OFFICIAL

FOI/2022/061

Dear Chris H

Thank you for your email (attached) to the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) dated 18 February 2022, in which you made a
request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) in the
following terms:

I would like to request the portfolio or documents showing donations made
to each political party from 01 January 2010 to present.

Notification of transfer of FOI request

The FOI Act provides a mechanism to transfer a request to another agency
where the subject-matter of the request is more closely connected with the
functions of that agency than with those of the agency to which the
request is made (section 16(1)(b) of the FOI Act). This ensures that a
decision on the request is made by the most appropriate agency. As the
subject-matter of the documents you have requested is more closely
connected with the functions of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)
than with the functions of PM&C, your request has been transferred in full
to the AEC under section 16(1)(b) of the FOI Act.

The AEC will be in touch regarding the processing of your request. Should
you wish to contact them, please do so by emailing [1][email address].

Yours sincerely

Adviser | FOI Section[]

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

Ngunnawal Country, One National Circuit  Barton  ACT  2600  |  PO Box
6500  CANBERRA  ACT  2600
e. [2][email address]  w. [3]pmc.gov.au

[4]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[5]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[6]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.

______________________________________________________________________ 
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information 
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or 
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you 
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other 
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you 
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by 
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the 
message from your computer system. 
______________________________________________________________________

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
4. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
5. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

Our reference: LEX1358

Dear Chris

Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Request

I refer to your request for access to documents (attached) under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) made in the following terms:

“I would like to request the portfolio or documents showing donations made
to each political party from 01 January 2010 to present.”

Transparency Register

We suggest that as per the terms of your request, the information you seek
should be contained within the [1]AEC Transparency Register. Within the
Transparency Register you can access Political Party Returns and Annual
Donor Returns covering the scope of your request. We request that you
please review the Transparency Register and respond by return email
advising if this information meets your request.

If you choose to proceed with your FOI request, the following information
will apply.

Timeframe to process your request

Your request was received by the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet (and subsequently transferred to the Australian Electoral
Commission (the AEC)) on 18 February 2022, and the 30 day statutory
timeframe for processing your request commenced from the day after that
date.  You should expect to receive a decision from us by 20 March 2022.
 The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third parties
or for other reasons.  We will advise you if this timeframe is extended.

Charges

If your request proceeds further, we will advise you if any charge is
payable to process your request and the amount of any charge as soon as
practicable.

Your address

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address to which we can
send notices.  You have advised that your electronic address is
[2][FOI #8466 email].  We will send all notices
and correspondence to this address.  Please advise us as soon as possible
if you wish for notices and correspondence to be sent to a different
address.  If you do not advise us of changes to your address, notices and
correspondence will continue to be sent to the address specified above.

Administrative release of documents

The AEC has administrative access arrangements for the release of certain
documents without the need for a formal freedom of information request.
Where appropriate we may offer you documents via the administrative access
scheme in lieu of processing under the FOI Act.  Information relating to
third parties cannot be released via administrative access.  You will be
notified when documents are released to you on an administrative access
basis.

Disclosure log

Documents released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log
on the AEC's website.  Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this
publication, however it is subject to certain exceptions, including where
publication of personal, business, professional or commercial information
would be unreasonable.

Further assistance

If you have any questions please email [3][email address], or contact our
enquiries line on 13 23 26.

Yours sincerely

Stephanie

Australian Electoral Commission

T: 13 23 26

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[4]Australian Electoral Commission [5]Australian Electoral
logo Commission

DISCLAIMER:

If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
immediately by return email and delete all copies.  If this email or any
attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute
waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of
information in the email or attachments. 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.aec.gov.au/parties_and_repre...
2. mailto:[FOI #8466 email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email/
5. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email-promo/

hide quoted sections

Dear Chris

We are writing to follow up on the below email, specifically regarding our
comments on the AECs Transparency Register that contains historical
Political Party and Annual Donor Returns.

Are you please able to let us know if the information contained within the
Transparency Register meets your request by close of business Monday 7
March 2022? This will assist us in progressing to the next steps of your
request, if required.

Kind regards,

Greg

Australian Electoral Commission

T: 13 23 26

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1]Australian Electoral Commission logo [2]Australian Electoral Commission

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: Friday, 25 February 2022 3:16 PM
To: '[FOI #8466 email]'
<[FOI #8466 email]>
Cc: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: LEX1358 - FOI/2022/061 – Request for documents showing donations
to political parties [SEC=OFFICIAL]

Our reference: LEX1358

Dear Chris

Acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Request

I refer to your request for access to documents (attached) under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) made in the following terms:

“I would like to request the portfolio or documents showing donations made
to each political party from 01 January 2010 to present.”

Transparency Register

We suggest that as per the terms of your request, the information you seek
should be contained within the [3]AEC Transparency Register. Within the
Transparency Register you can access Political Party Returns and Annual
Donor Returns covering the scope of your request. We request that you
please review the Transparency Register and respond by return email
advising if this information meets your request.

If you choose to proceed with your FOI request, the following information
will apply.

Timeframe to process your request

Your request was received by the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet (and subsequently transferred to the Australian Electoral
Commission (the AEC)) on 18 February 2022, and the 30 day statutory
timeframe for processing your request commenced from the day after that
date.  You should expect to receive a decision from us by 20 March 2022.
 The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third parties
or for other reasons.  We will advise you if this timeframe is extended.

Charges

If your request proceeds further, we will advise you if any charge is
payable to process your request and the amount of any charge as soon as
practicable.

Your address

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address to which we can
send notices.  You have advised that your electronic address is
[4][FOI #8466 email].  We will send all notices
and correspondence to this address.  Please advise us as soon as possible
if you wish for notices and correspondence to be sent to a different
address.  If you do not advise us of changes to your address, notices and
correspondence will continue to be sent to the address specified above.

Administrative release of documents

The AEC has administrative access arrangements for the release of certain
documents without the need for a formal freedom of information request.
Where appropriate we may offer you documents via the administrative access
scheme in lieu of processing under the FOI Act.  Information relating to
third parties cannot be released via administrative access.  You will be
notified when documents are released to you on an administrative access
basis.

Disclosure log

Documents released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log
on the AEC's website.  Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this
publication, however it is subject to certain exceptions, including where
publication of personal, business, professional or commercial information
would be unreasonable.

Further assistance

If you have any questions please email [5][email address], or contact our
enquiries line on 13 23 26.

Yours sincerely

Stephanie

Australian Electoral Commission

T: 13 23 26

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[6]Australian Electoral Commission [7]Australian Electoral
logo Commission

DISCLAIMER:

If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
immediately by return email and delete all copies.  If this email or any
attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute
waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of
information in the email or attachments. 

References

Visible links
1. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email/
2. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email-promo/
3. https://www.aec.gov.au/parties_and_repre...
4. mailto:[FOI #8466 email]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email/
7. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email-promo/

hide quoted sections

Our reference: LEX1358

Dear Chris,

I refer to your request dated 18 February 2022 for access to documents
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (‘the FOI Act’).

I attach a letter to you dated 15 March 2022 with the decision regarding
this request.

If you have any questions please email [1][email address] or contact our
enquiries line on 13 23 26.

Kind regards,

Greg

Australian Electoral Commission

T: 13 23 26

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[2]Australian Electoral Commission logo [3]Australian Electoral Commission

DISCLAIMER:

If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
immediately by return email and delete all copies.  If this email or any
attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute
waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of
information in the email or attachments. 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email/
3. http://emailfooter.aec.gov.au/email-promo/

hide quoted sections