Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) team at the
Attorney-General’s Department (the department). We get a high volume of
emails and FOI applications and work to respond as promptly as possible.
This email acknowledges your correspondence and provides some general
information in relation to FOI.  
Please note that we will only respond to emails about the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). For information on how to make a
request under the FOI Act please refer to:
https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protect....
For enquiries about other matters, please refer to:
https://www.ag.gov.au/about-us/connect-u...
The statutory processing time for FOI requests is 30 days, however this
may be extended if the department needs to consult third parties or for
other reasons. If you have submitted an FOI request, the department will
write to you again within 30 days of receiving your request. This
correspondence may: 
* seek further information from you to help us process your request, 
* provide you with a decision on your FOI request, or 
* discuss whether an extension of time is needed to process your request.
Please do not send duplicate emails as this may cause delays to processing
times.
This FOI inbox is monitored business hours Monday to Friday, excluding
public holidays.
You can expect our team to provide a helpful, respectful service and we
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Under s 89L of the FOI Act, disrespectful, threatening or abusive language
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be able to help you or we might take steps to manage how we communicate
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If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
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information in the e-mail or attachments.

OFFICIAL
Dear James

Thank you for your request, which was received by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department (the department) Freedom of Information (FOI) section.

We received your FOI request on 1 May 2024 and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced on the following day. Due to an increase in the number of information access applications currently being received by the department, a case officer is yet to be allocated and we therefore seek your agreement to an extension of time to process this request under section 15AA of the FOI Act.

This would mean that a decision about your request would be due on 1 July 2024.

If we are in a position to make a decision 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.

The department's practice is to not disclose personal information of staff of the department and other government authorities, where that information is not publicly known or routinely disclosed (e.g. names of junior officers and contact information). The names of senior officers will generally be disclosed. In addition, duplicates and incomplete email chains, internal administrative email addresses and metadata within the scope of the FOI request will be excluded.

Please reply by return email if you agree to this extension of time. If you do agree we will notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) of your agreement under section 15AA of the FOI Act, including your name and contact details.

Kind regards
Freedom of Information & Privacy
Attorney-General’s Department
Phone: (02) 6141 6666 | Email: [AGD request email]
OFFICIAL

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OFFICIAL
Dear James

I write to follow up on my below email of 3 May 2024. I note that we have yet to receive response from you. Would you kindly be able to advise if you agree to the proposed extension of time?

We look forward to your email.

Kind regards
Freedom of Information & Privacy
Attorney-General’s Department
Phone: (02) 6141 6666 | Email: [AGD request email]
OFFICIAL

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OFFICIAL
Dear James

I write further to our correspondence of 3 and 10 May to seek your agreement to a 30-day extension of time to process your request. The current due date for this request is 31 May 2024, however the department is not in a position to finalise the request by this date. The department is therefore seeking your agreement to a 30 day extension. If you agreed to this extension your request would be due on 1 July 2024, however the department would make every effort to finalise the request before this date where possible.

I would be grateful if you could please respond by 5 pm, 31 May 2024 to confirm whether you agree to this extension request.

If you do agree we will notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) of your agreement under section 15AA of the FOI Act, including your name and contact details.

Kind regards
Freedom of Information & Privacy Team
Attorney-General’s Department
Phone: (02) 6141 6666 | Email: [AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

The Attorney-General’s Department may collect your personal information where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our functions, including those under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and the Privacy Act 1988. We may collect your name, email address and telephone number so that we can contact you about your request or privacy complaint. If your request concerns accessing or correcting your personal information, we will collect the minimum amount of evidence necessary to verify your identity. We hold personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act and our privacy policy. If you have an enquiry or complaint about your privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on 02 6141 6666 or via e-mail [email address]. 
If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the email or attachments.