OFFICIAL

Good morning MBV,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request to the Department of
Defence (Defence) dated 22 February 2023 in which you requested access to:

All documents generated between 01 October 2022 and 2023 to date,
including internal and external correspondence sent and received, relating
to potential impacts of government decisions on JTF 639.

I note that your request is seeking access to 'all documents' relating to
the above mentioned matter. Please be advised that a request for any/all
documents concerning a particular subject will likely attract refusal
under section 24AA of the FOI Act because, with few exceptions, it would
simply not be possible for the decision maker to certify that he or she
has identified every copy of every document in the possession of Defence.
To do so would require a search of every hard copy file and the electronic
communication and records management systems used by Defence.

Specific to your request, a search on key terms of your request ‘Operation
Resolute’ and ‘JTF 639’ between 01 October 2022 and 22 February 2023 was
conducted by one group in Defence, this search returned in excess of
650,000 documents within scope.

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 arrange for the required searches to be undertaken
and to then review documents that were identified. And finally, to
undertake the decision making process on the documents and conduct
consultation with necessary third parties.

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 be as specific as
possible on the documents you seek. Suggestions include whether there are
any specific key document types that you seek or title/s or content names
of files, a specific area/unit in Defence, names of authors or to whom
correspondence would have been sent.

If you would like to discuss your request I can be contacted via email at:
[1][email address]  

Kind Regards,

Georgia | FOI Case Manager

Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial and Executive Coordination & Communication Division

Department of Defence

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
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may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.

References

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OFFICIAL

Dear MBV

Please find attached the decision relating to Defence FOI 521/22/23. 

Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you are entitled to request a review of
this decision. Your review rights are attached.

Please contact this office should you require any further information.

Regards

Freedom of Information Team

Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

[1]Freedom of information requests | About | Defence

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email
may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.

References

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1. https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessi...