UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Ms Varney

Thank you for your email dated 30 August.

We would be grateful if you could clarify what you are seeking to access, in order for us to consider your request under s15(2) of the FOI Act 1982 (Cth).

To assist you clarify your request, you may wish to consider what you mean by "correspondence", whether there is a particular timeframe you are interested in as well as if there are particular interlocutors/correspondents you wish to obtain correspondence for (e.g. correspondence between the Department or the Minister for Trade and whom; this is currently unclear).

Regards,

Helen Horsington
Director
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
 
FOI and Privacy Law Section
Corporate Legal Branch
WW  www.dfat.gov.au
Legal Division

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

 

Our Ref:  1609-F1531

 

 

Dear Ms Varney,

 

Re: Freedom of Information (FOI) Request

 

Thank you for your email below in which you clarified that you are seeking
access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to:

 

“Correspondence between the Australian Minister for Trade and the
Indonesian Minister for trade, the dates being between the 1st of July
2011 until the present date (4 September 2016).  Correspondence not
limited to but including any; transcripts from meetings or telephone
calls, emails, letters etc.”

 

Although you have directed your request to the Minister for Trade, Tourism
and Investment, we assess that you are only interested in documents held
by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  I note the Minister for
Trade, Tourism and Investment and the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade are separate entities under the FOI Act.  Accordingly, the searches
for relevant documents will be undertaken by the Department only.

 

Searches are now being undertaken in relevant areas of the Department for
documents relevant to your request.  I will contact you again once the
searches have been completed.

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision:

We received your revised request on 5 September 2016 and the 30 day
statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after
that date.  You should therefore expect a decision from us by 5 October
2016.  The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances.  We
will advise you if there is any extension of time.

 

Scope of request:

If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the Department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.

 

Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:

It is the Department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names and contact details of government
officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES).  If you require the
mobile numbers of all government officials, or the names and contact
details of non-SES officials, please let us know at [DFAT request email] so the
decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will take it that you agree to
that information being excluded from the scope of your request.

 

Charges:

Please note that the Department issues charges for processing FOI
requests.  We will advise you of these charges when we are in a position
to estimate the resources required to process your request.

 

Timing of release:

As the subject matter of your request will require DFAT to upload any
documents released to you to the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log, I take
this opportunity to advise you that the Department’s policy is to upload
documents to the disclosure log on the same day as the documents are
released to you. 

 

Personal Information:

Your personal information has been collected by the Department as a result
of your correspondence, and will be used in order to process your FOI
request.  Your personal information is protected by law, including the
Privacy Act 1988.  The Department’s privacy policy is available at
dfat.gov.au/privacy.html and contains information about access to or
correction of your personal information, and how you may complain about a
breach of your privacy.

 

Please note that if we need to consult with other people regarding release
of the documents you have requested, we may need to disclose your personal
information. When we consult with other people about a request you have
made, it may be apparent to those people that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. If you have concerns about the
Department consulting with other people about your request, please let us
know your concerns.

 

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact me on (02) 6261 2541, or by return email.

 

Please note a copy of this email has been sent to Helen Horsington,
Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section, for her
information.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Stephanie Allan | |
| | |
|Assistant Director | |
| |  |
|Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section | |
| | |
|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Corporate Legal Branch |E |  |
| |[1][email address] |
|--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
|Legal Division |T |  +61 2 6261 2541 |
|--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
|  |W|  [2]www.dfat.gov.au |
| | |
|Part time hours: Monday to Thursday | |
| | |
|  | |
|--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

 

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

 

Our Ref: 1609-F1531

 

 

Dear Ms Varney,

 

Preliminary searches for documents relevant to your FOI request have been
completed.  The next step is to consider the application of section 29 of
the FOI Act, which concerns the charge for processing your request.

 

Please find attached correspondence in relation to the processing charges
on this matter.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Stephanie Allan | |
| | |
|Assistant Director | |
| |  |
|Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section | |
| | |
|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Corporate Legal Branch |E |  |
| |[1][email address] |
|--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
|Legal Division |T |  +61 2 6261 2541 |
|--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
|  |W|  [2]www.dfat.gov.au |
| | |
|Part time hours: Monday to Thursday | |
| | |
|  | |
|--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

 

 

 

From: Allan, Stephanie On Behalf Of FOI
Sent: Thursday, 8 September 2016 2:42 PM
To: 'Rebecca Varney'
Cc: Horsington, Helen
Subject: Acknowledgement - RE: Freedom of Information request -
Negotiations with Indonesia about our Live Cattle Exports
[SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

 

UNCLASSIFIED

 

Our Ref:  1609-F1531

 

 

Dear Ms Varney,

 

Re: Freedom of Information (FOI) Request

 

Thank you for your email below in which you clarified that you are seeking
access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to:

 

“Correspondence between the Australian Minister for Trade and the
Indonesian Minister for trade, the dates being between the 1st of July
2011 until the present date (4 September 2016).  Correspondence not
limited to but including any; transcripts from meetings or telephone
calls, emails, letters etc.”

 

Although you have directed your request to the Minister for Trade, Tourism
and Investment, we assess that you are only interested in documents held
by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  I note the Minister for
Trade, Tourism and Investment and the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade are separate entities under the FOI Act.  Accordingly, the searches
for relevant documents will be undertaken by the Department only.

 

Searches are now being undertaken in relevant areas of the Department for
documents relevant to your request.  I will contact you again once the
searches have been completed.

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision:

We received your revised request on 5 September 2016 and the 30 day
statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after
that date.  You should therefore expect a decision from us by 5 October
2016.  The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances.  We
will advise you if there is any extension of time.

 

Scope of request:

If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the Department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.

 

Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:

It is the Department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names and contact details of government
officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES).  If you require the
mobile numbers of all government officials, or the names and contact
details of non-SES officials, please let us know at [3][DFAT request email] so
the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will take it that you agree
to that information being excluded from the scope of your request.

 

Charges:

Please note that the Department issues charges for processing FOI
requests.  We will advise you of these charges when we are in a position
to estimate the resources required to process your request.

 

Timing of release:

As the subject matter of your request will require DFAT to upload any
documents released to you to the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log, I take
this opportunity to advise you that the Department’s policy is to upload
documents to the disclosure log on the same day as the documents are
released to you. 

 

Personal Information:

Your personal information has been collected by the Department as a result
of your correspondence, and will be used in order to process your FOI
request.  Your personal information is protected by law, including the
Privacy Act 1988.  The Department’s privacy policy is available at
dfat.gov.au/privacy.html and contains information about access to or
correction of your personal information, and how you may complain about a
breach of your privacy.

 

Please note that if we need to consult with other people regarding release
of the documents you have requested, we may need to disclose your personal
information. When we consult with other people about a request you have
made, it may be apparent to those people that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. If you have concerns about the
Department consulting with other people about your request, please let us
know your concerns.

 

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact me on (02) 6261 2541, or by return email.

 

Please note a copy of this email has been sent to Helen Horsington,
Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section, for her
information.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Stephanie Allan

Assistant Director
 
Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Corporate Legal Branch E | 
[4][email address]
Legal Division T |  +61 2 6261 2541
  W|  [5]www.dfat.gov.au

Part time hours: Monday to Thursday

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Ms Varney,

Thank you for your email advising that you wish to withdraw your FOI request.

We will proceed to close the case file.

Yours sincerely,

Stephanie Allan
Assistant Director
Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Corporate Legal Branch
E [email address]
Legal Division
T +61 2 6261 2541

Part time hours: Monday to Thursday

W www.dfat.gov.au

show quoted sections