Minutes of all meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council (1982-present)
Dan Monceaux made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Defence
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Department of Defence FoI Officer,
I am writing to request access to the minutes of all meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council, from its establishment in 1982 to present. I understand that the Council was previously named the Australian Shipping and Defence Council. As such I wish to extend this request to cover any of the Council's former guises.
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours faithfully,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Good morning
Thank you for your email. Your email has been forwarded for consideration/action.
Kind regards
FOI Operations
FOI @defence.gov.au
(02) 62662200
http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Monceaux [mailto:[FOI #2242 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 13 September 2016 18:59
To: FOI requests at Defence
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Minutes of all meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council (1982-present)
Dear Department of Defence FoI Officer,
I am writing to request access to the minutes of all meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council, from its establishment in 1982 to present. I understand that the Council was previously named the Australian Shipping and Defence Council. As such I wish to extend this request to cover any of the Council's former guises.
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours faithfully,
Dan Monceaux
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914. If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Please find attached the preliminary assessment of charges for your FOI
request.
Kind regards,
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
Dear Dr Beacroft,
Thanks for your work providing a quotation for costs associated with my Freedom of Information request. In a effort to reduce the costs payable, I would like to rescope. As such, please accept my rescoped FoI request, made as follows:
"I am writing to request access to the minutes of all meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council, from the year 2000 to present. I understand that the Council was previously named the Australian Shipping and Defence Council. As such I wish to extend this request to cover any of the Council's former guises."
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Thank you for your email below and advice regarding the scope of the request.
An amended Preliminary Assessment of Charges will be sent to you covering the revised scope.
Regards,
Lucy Skorupa
Case Manager
Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance & Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-6-A007
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
P: (02) 6266 3664
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Monceaux [mailto:[FOI #2242 email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 21 September 2016 16:56
To: Beacroft, Melanie DR
Subject: Re: FOI 078 1617 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Dr Beacroft,
Thanks for your work providing a quotation for costs associated with my Freedom of Information request. In a effort to reduce the costs payable, I would like to rescope. As such, please accept my rescoped FoI request, made as follows:
"I am writing to request access to the minutes of all meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council, from the year 2000 to present. I understand that the Council was previously named the Australian Shipping and Defence Council. As such I wish to extend this request to cover any of the Council's former guises."
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Please find attached the preliminary assessment of charges for your FOI request.
Kind regards,
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #2242 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914. If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914. If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
Dear Ms Skorupa,
Thank you for accepting my rescoped FoI request, and I look forward to receiving your revised quotation.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Please find attached the preliminary assessment of charges for your FOI
request 078/16/17.
Kind regards,
Lucy Skorupa
Case Manager
Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance & Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-6-A007
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
P: (02) 6266 3664
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
Half the required costs for this FoI have now been raised via a GoFundMe.com crowdfunding campaign, and the deposit has been paid to the Department of Defence.
Further contributions are welcome via:
https://funds.gofundme.com/dashboard/Mar...
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
Apologies. The correct link for the current crowdfunding campaign is: https://www.gofundme.com/MaritimeDefence...
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
Amazing news... the crowdfunding campaign has been a success and all costs associated with this FoI are now covered! You can see the campaign here: https://www.gofundme.com/MaritimeDefence...
UNCLASSIFIED
Good morning Mr Monceaux
I am writing in regards to your FOI inquiry, dated 14 September 2016,
relating to minutes of meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence
Council.
We have now sourced all of the relevant documents which exceed 700
pages. In most instances we would consider that the processing of a
request for over 700 pages to be too voluminous. Furthermore, after an
initial examination of the documents we have found upwards of 200 third
party consultations that would need to take place with companies and other
government departments. We acknowledge that the department would be able
to extend the processing timeframe by 30 days in accordance with section
27 of the FOI Act, however the process of preparing documents for each
party in itself would be quite onerous.
While we provided you with a preliminary assessment of charges on 23
September 2016, we did so on the basis of an estimated page count only
and neither the area or our office could have foreseen the requirement
to consult with so many parties. Now that we have been able to review the
documents we consider that the workload in processing this request, in
particular the third party consultations would involve a substantial and
unreasonable diversion of the resources of the agency.
Taking the above into consideration, under section 24AA of the FOI Act and
for the purposes of section 24 of the FOI Act, Defence considers that a
'practical refusal reason' exists in relation to your FOI request.
