Dear JH,

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (the department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:

              Consistent with the Freedom of Information Act 1982, I
request the incoming government briefs provided from the Department to its
respective Ministers since 21 May 2022.

I am not seeking drafts of the above documents.

Your request was received by the department on 27 July 2022 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.

Extension of Time

Due to an increase in the number of information access applications
currently being received by the department, we are asking your agreement
to an extension of time for a further 30 days to process this request
under section 15AA of the FOI Act. This would mean that your request is
due on 25 September 2022.

If we are in a position to make a decision on your request 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.

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.

Charges

The Department will notify you within 14 days of an estimate of the
charges that will apply to your request for non-personal information
before we process any requested documents or impose a final charge.

Your address

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your email address is
[1][FOI #9193 email] Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.

Disclosure log

Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

Request to treat certain material as out of scope or irrelevant to the
request

To the extent the department has documents in its possession that fall
within the scope of your request, we intend to treat the following
information as out of scope or irrelevant to your request, pursuant to
section 22(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act:

1.      The surnames, signatures and direct contact details of non-SES
Commonwealth employees and contractors, including clinical staff working
for Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling; and

2.      The signatures of third party individuals.

If you agree to the department treating these details as irrelevant,
please advise by 10 August 2022.

Further assistance

If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]

We look forward to receiving your response to our request for an extension
of time and for the removal of certain information as out of scope from
your request. 

Yours sincerely

Kevin Position No:   62210939

Registration Officer

Information Access Unit

Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

[3]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0

P Please consider the environment before printing this email

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #9193 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]

Good morning JH,

I refer to your request, received by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
(the Department) on 27 July 2022, for access under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the following:

‘…Consistent with the Freedom of Information Act 1982, I request the
incoming government briefs provided from the Department to its respective
Ministers since 21 May 2022.

I am not seeking drafts of the above documents…’

I am the processing officer with carriage of your request and am seeking
your agreement to an extension of time. In accordance with section
15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, the due date for a decision on your request is 12
September 2022.

I am liaising with the relevant business area to search for and locate
documents within the scope of your request. I have been advised that a key
staff member is unavailable until 23 August 2022 and, as such, further
time is required to search for and review documents. Accordingly, I am
seeking your agreement to grant the department an additional 15 days to
issue you with a decision on this FOI matter. If agreed, the extended
decision date would be 27 September 2022 in accordance with section 15AA
of the FOI Act. This will provide the Department with sufficient time to
search for, identify and make a decision on any documents falling within
the scope of your request.

Please let us know by Wednesday, 17 August 2022 whether you agree to an
extension of time.

If we do not receive a response from you, we may apply to the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for an extension of time
under section 15AB of the FOI Act, on the basis that the request is
complex and voluminous.

Kind regards,

Sara (Position Number 62214764)

Information Access Officer

Information Access Unit

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

e [1][email address]

[2]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0

DVA is committed to suporting veterans and their families.

We all deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect.

We ask that you treat us the same way.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear JH

We refer to your request made on 27 July 2022 to the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI
Act), seeking access to the following:

“… the incoming government briefs provided from the Department to its
respective Ministers since 21 May 2022.

I am not seeking drafts of the above documents.”

The purpose of this email is to inform you that, after a preliminary
consideration of the documents likely to be relevant to the scope of your
request, I have determined that there are a number of third parties who
may reasonably wish to contend that information contained in the documents
is exempt under section 47 (commercially valuable information/trade
secrets)/ section 47G (business affairs)/ section 47F (personal
information) of the FOI Act.

We are required to consult with these third parties under section 27 of
the FOI Act.

In accordance with section 15(6) of the FOI Act, the consultation
requirement extends the statutory time period to provide a decision on the
request by 30 days. This means a decision on your request is now due on 12
October 2022.

Please do not hesitate to contact our office should you have any
questions.

Kind regards

Ramona

Assistant Director

Position Number: 62336362

Information Access Unit | Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans' Affairs

GPO Box 9998 Canberra ACT 2600 | 21 Genge St Canberra City ACT 2601

[1]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0

References

Visible links

Dear JH

Please find attached correspondence relating to your FOI request with the
Department of Veterans' Affairs (LEX 51033).

