Incident reports related to deaths/injuries at sea
Ben Fairless made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Border Force
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Australian Customs and Border Protection Service,
I request, under the Freedom of Information Act, a copy of any final document or most recent draft of a document which provides details of the death or injury of individuals who meet the below criteria:
1. individuals who have attempted to arrive in Australia without a visa via water-based means (for example, by boat or ship) and;
2. Of those in criteria 1, those who were "turned back" either by using the same transport in which they arrived, placing them into a new form of transport (such as the widely reported "orange boats"), or by transferring them to another ship owned or operated either by the Australian Government or another Government (for example, the Sri Lankan Government).
This request specifically excludes:
- Incidents which occurred prior to January 2014
Where a report exists in the ACBPS's Incident Management systems, I also request any documents (including images and video) attached to the report.
I do not consent to the removal of names of either employees of the Commonwealth or Employees of any other nation's Government.
I would advise the Department against transferring this request to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection as I have made a separate, identical request to DIBP.
Yours faithfully,
Ben Fairless
Thank you for your email. This is an automated response to advise you that your email has been received by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service's FOI Coordinator.
If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.
Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the agency’s website at: http://www.customs.gov.au/foi/requesting....
The FOI Coordinator will acknowledge your request within 14 days.
Dear Mr Fairless
I refer to your email dated 28 July 2014 in which you have sought access, on behalf of your client (via Right to Know), to documents held by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
You have requested access to:
"a copy of any final document or most recent draft of a document which provides details of the death or injury of individuals who meet the below criteria:
1. individuals who have attempted to arrive in Australia without a visa via water-based means (for exemple, by boat or ship) and;
2. of those in criteria 1, those who were "turned back" either by using the same transport in which they arrived, placing them into a new form of transport, or by transferring them to another ship owned or operated by the Australian Government or another Government (for example, the Sri Lankan Government).
Where a report exists in the ACBPS Incident Management systems, I also request any documents (including images and video) that are attached to that report.
This request specifically excludes incidents which occurred prior to January 2014".
Your application was received on 28 July 2014, and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request will commence from that date.
I hope to be able to advise you of our decision on your request in the near future.
Where documents are released to you in response to your request, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service may be required to publish these documents on its website within 10 working days in accordance with section 11C of the FOI Act. Publication will not be required where the documents contain personal or business affairs information.
Should you have any queries regarding the progress of your request, please contact me on (02) 6275 5621.
With kind regards
FOI Coordinator
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
Good morning Mr Fairless
Request for access to documents - Freedom of Information Act 1982
I refer to your request received on 28 July 2014 for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The decision on release in this matter is currently due tomorrow, 27 August 2014, and I would seek your response to this email as a matter of urgency.
In order for the Service to complete the decision making process in relation to your request, ACBPS will require additional time to process your request.
Section 15AA of the FOI Act permits an agency to agree with an applicant for an extension of no more than 30 days to the statutory timeframe permitted under the FOI Act for the decision making process.
The purpose of this email is to seek your agreement to the timeframe in this matter being extended by 14 days to ensure that the Service provides a well-reasoned and better managed decision.
Whilst we are seeking the extension of 14 days, ACBPS will endeavour to make a decision in relation to access to the documents requested as quickly as possible, and anticipate this would not extend to the entire additional 14 days.
This would result in the decision on release of documents in this matter being due by 10 September 2014, although ACBPS would continue use its best endeavours to issue the decision before that date.
Could you please respond by return email confirming your agreement to this extension of time? ACBPS will then register the Extension of Time agreement with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required by section 15AA(b) of the FOI Act.
If you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me on the details below.
With kind regards
FOI Coordinator
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
Dear FOI Coordinator,
My request is now overdue. Can you please provide the requested information?
Yours sincerely,
Ben Fairless
Thank you for your email. This is an automated response to advise you that your email has been received by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service's FOI Coordinator.
If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.
Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the agency’s website at: http://www.customs.gov.au/foi/requesting....
The FOI Coordinator will acknowledge your request within 14 days.
Good morning Mr Fairless
Thank you for your email of 31 August 2014.
As indicated to you in my email of 26 August 2014, below, in order for the Service to complete the decision making process in relation to your request, ACBPS required additional time to process your request. However, given that no response was received to that request for an extension of time, the decision in this matter is now overdue and deemed to have been refused.
ACBPS is, however, continuing to process your request as quickly as possible, and is in the final stages of that decision making process. I anticipate that the decision in this matter will be issued to you on or before 10 September 2014, as indicated below. Should any further delays be encountered, I will advise you accordingly.
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email address].
With kind regards
FOI Coordinator
Dear FOI Coordinator,
Thanks for coming back to me so quickly. I apologise I didn't see your request for extension before the due date.
I look forward to an quick decision.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Fairless
Thank you for your email. This is an automated response to advise you that your email has been received by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service's FOI Coordinator.
If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.
Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the agency’s website at: http://www.customs.gov.au/foi/requesting....
The FOI Coordinator will acknowledge your request within 14 days.
Good morning Mr Fairless
Request for access to documents – Freedom of Information Act 1982
Please find attached a Notice of Decision from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service for your information.
With kind regards
FOI Coordinator
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service