Specifically, Defence considers that the work involved in processing the
request in its current form would substantially and unreasonably divert
the resources of the Defence from its other operations. In particular, a
very significant amount of resources would have to be diverted to prepare
documents for consultation, to locate and contact third parties and to
examine any third party contentions. Finally, we would have to undertake
the decision making process on the documents that meet the parameters of
your request.
This diversion would constitute a significant drain on the resources of
the agency, and would have an unreasonable, substantial and adverse effect
in the ability of areas to conduct their normal business.
In accordance with section 24AB of the FOI Act, Defence is required to
consult with you advising of the intention to refuse access to your
request in its current form.
In accordance with paragraph 24AB(2)(c) of the FOI Act, I am the nominated
person with whom you should contact with a view to agreeing to one of the
following options:
a. withdraw your request
b. revise your request; or
c. indicate that you do not wish to revise your request.
In accordance with section 24AB(9) of the FOI Act, Defence is only
required to undertake this consultation process once, and you must contact
me within 14 days to discuss.
Notwithstanding all of the above, I would suggest you further limit the
date range of meeting minutes, perhaps from 2010 to present. Limiting the
scope of your request would reduce the relevant documents to 210 pages
and 88 third party consultations. Even with this limitation we may need to
re-evaluate your request and the resources required to process it.
I encourage you to contact me, so I can assist you in moving with forward
with your inquiry.
Kind regards
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
Dear Dr Beacroft,
In response to your correspondence of 5 October 2016, I accept your invitation to rescope my request to include the following:
"I am writing to request access to the minutes of all meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council, from the year 2010 to present (inclusive). I understand that the Council was previously named the Australian Shipping and Defence Council. As such I wish to extend this request to cover any of the Council's former guises."
I would like to clarify whether this amendment will prompt a recalculation of costs previously agreed upon?
If so, I wish to request that my unwaged status as a public interest researcher be considered, along with the following rationale for the pubic interest value for this request. The time period now requested (2010 to present) has particular relevance to current South Australian and national discussions regarding the Future Submarine Project, which is a major industrial development project in my home state.
I am seeking to understand the rationale/need for these submarines, and consider it likely that this project will be discussed in the minutes of the Council's meetings in the broader context of Australia's maritime trade. I also have a long term interest in the strategic value of new port developments in Australia (in my home state and elsewhere in Australia) and understand that this topic is also likely to be discussed in the Council's minutes.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Thank you for your reply.
I am hoping to clarify the intention of your comments regarding amending the scope of your request.
Are you seeking only information in the minutes of the Australian Maritime Defence Council from 2010 that is related to the Future Submarine Project and information on new port developments? Or are you seeking the minutes from 2010 in their entirety?
If you could clarify then that would be much appreciated.
And yes, we will re-evaluate the costs of your request.
Melanie
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Monceaux [mailto:[FOI #2242 email]]
Sent: Friday, 7 October 2016 17:03
To: Beacroft, Melanie DR
Subject: Re: FOI 078/16/17 - intention to refuse access [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Dr Beacroft,
In response to your correspondence of 5 October 2016, I accept your invitation to rescope my request to include the following:
"I am writing to request access to the minutes of all meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council, from the year 2010 to present (inclusive). I understand that the Council was previously named the Australian Shipping and Defence Council. As such I wish to extend this request to cover any of the Council's former guises."
I would like to clarify whether this amendment will prompt a recalculation of costs previously agreed upon?
If so, I wish to request that my unwaged status as a public interest researcher be considered, along with the following rationale for the pubic interest value for this request. The time period now requested (2010 to present) has particular relevance to current South Australian and national discussions regarding the Future Submarine Project, which is a major industrial development project in my home state.
I am seeking to understand the rationale/need for these submarines, and consider it likely that this project will be discussed in the minutes of the Council's meetings in the broader context of Australia's maritime trade. I also have a long term interest in the strategic value of new port developments in Australia (in my home state and elsewhere in Australia) and understand that this topic is also likely to be discussed in the Council's minutes.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Good morning Mr Monceaux
I am writing in regards to your FOI inquiry, dated 14 September 2016, relating to minutes of meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council.
We have now sourced all of the relevant documents which exceed 700 pages. In most instances we would consider that the processing of a request for over 700 pages to be too voluminous. Furthermore, after an initial examination of the documents we have found upwards of 200 third party consultations that would need to take place with companies and other government departments. We acknowledge that the department would be able to extend the processing timeframe by 30 days in accordance with section
27 of the FOI Act, however the process of preparing documents for each party in itself would be quite onerous.
