Establishment and development of the Mates Program.
Arthur Jordan made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Veterans' Affairs
Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
Under FOI, I request all legal advice received by the Department on the establishment and development of the Mates Program.
To be clear, I require any and all legal advice, the dominant purpose of which is Policy, not Litigation.
All business details of staff including full names, business emails and business telephone numbers are to be treated as "in scope" and are NOT to be redacted.
Yours faithfully,
Arthur Jordan
Dear Mr Jordan,
The Department of Veterans' Affairs (the department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:
'...Under FOI, I request all legal advice received by the Department on
the establishment and development of the Mates Program.
To be clear, I require any and all legal advice, the dominant purpose of
which is Policy, not Litigation.
All business details of staff including full names, business emails and
business telephone numbers are to be treated as "in scope" and are NOT to
be redacted...'
Your request was received by the department on 29 February 2024 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.
If we are in a position to make a decision on your request earlier than
this date, we will endeavour to do so.
The statutory period may also be extended if we need to consult third
parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act. We will advise
you if this happens.
Charges
If the Department considers that a charge will apply to your request, you
will be notified within 14 days of an estimate of the charges that will
apply to your request for non-personal information before we process any
requested documents or impose a final charge.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your contact address is
[1][FOI #11179 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Disclosure log
Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.
Further assistance
If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]
Yours sincerely
Kevin| Information Access Officer
Position 62373493
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[3][DVA request email]
[4]www.dva.gov.au
[5]cid:image008.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
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References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #11179 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[DVA request email]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/
Dear Mr Jordan,
I write to you in reference to your information access request and refer
you to the attached documents.
Kind regards,
Charmaine | Senior Information Access Officer
Position Number 62249379
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Tel 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[1][email address]
[2]www.dva.gov.au
[3]cid:image001.png@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0[4]cid:image002.png@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0[5]cid:image003.png@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0[6]cid:image004.png@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0
[7]cid:image005.jpg@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0
[8]cid:image006.jpg@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.dva.gov.au/
3. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
4. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
5. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
6. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus
Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans' Affairs's handling of my FOI request 'Establishment and development of the Mates Program.'.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/e...
Yours faithfully,
Arthur Jordan
Dear Mr Jordan,
The Department of Veterans' Affairs (the department) has received your
request for internal review of the Department's decision LEX 66475 under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Your internal review
request reads as follows:
‘I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans'
Affairs's handling of my FOI request 'Establishment and development of the
Mates Program.'.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[1]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/e...
'
Your request for internal review was received by the department on 2 April
2024 and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request
commenced from the day after that date.
Where possible, your request for internal review will be handled by an FOI
officer authorised decision-maker who was not involved in the original
decision.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[2][FOI #11179 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Disclosure log
Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.
Further assistance
If you have any questions about your request, please email
[3][DVA request email]
Kind regards,
Rafael| Information Access Officer
Position Number: 62373493
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[4][DVA request email]
[5]www.dva.gov.au
[6]cid:image008.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
[7]cid:image009.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
References
Visible links
1. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/e...
2. mailto:[FOI #11179 email]
3. mailto:[DVA request email]
4. mailto:[DVA request email]
5. http://www.dva.gov.au/
Good morning Mr Jordan
Please find attached the decision letter for LEX 66475 for the internal
review of LEX 65725.
Kind regards
Joshua | Assistant Director
Position Number: 62336362
Information Access Unit
Client and Information Access Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[1][DVA request email]
[2]www.dva.gov.au
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DVA request email]
2. http://www.dva.gov.au/
Your report has been submitted. Your reference for this report is
2024513103636-3312
The information you have provided will now be assessed.
This assessment will identify if there is a corruption issue, within our
jurisdiction. This is assessed according to the National Anti-Corruption
Commission Act 2022 (NACC Act).
We may request additional information from you to help us to assess your
allegation.
We aim to complete assessments within 90 days. See our Service Charter for
more information.
CR left an annotation ()
Unfortunately, I think you should prepare for the prospect of your FOI request being refused, as "documents subject to legal professional privilege" are exempt from release under section 42 of the Act.
From my experience, agencies are usually unforgiving when it comes to the application of this exemption.
Best of luck with your request