that is stored on a computer
tape or disk (s 17). [para 1.26]

 

The right of access is to existing documents, rather than to information.
The FOI Act does not require an agency or minister to create a new
document in response to a request for access, except in limited
circumstances where the applicant seeks access in a different format (see
Part 8 of these Guidelines) or where the information is stored in an
agency computer system rather than in discrete form.

The right of access applies to documents that exist at the time the FOI
request was made. [para 3.8]

 

Therefore, any general request for 'information' or 'data' that does not
already exist in a document held by the department is considered an
invalid request.

 

The full Guidelines can be accessed on the OAIC's website at:
[1]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...

 

Access to published statistics

You may not be aware that the department publishes a number of statistical
and research reports. These can be found at
[2]http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publication... .  

 

Considering the nature of your request, the Australian Customs and Border
Protection Service may be better able to assist you. 

See: [3]http://www.customs.gov.au/aboutus/foi/de...

 

This request has been closed.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

 

 

Penelope Robb
FOI Helpdesk

Freedom of Information Section

Immigration and Border Protection Portfolio

E: [4][email address]

 

UNCLASSIFIED

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and/or copyright information.  Any review, retransmission, dissemination
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policy can be viewed on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au.  See:
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References

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2. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publication...
3. http://www.customs.gov.au/aboutus/foi/de...
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