While we provided you with a preliminary assessment of charges on 23 September 2016, we did so on the basis of an estimated page count only and neither the area or our office could have foreseen the requirement to consult with so many parties. Now that we have been able to review the documents we consider that the workload in processing this request, in particular the third party consultations would involve a substantial and unreasonable diversion of the resources of the agency.
Taking the above into consideration, under section 24AA of the FOI Act and for the purposes of section 24 of the FOI Act, Defence considers that a 'practical refusal reason' exists in relation to your FOI request. Specifically, Defence considers that the work involved in processing the request in its current form would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the Defence from its other operations. In particular, a very significant amount of resources would have to be diverted to prepare documents for consultation, to locate and contact third parties and to examine any third party contentions. Finally, we would have to undertake the decision making process on the documents that meet the parameters of your request.
This diversion would constitute a significant drain on the resources of the agency, and would have an unreasonable, substantial and adverse effect in the ability of areas to conduct their normal business.
In accordance with section 24AB of the FOI Act, Defence is required to consult with you advising of the intention to refuse access to your request in its current form.
In accordance with paragraph 24AB(2)(c) of the FOI Act, I am the nominated person with whom you should contact with a view to agreeing to one of the following options:
a. withdraw your request
b. revise your request; or
c. indicate that you do not wish to revise your request.
In accordance with section 24AB(9) of the FOI Act, Defence is only required to undertake this consultation process once, and you must contact me within 14 days to discuss.
Notwithstanding all of the above, I would suggest you further limit the date range of meeting minutes, perhaps from 2010 to present. Limiting the scope of your request would reduce the relevant documents to 210 pages and 88 third party consultations. Even with this limitation we may need to re-evaluate your request and the resources required to process it.
I encourage you to contact me, so I can assist you in moving with forward with your inquiry.
Kind regards
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #2242 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914. If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
Dear Dr Beacroft,
Thank you for your request for further clarification; I appreciate your thorough approach to my request. I am always impressed by how business-like and attentive the DoD is to external requests for information.
Yes, I am interested in receiving the full minutes of all meetings for the specified time frame.
My mentioning of the Future Submarines Project and ports in my previous email was simply to provide you with additional background information for you to consider while assessing the public interest merits of my request, and the costs related to it. While these matters are my short term focus, I am interested in the history of the Council itself (hence my original request, which spanned its whole existence).
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Monceaux
I refer to your Freedom of Information request regarding minutes of
meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council.
The Department of Defence excludes personal email addresses, signatures,
personnel (PMKeyS) numbers and mobile telephone numbers contained in
documents that fall within the scope of a FOI request unless you
specifically request such details.
If you do require these personal details, please inform us within five
days of receipt of this email so that the decision maker can consider your
request.
On 23 September 2016, Theresa Stinson, Assistant Director Freedom of
Information deemed that you are required to pay a charge for processing
your request. The preliminary estimate of charges was $270.00 and we
received a deposit of $67.50 from you on 26 September 2016.
Following a revision of the scope of your request to limit the date
range to 2010 to present, we have recalculated the preliminary estimate of
charges for processing your request to be $280.00. The increase in costs
is due to the fact that we originally estimated the charges based on a
page count only and did not take into account the third party consultation
required. A breakdown of the charges is attached to this email.
The statutory deadline for you to receive a response to your request
expires on 23 October 2016.
I note that the above mentioned due date is a Sunday. In accordance with
the FOI Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner, if
the last day for notifying a decision falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a
public holiday, the timeframe will expire on the first day following which
is none of those days. As such, the due date for you to receive a
response is 24 October 2016.
Should you have any questions relating to your request, please do not
hesitate to contact our office via telephone on (02) 6266 2200 or via
email to [1][email address].
Yours sincerely
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
Dear Dr Beacroft,
Thank you for your updated Notice of Charge which I received today in relation to my Freedom of Information request.
Could you please confirm whether consideration has been given to potentially reducing costs, in line with Section 29 of the Act? The Act reads:
"(5) Without limiting the matters the agency or Minister may take into account in determining whether or not to reduce or not to impose the charge, the agency or Minister must take into account:
(a) whether the payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause financial hardship to the applicant, or to a person on whose behalf the application was made; and
(b) whether the giving of access to the document in question is in the general public interest or in the interest of a substantial section of the public."
