UNCLASSIFIED

FOI/PMO/2015/022

 

Dear Ms Portas-Hills

 

Thank you for your email dated 5 June 2015, in which you made a request to
the Prime Minister under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act)
in the following terms:

 

ABC news published an article online (
[1]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-07/pa...
) on December 8, 2014. In that article they quoted you Mr Tony Abbott
telling reporters, "We will be better targeting our paid parental leave
scheme so that we can not only deliver a paid parental leave scheme which
helps families but more available and more affordable child care as well".

 

I wish to follow up this statement by requesting any contracts and/or
documentation between December 2014 when this claim was made and Today
that shows action taken to implement this plan.

 

Handling of request

 

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) provides
administrative support to the Prime Minister in relation to Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests made to him. I am writing to advise you of
further information on the processing of your request to the Prime
Minister, set out below.

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

Your request was received on Friday, 5 June 2015 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
You should therefore expect a decision by Sunday, 5 July 2015 (as this
date falls on a weekend, the decision maker may notify you of their
decision on the next available business day being Monday, 6 July 2015).
The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances.  We will
advise you if there is any extension of time.

 

Charges

 

Agencies and Ministers may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a
charge in respect of a request for access to documents. If the
decision-maker in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) decides that you are
liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of the
charge as soon as possible.

 

Publication of documents

 

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[2]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...,
subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any
objections to the publication of any of the information which may be
released to you please contact us by email at [3][Prime Minister request email]. If you do
wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to
provide supporting reasons.

 

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

 

It is the Department’s policy to withhold any person’s signature, the
names and contact details of officers not in the Senior Executive Service
(SES) as well as the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers within the
Department and other agencies contained within documents that fall within
scope of the request. Similarly, it is the PMO’s policy to withhold
signatures, the names and contact details of PMO staff at a level below
Chief of Staff. If you require this information please let us know at
[4][Prime Minister request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will
take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope
of your request.

 

We will write again when the Department has more information.  Further
information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner at
[5]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....

 

Yours sincerely

 

Rachael

FOI Adviser

Legal Policy Branch

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

 

Phone: 02 6271 5849

Email: [6][Prime Minister request email]

[7]Description: Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-07/pa...
2. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...
3. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
4. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
5. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
6. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Ms Portas-Hills,

 

Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request with
the Office of the Prime Minister – reference: FOI/PMO/2015/022.

Regards

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review | Legal Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. +61 2 6271 5849

e. [1][Prime Minister request email] | [2]www.dpmc.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

[3]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
2. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/