Regards

[1]O A I C logo   Natalie Vuleta  |  Review
Adviser (Legal)

Investigations and Compliance

Freedom of Information
Regulatory Group

Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001  |
 [2]oaic.gov.au

1300 363 992 
[3][email address]
[7]Subscribe [8]Subscribe to
[4]Facebook | [5]LinkedIn | [6]Twitter |   icon Information
Matters

Notice:

The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

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1. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
5. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
6. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
8. https://www.oaic.gov.au/updates/sign-up/

  [1]Macquarie Government
 
Hey there,

just letting you know that Information Access shared LEX 51033 - JH with
you.

Activate your guest account at Macquarie Government by [2]setting a
  password.

Then [3]view it!

You can login using the email address
"[FOI #9193 email]" .

Cheers!
 
--
  Macquarie Government - Intellicentres are intelligent
[4]https://macquariegovernment.com/
 

References

Visible links
2. https://dva.sig-box.com/index.php/apps/g... #9193 email]/KiIqvPVC20nKhFJAcPNGQ
3. https://dva.sig-box.com/index.php/f/444093
4. https://macquariegovernment.com/

Dear JH

Shortly we will be providing you with the response to FOI 51033.

As the documents we are releasing to you are too large to send via email,
we will be releasing them to you using SIGBOX.

Please follow the instructions provided in this email to access your
information.

Any documents produced by the Department in response to this FOI request
will be available through SIGBOX for a period of 7 days before being
removed. It is important that you download the information from SIGBOX
onto your own electronic device within 7 days of receipt.

You will shortly receive an email from Information Law via ‘Macquarie
Government’ advising you that Information Law has shared a document with
you. The email will read a little like this:

Hey there,

Just letting you know that Information Law shared a document with you.

Activate your guest account at Macquarie Government by setting a password.

Then view it!

You can login using the email address
[1][FOI #9193 email].

--

Macquarie Government – Intellicentres are intelligent

[2]https://macquariegovernment.com/

If you have any problems accessing the documents please let me know.

Kind regards

Ramona

Assistant Director

Position Number: 62336362

Information Access Unit | Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans' Affairs

GPO Box 9998 Canberra ACT 2600 | 21 Genge St Canberra City ACT 2601

[3]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #9193 email]
2. https://macquariegovernment.com/

  [1]Macquarie Government
 
Hello [FOI #9193 email],

You are receiving this email because the following things happened at
  [2]Macquarie Government

* Information Access shared [3]LEX 51033 - JH with you - Today at
5:27:33 AM
 
--
  Macquarie Government - Intellicentres are intelligent
[4]https://macquariegovernment.com/

References

Visible links
2. file:///tmp/dva.sig-box.com/
3. file:///tmp/dva.sig-box.com/index.php/f/444093
4. https://macquariegovernment.com/

Dear JH

I refer to my correspondence on 9 September 2022 in relation to an
extension of time request made by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (the
Department).

Further to this correspondence the Department notified our office that it
no longer required an extension of time in which to process your request.

We have now finalised the Department’s request as withdrawn accordingly.

Regards

Natalie Vuleta

[1][IMG]   Investigations and Compliance Team

Freedom of Information Regulatory Group

Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner

GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001  |
 [2]oaic.gov.au

1300 363 992 [3][email address]
[4][IMG] | [5][IMG] | [6][IMG] |   [7]Subscribe to OAICnet newsletter

From: OAIC - FOI DR
Sent: Friday, 9 September 2022 4:46 PM
To: [FOI #9193 email]
Subject: Consultation - FOI Extension of Time Application RQ22/03011

Dear JH

Please find attached correspondence relating to your FOI request with the
Department of Veterans' Affairs (LEX 51033).

Regards

[8]O A I C logo   Natalie Vuleta  |  Review
Adviser (Legal)

Investigations and
Compliance

Freedom of Information
Regulatory Group

Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW
2001  |  [9]oaic.gov.au

1300 363 992 
[10][email address]
[14]Subscribe [15]Subscribe
[11]Facebook | [12]LinkedIn | [13]Twitter |   icon to Information
Matters

Notice:

The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

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1. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
2. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
5. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
6. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
7. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
8. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
9. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
10. mailto:[email address]
11. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
12. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
13. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
15. https://www.oaic.gov.au/updates/sign-up/