Could you please indicate whether the public interest case was considered in your reappraisal of costs and my financial status as an independent public interest researcher? I would argue that a substantial section of the Australian public are interested in the Future Submarine Project and the protection of Australia's maritime trade.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Mr Monceaux,
Are you wanting me to interpret this as you seeking a review of charges? If so, you may want to provide some more information to bolster your argument about the public interest so that a delegate can review your claim.
Melanie
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Monceaux [mailto:[FOI #2242 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 11 October 2016 17:15
To: Beacroft, Melanie DR
Subject: Re: FOI 078/16/17 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Dr Beacroft,
Thank you for your updated Notice of Charge which I received today in relation to my Freedom of Information request.
Could you please confirm whether consideration has been given to potentially reducing costs, in line with Section 29 of the Act? The Act reads:
"(5) Without limiting the matters the agency or Minister may take into account in determining whether or not to reduce or not to impose the charge, the agency or Minister must take into account:
(a) whether the payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause financial hardship to the applicant, or to a person on whose behalf the application was made; and
(b) whether the giving of access to the document in question is in the general public interest or in the interest of a substantial section of the public."
Could you please indicate whether the public interest case was considered in your reappraisal of costs and my financial status as an independent public interest researcher? I would argue that a substantial section of the Australian public are interested in the Future Submarine Project and the protection of Australia's maritime trade.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Monceaux
I refer to your Freedom of Information request regarding minutes of meetings of the Australian Maritime Defence Council.
The Department of Defence excludes personal email addresses, signatures, personnel (PMKeyS) numbers and mobile telephone numbers contained in documents that fall within the scope of a FOI request unless you specifically request such details.
If you do require these personal details, please inform us within five days of receipt of this email so that the decision maker can consider your request.
On 23 September 2016, Theresa Stinson, Assistant Director Freedom of Information deemed that you are required to pay a charge for processing your request. The preliminary estimate of charges was $270.00 and we received a deposit of $67.50 from you on 26 September 2016.
Following a revision of the scope of your request to limit the date range to 2010 to present, we have recalculated the preliminary estimate of charges for processing your request to be $280.00. The increase in costs is due to the fact that we originally estimated the charges based on a page count only and did not take into account the third party consultation required. A breakdown of the charges is attached to this email.
The statutory deadline for you to receive a response to your request expires on 23 October 2016.
I note that the above mentioned due date is a Sunday. In accordance with the FOI Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner, if the last day for notifying a decision falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the timeframe will expire on the first day following which is none of those days. As such, the due date for you to receive a response is 24 October 2016.
Should you have any questions relating to your request, please do not hesitate to contact our office via telephone on (02) 6266 2200 or via email to [1][email address].
Yours sincerely
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #2242 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914. If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
Dear Dr Beacroft,
Yes, I would like to ask the Department to consider offering a cost reduction for reasons previosly expressed in two past emails. First on October 7:
"I would like to clarify whether this amendment will prompt a recalculation of costs previously agreed upon?
If so, I wish to request that my unwaged status as a public interest researcher be considered, along with the following rationale for the pubic interest value for this request. The time period now requested (2010 to present) has particular relevance to current South Australian and national discussions regarding the Future Submarine Project, which is a major industrial development project in my home state.
I am seeking to understand the rationale/need for these submarines, and consider it likely that this project will be discussed in the minutes of the Council's meetings in the broader context of Australia's maritime trade. I also have a long term interest in the strategic value of new port developments in Australia (in my home state and elsewhere in Australia) and understand that this topic is also likely to be discussed in the Council's minutes."
And again on October 10:
"My mentioning of the Future Submarines Project and ports in my previous email was simply to provide you with additional background information for you to consider while assessing the public interest merits of my request, and the costs related to it. While these matters are my short term focus, I am interested in the history of the Council itself (hence my original request, which spanned its whole existence)."
Thank you for considering this request.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Thank you for your correspondence, seeking waiver of the FOI processing
charges associated with your request. In accordance with section 29(6) of
the FOI Act, agencies must take all reasonable steps to enable the
applicant to be notified of the decision on the amount of charge payable
as soon as practicable but in any case no later than 30 days after the day
you sought review. As such, the due date for our office to provide a
decision by 17 November 2016.
