FOI Request: Access to Data Sharing Agreements and Related Documents
Dear Comcover,
I, Trent Morrison-Francis, am requesting access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Specifically, I am seeking:
All active Memorandum of Understanding, Heads of Agreement, Data Sharing Agreements, and Service Contracts that result in the sharing of veteran data, even if de-identified. I am looking for similar documents for programs and agreements that ceased within the last 10 years or are still active.
I prefer to receive these documents electronically via the Right to Know system by responding to the email through which this request has been sent.
Thank you for your attention to this request. I look forward to your prompt response.
Sincerely,
Trent Morrison-Francis
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Morrison-Francis
Freedom of Information Request – FOI 23-24/049
Thank you for your emails to the Department of Finance (Finance) and
Comcover requesting access to the following documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) as attached.
Request for assistance
Finance does not hold any documents relevant to the scope of your request,
and as such Finance invites you to withdraw your request.
We kindly ask that you reply to this email by COB Monday 20^th November
2023 and either:
1. Withdraw your request, or
2. Request a formal no documents decision letter.
Please note that if we do not receive a response from you, we are required
under the FOI Act to expend additional resources to process your request.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter.
General FOI matters
Your request was received by Finance on 31 October 2023. The statutory
period for processing your request commences from the day after Finance
received your request and a decision is due on Thursday 30^th November
2023.
The processing period may be extended if we need to consult third parties,
impose a charge or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.
Liability to pay a charge
You will be notified of any charges in relation to your request as soon as
possible, before we process any requested documents or impose a final
charge.
Publication
As required by the FOI Act, any documents provided to you under the FOI
Act will be published on our [1]disclosure log, unless an exemption
applies or the documents are characterised as containing personal
information. Documents will be published the next working day after they
are released to you.
Policy to exclude junior officer contact details, signatures and mobile
phone numbers
Finance has adopted a policy to generally exclude from any documents
released under FOI, the names and contact details of junior staff (non-SES
officers) and staff employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act
1984 (adviser level and below). Finance has also adopted a policy to
exclude signatures and mobile phone numbers from any documents released
under FOI (unless publicly available). Finance’s preference is to reach
agreement with FOI applicants to exclude these details from the scope of
the request. Where there is no objection, the names and contact details of
junior officers, as well as any signatures and mobile phone numbers
appearing in identified documents, will be redacted under section 22 of
the FOI Act on the basis that these details are irrelevant to the request.
Please contact the FOI Team on the below contact details if you wish to
discuss your request.
Kind regards
FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Classification: OFFICIAL
Classified by: [email address] on: 13/11/2023 1:36:45 PM
References
Visible links
1. https://www.finance.gov.au/about-us/free...
Dear FOI Requests,
While this is annoying a simple document on departmental letterhead stating there are documents will be sufficient in this case, similar to this email just on letterhead.
Yours sincerely,
Trent Morrison-Francis
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Morrison-Francis
We are writing to notify you that Finance will not be in a position to
finalise a decision in relation to your FOI request by the current due
date of 30 November 2023. This is to allow a final search of our systems
for any documents that may be in scope of your request.
Section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 provides that an
applicant can consent to an extension of time up to 30 calendar days.
Finance seeks your agreement to extend the processing period by 7 days
with a new due date of Thursday 7^th December 2023.
If you consent to the extension, Finance will notify the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) of the extension, which is part
of Finance’s reporting requirements.
We kindly ask that you reply by either:
1. Consenting to an extension of time to COB 7 December 2023; or
2. Consenting to an extension of time for a date less than that requested
by Finance; or
3. Refusing to grant an extension of time.
We kindly seek your response as soon as possible.
If you would like to discuss this email, or your matter more generally,
please contact the FOI Team.
Kind regards
FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Dear FOI Requests,
Note the extention is not granted and as such this is a deemed refusal. OAIC will be informed
Yours sincerely,
Trent Morrison-Francis
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Morrison-Francis
Please see attached a decision letter in relation to your FOI request (our
reference FOI 23-24/049).
Kind regards
FOI Officer | Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Our reference: RQ23/05813
Agency reference: FOI 23-24/049
Department of Finance
Trent Morrison-Francis
Extension of time under s 15AB
Dear Parties,
Please find attached an extension of time decision relating to Mr
Morrison-Francis’ FOI request with the Department of Finance.
Regards,
[1][IMG] Hannah Holswilder
Director, Freedom of Information Branch
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Adelaide | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001
E [2][email address]
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communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.
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References
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1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
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3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/n...