OFFICIAL

Dear Ms Tesi,

YOUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

I refer to your request dated 2 October 2020, seeking access to documents
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) as follows:

Copies of the Memorandum of Understanding concerning co-operation and
information sharing between the Australian Federal Police and the new
South Wales Law Society, NSW Legal Services commissioner and the Qld Law
Society and Legal Services commissioner

Timeframe

Your request was received by the AFP on 2 October 2020, and the 30 day
statutory period for processing your request commenced from that date. The
due date for your request is 01 November 2020.

As the AFP focuses its efforts on managing the impact of COVID-19 on its
critical operations, our ability to process requests for information under
the Act may be affected or not delivered within expected timeframes. We
apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience during this
period. Should this occur we will contact you as soon as practicable, and
seek to extend processing timeframes in accordance with the Act.

Information irrelevant to the scope of your request

The AFP, in its management of FOI requests, excludes the following
information on the basis that is irrelevant to the scope of a request:

-      duplicate documents, including duplicate emails (the AFP will only
provide emails where they form a final email chain and the
authors/recipients are contained within the final email); and

-      information that is publicly available, for example, newspaper
articles, online publications including information available on the AFP
Information Publication Scheme and the AFP disclosure log.

Please advise this office that you also consent to exclude the following
information:    

-      Names of AFP members, other than the Senior Executive; and

-      Direct telephone numbers, middle names of AFP members, signatures
and mobile telephone numbers of AFP members.

Disclosure of your identity

The AFP may be required to consult with third parties in accordance with
sections 26A, 27 and 27A of the Act. Please advise us if you consent to
the AFP identifying you as the FOI applicant for the purposes of the
consultation.  If we do not receive your consent, we will not disclose
your identity to third parties.

Information Publication Scheme

Please be advised that effective 1 May 2011 and in accordance with section
8(2) of the Act, an agency is required to publish information on the AFP
website following the notification of a decision in respect of a freedom
of information request.  Details of the decision will be published in a
Disclosure Log which can be found at
[1]https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/informat....

The requirement to publish information released under FOI reinforces the
objectives of the FOI Act to promote a pro-disclosure culture across
government, and to increase recognition that information held by
government is a national resource.  Exceptions to the requirement to
publish information would apply to personal information and information
concerning the business affairs of a person if it was considered
‘unreasonable’ to do so. 

If however, after noting the above, you wish to raise any concerns about
the publication of information concerning your request prior to the
notification of a decision, please advise the AFP in writing before 1
November 2020.

Yours sincerely

ISABEL (AFP 24268)
PARALEGAL
CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL

[2]www.afp.gov.au
[3]Australian Federal Police

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References

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1. https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/informat...
2. http://www.afp.gov.au/
3. http://www.afp.gov.au/

UNOFFICIAL

Dear Ms Tesi

Your Freedom of Information Request – Decision

Please see attached the AFP’s decision regarding your recent request under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

Thank you

Kind Regards

Bella (AFP23358)
FOI OFFICER - FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
CHIEF COUNSEL PORTFOLIO

[1]www.afp.gov.au
[2]Australian Federal Police

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References

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1. http://www.afp.gov.au/
2. http://www.afp.gov.au/