In the meantime, should you have any queries about this matter please do
not hesitate to contact me.
Regards
Matt Ashauer
Case Manager
Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 2096
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Further to the email below from my colleague Matt, I am the delegate for
the charges decision and will provide you with the charges decision on or
before the date referred to below.
Please note that as you have already paid FOI processing charges for your
request we will continue to process your request while the above review
happens concurrently.
In regards to the processing of your request, your revised request has
been forwarded to Navy for consideration. The FOI Decision Maker,
Commander Geoff Fiedler, has advised that your request covers documents
which contain information of a commercial nature of a number of third
parties.
Commander Fiedler has determined that there is a requirement to consult
third parties under section 27 of the FOI Act, before making a decision on
the release of the identified documents.
Subsection 15(6) of the FOI Act provides for an extension of 30 days to
the statutory timeframe for processing requests. Therefore, the deadline
for providing you with the decision on your request is now 24 November
2016.
We would be grateful if you could confirm if the FOI Directorate could
disclose your identity as the applicant to the third parties for the
purpose of consultation. While you are under no obligation to reveal your
identity as the applicant and we will not disclose your identity without
consent, in our experience, third parties will generally be more likely to
object to the release of their information if they do not know who the
applicant is.
Please feel free to contact our office if you have any queries about your
request. Mel, your case manager is currently on leave but will be back on
Wednesday 19 October 2016, should you have any specific queries that she
can assist with.
Kind regards
Theresa Stinson
Assistant Director - Case Management
Governance and Reform Division
Building F065
Level 2 - 057
Gallipoli Barracks
ENOGGERA QLD 4051
Ph: (07) 3332 6359
Alternative email: [1][email address]
____________________________________________________________________
Website:[2]http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm
Privacy Statement: [3]http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
FOI Act: [4]https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C...
FOI Guidelines:
[5]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
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From: Ashauer, Matthew MR
Sent: Monday, 17 October 2016 15:35
To: 'Dan Monceaux'
Subject: FOI 078/16/17 Acknowledgment of request to waive charges
[SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Thank you for your correspondence, seeking waiver of the FOI processing
charges associated with your request. In accordance with section 29(6) of
the FOI Act, agencies must take all reasonable steps to enable the
applicant to be notified of the decision on the amount of charge payable
as soon as practicable but in any case no later than 30 days after the day
you sought review. As such, the due date for our office to provide a
decision by 17 November 2016.
In the meantime, should you have any queries about this matter please do
not hesitate to contact me.
Regards
Matt Ashauer
Case Manager
Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 2096
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
References
Visible links
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3. blocked::http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
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4. blocked::https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C...
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5. blocked::http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform... http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
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Dear Ms Stinson,
I accept that additional time will be required for 3rd party consultations and grant you permission to disclose my identity to those 3rd parties as part of this process.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux,
Please find attached the decision relating to your request for the FOI
processing charges to be reduced in respect of this request.
Kind regards
Theresa Stinson
Assistant Director - Case Management
Governance and Reform Division
Building F065
Level 2 - 057
Gallipoli Barracks
ENOGGERA QLD 4051
Ph: (07) 3332 6359
Alternative email: [1][email address]
____________________________________________________________________
Website:[2]http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm
Privacy Statement: [3]http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
FOI Act: [4]https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C...
FOI Guidelines:
[5]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
References
Visible links
1. blocked::mailto:[email address] mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. blocked::http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm
http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/index.htm
3. blocked::http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
http://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/privacy.asp
4. blocked::https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C...
https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014C...
5. blocked::http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform... http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...
Dear Ms Stinson,
I am writing to express my sincere thanks for your detailed and thorough consideration of my request for a review of FoI charges. In particular, I appreciate the advance notice you have given me that the minutes are likely to contain little discussion pertaining to the Future Submarine Project but are likely to contain many references to Australian ports.
I also wish to request that the invoice for the remaining fees payable be sent to my personal email address [email address] at your earliest convenience.
I am very grateful for your thoughful work on this request to date, including your decision to reduce the administration costs payable.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux
1. The purpose of this email is to provide you with the
decision on your request.
2. The statement of reasons detailing the Accredited
Decision Maker’s decision is at Attachment 1.
3. In summary, the Accredited Decision Maker decided to
release 10 documents in full and partially release one document with
deletions for personal privacy.
