Thank you for your email to the Freedom of Information Team at the
Department of Finance.  An officer will respond to your email shortly.  In
the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
the FOI Team on (02) 6215 1783.

Regards,

FOI Officer, Legal Services Branch

Business Enabling Services

Department of Finance

T: 02 6215 1783 E: [1][Finance request email]

A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Finance request email]

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

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Guzzardi

Thank you for your email to the Department of Finance Freedom of
Information team, seeking for Finance to:

'... advise and itemise and fully account for the reason why Julie Bishop
was in Melbourne on November 4th, 2017; including but not limited to why
she was in Melbourne that day and what meeting/s and / or official
business was she attending (pre and / or post 04/11/17), when did she
arrive in Melbourne & when did she leave Melbourne, how much did the
flights cost the taxpayer and how many flights were charged for and who
were those flights for, how much did the accommodation cost the taxpayer
and how many nights were charged for and who were they for and also any
chauffeur driven transport provided for Bishop during her recent
attendance in Melbourne ?'

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), requests may be made
for ‘…access to a document of an agency’ (subsection 15(1) of the FOI
Act).  At this stage, your request is for access to information.  That is,
you have asked the department questions rather than sought access to
specific documents and we do not consider that you have made a valid
request under section 15 of the FOI Act. Further information on how to
make a valid FOI request can be found here:
[1]http://finance.gov.au/foi/foi.html

Having regard to this, Finance has interpreted your request to be seeking
documents that advise, itemise or account for Ms Bishop’s travel in
Melbourne on 4 November 2017.

New independent body to oversee parliamentarians’ expenses - IPEA

From 3 April 2017, the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA)
was established as an independent body to oversee parliamentarians’
expenses.  In particular, IPEA has the following functions (our emphasis):

·         Giving advice to parliamentarians and MOP(S) Act staff about
travel expenses and travel allowances.

·         Monitoring the travel expenses and travel allowances of
parliamentarian and MOP(S) Act staff.

·         Preparing regular reports relating to:

o    all work expenses, travel expenses and travel allowances claimed by
parliamentarians

o    travel expenses and travel allowances claimed by MOP(S) Act staff.

·         Conducting audits relating to:

o    all work expenses, travel expenses and travel allowances claimed by
parliamentarians

o    travel expenses and travel allowances claimed by MOP(S) Act staff.

·         Processing claims relating to travel expenses and travel
allowances of parliamentarians and their staff.

Since 3 April 2017, IPEA commenced responsibility for the reporting
functions of parliamentarians’ work expenses from Finance.  You may be
aware that over time, reporting by IPEA will transition from six-monthly
reporting to a quarterly and then to a monthly reporting basis, to improve
transparency and accountability for parliamentarians’ work expenses.

As Finance is no longer responsible for functions related to travel
expenses and allowances of Parliamentarians and their staff, we would hold
no documents detailing ‘why she was in Melbourne that day and what
meeting/s and / or official business was she attending (pre and / or post
04/11/17), when did she arrive in Melbourne & when did she leave
Melbourne, how much did the flights cost the taxpayer and how many flights
were charged for and who were those flights for, how much did the
accommodation cost the taxpayer and how many nights were charged for and
who were they for’.

Documents held by Finance

Finance is responsible for the operations of COMCAR, which provides
car-with-driver and other ground transport services to the Prime Minister,
Governor‑General, members of parliament, judges and international guests
of government. Finance may hold documents detailing ‘any chauffeur driven
transport provided for Bishop during her recent attendance in Melbourne’,
if Ms Bishop used COMCAR during her visit.

Suggested way forward

We suggest that you contact IPEA directly ([2][email address]) in relation
to your request for travel-related documents.  We note that you may wish
to amend the scope of your request, following your review of the
information detailing the functions of IPEA, as set out above.  

Finance proposes an amendment to your scope to allow us to process your
request for:

‘… documents relating to any chauffeur driven transport provided by COMCAR
for Ms Julie Bishop during her recent attendance in Melbourne on 4
November 2017’

Please confirm, by COB Wednesday 29 November 2017, if you would like
Finance to proceed on this basis. If we do not hear from you, we will
consider your request withdrawn on the basis that Finance would not hold
any other documents in scope of your request as we are not responsible for
those functions.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

FOI Officer

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D20F6A.7457D930

FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch

Business Enabling Services

Department of Finance

T: 02 6215 1783 E: [4][Finance request email]

A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

UNCLASSIFIED

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://finance.gov.au/foi/foi.html
2. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[Finance request email]

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

show quoted sections

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

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Guzzardi

IPEA's contact details are available here - http://www.ipea.gov.au/contacts. You can email their FOI team at [email address].

Kind regards
FOI Officer

FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Guzzardi
 
Freedom of Information Request – FOI 17/156
Thank you for your email to the Department of Finance (Finance) requesting
access to the following under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act).
 
‘... advise and itemise and fully account for the reason why Julie Bishop
was in Melbourne on November 4th, 2017; including but not limited to why
she was in Melbourne that day and what meeting/s and / or official
business was she attending (pre and / or post 04/11/17), when did she
arrive in Melbourne & when did she leave Melbourne, how much did the
flights cost the taxpayer and how many flights were charged for and who
were those flights for, how much did the accommodation cost the taxpayer
and how many nights were charged for and who were they for and also any
chauffeur driven transport provided for Bishop during her recent
attendance in Melbourne ?’
 
After consultation with Finance, you revised your request to:
 
‘… documents relating to any chauffeur driven transport provided by COMCAR
for Ms Julie Bishop during her recent attendance in Melbourne on 4
November 2017’
 
Your request was received by Finance on 23 November 2017.  The statutory
period for processing your request commences from the day after Finance
received your request.  This matter is due on 23 December 2017. 
 
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 within one working day after
they are released to you.
 
Policy to exclude junior officer contact details
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’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 are 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
 
 
FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [2][Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
 
UNCLASSIFIED
 
 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.finance.gov.au/foi/disclosure...
2. mailto:[Finance request email]

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Guzzardi

Please find attached a decision in relation to your FOI request (our
reference FOI 17/156).

Kind regards

FOI Officer

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D20F6A.7457D930

FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch

Business Enabling Services

Department of Finance

T: 02 6215 1783 E: [2][Finance request email]

A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

UNCLASSIFIED

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[Finance request email]