Firearm Possession by ASIS Staff
Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Please release documents relating to the conditions required for issuing firearms to ASIS staff, and the number of firearms issued in the period of 2014-2016.
Yours faithfully,
Winston Smith
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Smith
Thank you for your email below. Please note that section 7 of the FOI Act
stipulates that intelligence agencies, including ASIS, are exempt from the
operation of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, please see below.
I refer you to section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982:
7 Exemption of certain persons and bodies
(1) The bodies specified in Division 1 of Part I of Schedule 2, and a
person holding and performing the duties of an office specified in that
Division, are to be deemed not to be prescribed authorities for the
purposes of this Act.
(1A) For the purposes of the definition of agency, a part of the
Department of Defence specified in Division 2 of Part I of Schedule 2:
(a) is taken not to be included in the Department of Defence (or in any
other Department) for the purposes of this Act; and
(b) to avoid doubt, is not an agency in its own right for the purposes of
this Act.
(2) The persons, bodies and Departments specified in Part II of
Schedule 2 are exempt from the operation of this Act in relation to the
documents referred to in that Schedule in relation to them.
(2AA) A body corporate established by or under an Act specified in
Part III of Schedule 2 is exempt from the operation of this Act in
relation to documents in respect of the commercial activities of the body
corporate.
(2A) An agency is exempt from the operation of this Act in relation to
the following documents:
(a) a document (an intelligence agency document) that has originated
with, or has been received from, any of the following:
(i) the Australian Secret Intelligence Service;
(ii) the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation;
(iii) the Inspector‑General of Intelligence and Security;
(iv) the Office of National Assessments;
(v) the Australian Geospatial‑Intelligence Organisation;
(vi) the Defence Intelligence Organisation;
(vii) the Australian Signals Directorate
(b) a document that contains a summary of, or an extract or information
from, an intelligence agency document, to the extent that it contains such
a summary, extract or information…
Yours sincerely,
Georgina McKay
_______________________________
Legal Officer | FOI and Privacy Law Section
Corporate Legal Branch | Legal Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Phone +61 2 6178 4084
[1]www.dfat.gov.au
Web | [2]Twitter | [3]YouTube | [4]Flickr
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information, or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
-----Original Message-----
From: Winston Smith
[[5]mailto:[FOI #1530 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 4 February 2016 10:03 AM
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Firearm Possession by ASIS Staff
Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Please release documents relating to the conditions required for issuing
firearms to ASIS staff, and the number of firearms issued in the period of
2014-2016.
Yours faithfully,
Winston Smith
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[6][FOI #1530 email]
Is [7][DFAT request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade? If so, please contact
us using this form:
[8]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
[9]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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. http://www.dfat.gov.au/
2. https://twitter.com/DFAT
3. http://www.youtube.com/user/dfat
4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dfataustra...
5. mailto:[FOI #1530 email]
6. mailto:[FOI #1530 email]
7. mailto:[DFAT request email]
8. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
9. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...