Payment of Charges
4. In order to finalise your request, you are required
to pay the remaining $67.50. An invoice for the outstanding balance has
been forwarded to your personal email address today. Documents will not be
released until we receive your proof of payment.
FOI Disclosure Log
5. In accordance with the requirements of section 11C of
the FOI Act, Defence is required to publish details of information
released under the FOI Act. Defence publishes identified documents
relating to requests within five working days of receipt by the applicant.
Defence will also publish this decision notice with privacy deletions.
Rights of Review
6. Under the provisions of section 54 of the FOI Act,
you are entitled to request a review of this decision. Your review rights
are detailed at Attachment 2.
7. Should you have any questions in regard to this
matter please contact this office.
Kind regards,
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
At the time of writing this annotation, an invoice for the outstanding fees payable ($67.50) has not been received. The documents requested will only be released once these fees have been invoiced and paid.
Dear Dr Beacroft,
I do not appear to have received an invoice for the remaining fees payable to my personal email address as yet. Could you please send (or resend) this asap, so that this request can be finalised and released?
Many thanks,
Dan Monceaux
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Dan,
I have just re-sent the invoice to the email address you provided earlier. Can you please let me know if you do not receive it?
Thanks,
Melanie
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Monceaux [mailto:[FOI #2242 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 29 November 2016 16:54
To: Beacroft, Melanie DR
Subject: Re: FOI 078/16/17 - decision [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Dr Beacroft,
I do not appear to have received an invoice for the remaining fees payable to my personal email address as yet. Could you please send (or resend) this asap, so that this request can be finalised and released?
Many thanks,
Dan Monceaux
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux
1. The purpose of this email is to provide you with the decision on your request.
2. The statement of reasons detailing the Accredited Decision Maker's decision is at Attachment 1.
3. In summary, the Accredited Decision Maker decided to release 10 documents in full and partially release one document with deletions for personal privacy.
Payment of Charges
4. In order to finalise your request, you are required to pay the remaining $67.50. An invoice for the outstanding balance has been forwarded to your personal email address today. Documents will not be released until we receive your proof of payment.
FOI Disclosure Log
5. In accordance with the requirements of section 11C of the FOI Act, Defence is required to publish details of information released under the FOI Act. Defence publishes identified documents relating to requests within five working days of receipt by the applicant.
Defence will also publish this decision notice with privacy deletions.
Rights of Review
6. Under the provisions of section 54 of the FOI Act, you are entitled to request a review of this decision. Your review rights are detailed at Attachment 2.
7. Should you have any questions in regard to this matter please contact this office.
Kind regards,
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #2242 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
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IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914. If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email.
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon,
Please find attached the documents subject to your FOI request.
Kind regards
Matt Ashauer
Case Manager
Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 2096
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Beacroft, Melanie DR
Sent: Monday, 21 November 2016 16:55
To: '[FOI #2242 email]'
Subject: FOI 078/16/17 - decision [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Monceaux
1. The purpose of this email is to provide you with the
decision on your request.
2. The statement of reasons detailing the Accredited
Decision Maker’s decision is at Attachment 1.
3. In summary, the Accredited Decision Maker decided to
release 10 documents in full and partially release one document with
deletions for personal privacy.
Payment of Charges
4. In order to finalise your request, you are required
to pay the remaining $67.50. An invoice for the outstanding balance has
been forwarded to your personal email address today. Documents will not be
released until we receive your proof of payment.
FOI Disclosure Log
5. In accordance with the requirements of section 11C of
the FOI Act, Defence is required to publish details of information
released under the FOI Act. Defence publishes identified documents
relating to requests within five working days of receipt by the applicant.
Defence will also publish this decision notice with privacy deletions.
Rights of Review
6. Under the provisions of section 54 of the FOI Act,
you are entitled to request a review of this decision. Your review rights
are detailed at Attachment 2.
7. Should you have any questions in regard to this
matter please contact this office.
Kind regards,
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
UNCLASSIFIED
Good morning Dan,
My apologies, the schedule was left off the email that was sent to you
yesterday.
Please find it attached.
Kind regards,
Melanie
Dr Melanie Beacroft
Case Manager, Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division
Department of Defence
CP1-06-005A
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
I received a quotation for $430 for 27 hours of labor to fulfil my request. In response, I decided to rescope my request, to include the minutes of meetings from the year 2000 to present only.
My former request sought all meeting minutes from 1982 to present.