Preparation of Nauru RPC to accommodate children 2012-2018

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OFFICIAL

In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA 21/03/01159
File Number: OBJ2021/9809

Dear Ms Davey

Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information Access request

I refer to your correspondence received on 23 March 2021 seeking access to documents held by the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

Scope of request

You have requested access to the following:

I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act any and all site assessments and/or records of site preparation works pertaining to the possibility of transferring or otherwise accommodating children of any age (including infants) in the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru from 2012-2018..

Your request was received by the Department on 23 March 2021 and has been allocated FOI request number FA 21/03/01159 . Please include your FOI request number in all correspondence with the Freedom of Information Section.

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Position Number: 60007069MS
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E: [Department of Home Affairs request email]

OFFICIAL

-----Original Message-----
From: Eleanor Davey <[FOI #7168 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 23 March 2021 8:18 AM
To: FOI <[Department of Home Affairs request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Preparation of Nauru RPC to accommodate children 2012-2018

Dear Department of Home Affairs,

I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act any and all site assessments and/or records of site preparation works pertaining to the possibility of transferring or otherwise accommodating children of any age (including infants) in the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru from 2012-2018.

Thank you for your assistance with this request.

Yours faithfully,

Eleanor Davey

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fa 210301159 practical refusal notice.pdf

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OFFICIAL

Our references: FA 21/03/01159; OBJ2021/9809

Dear Ms Davey

This email refers to your FOI request seeking access to:

I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act any and all
site assessments and/or records of site preparation works pertaining to
the possibility of transferring or otherwise accommodating children of any
age (including infants) in the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru from
2012-2018.

The purpose of this email is to advise you, as required under s.24AB of
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) that I consider a practical
refusal reason exists under s.24AA of the FOI Act in relation to your
request. I have set out my reasons and the actions required by you in the
attached notice.

Consultation period

The FOI Act requires that you respond to this notice before the end of the
consultation period, which is close of business Tuesday, 4 May 2021.

You may consult with the FOI section by replying to this email:
[1][Department of Home Affairs request email]

Kind Regards

Will

Position no. 60043894

FOI Officer | Freedom of Information Section

FOI and Records Management Branch

Data Division | Corporate and Enabling Group

Department of Home Affairs

OFFICIAL

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately. This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.

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by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited.
The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.

References

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OFFICIAL

Dear Ms Davey,

Thanks for your email.

After consultation with the relevant business area they have confirmed that your revision of the scope won't narrow down the documents.

To help us try to find the documents you are after could you specify what you mean by 'site assessments'? For example, are you looking for assessments of the infrastructure, or security or something else more specific? Some more clarification would be helpful. Also, as the current date range is quite broad (2012-2018) if you are able to narrow this down further to a more specific date range that would also be very helpful.

If you have any questions regarding this please let us know via return email.

Kind regards,

Will
Position No. 60046990
Authorised FOI Officer
Freedom of Information
E: [email address]

OFFICIAL

-----Original Message-----
From: Eleanor Davey <[FOI #7168 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 5 May 2021 8:16 AM
To: FOI <[Department of Home Affairs request email]>
Subject: Re: FOI Request - FA 21/03/01159 - Practical Refusal Notice [SEC=OFFICIAL]

Dear FOI,

Thank you for your correspondence, unfortunately there was a problem with the system and the email was somehow held up.

I would like to limit my request to site assessments pertaining to the possibility of transferring or otherwise accommodating children of any age (including infants) in the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru from 2012-2018.

I hope that this limitation in the type of documentation required will make the request practicable. Thank you for the time that has been taken to understand the scope and practical implications of the previous, more inclusive request.

Yours sincerely,

Eleanor Davey

-----Original Message-----

OFFICIAL

Our references: FA 21/03/01159; OBJ2021/9809

Dear Ms Davey

This email refers to your FOI request seeking access to:

I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act any and all

site assessments and/or records of site preparation works pertaining to

the possibility of transferring or otherwise accommodating children of any

age (including infants) in the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru from

2012-2018.

The purpose of this email is to advise you, as required under s.24AB of

the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) that I consider a practical

refusal reason exists under s.24AA of the FOI Act in relation to your

request. I have set out my reasons and the actions required by you in the

attached notice.

Consultation period

The FOI Act requires that you respond to this notice before the end of the

consultation period, which is close of business Tuesday, 4 May 2021.

You may consult with the FOI section by replying to this email:

[1][Department of Home Affairs request email]

Kind Regards

Will

Position no. 60043894

FOI Officer | Freedom of Information Section

FOI and Records Management Branch

Data Division | Corporate and Enabling Group

Department of Home Affairs

OFFICIAL

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by

the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received

this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and

attachments immediately. This email, including attachments, may contain

confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information

by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited.

The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have

obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this

email.

References

Visible links

1. mailto:[Department of Home Affairs request email]

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[FOI #7168 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...

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Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this email.

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OFFICIAL

Dear Eleanor,

Thank you for your email.

Yes we have received your revised scope. We are in the process of considering and seeing if we can find the documents.

Kind regards,

Will
Position No. 60046990
Authorised FOI Officer
Freedom of Information
E: [Department of Home Affairs request email]

OFFICIAL

-----Original Message-----
From: Eleanor Davey <[FOI #7168 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 11 May 2021 10:46 AM
To: FOI <[Department of Home Affairs request email]>
Subject: RE: FOI Request - FA 21/03/01159 - Practical Refusal Notice [SEC=OFFICIAL]

Dear Will and colleagues,

Just resending to ensure that my previous message (dated 5 May 2021) made it to you. I have copied it below again just in case.

Kind regards,
Eleanor

-----

Thank you for following up. I'm sorry this is proving so difficult to clarify and appreciate your patience.
Site assessments would refer specifically to the Nauru RPC (not, for example, to security issues in Nauru more generally); that said, they might encompass various issues such as physical terrain, accommodation, recreational or educational facilities. It is my understanding that these are usually assessed holistically in a single package when considering a site but if they were divided into separate documents I would like to request them all rather than only one element of the assessment. However, I would not need site assessments that were specifically designed for consideration of adult or staff needs.
To make the chronology more manageable, the request could be limited to 2012 and 2013 - that is, to the phases when decisions were being made about reopening the centres and their appropriateness for children and families.

Yours sincerely,

Eleanor Davey

-----Original Message-----

OFFICIAL

Dear Ms Davey,

Thanks for your email.

After consultation with the relevant business area they have confirmed that your revision of the scope won't narrow down the documents.

To help us try to find the documents you are after could you specify what you mean by 'site assessments'? For example, are you looking for assessments of the infrastructure, or security or something else more specific? Some more clarification would be helpful. Also, as the current date range is quite broad (2012-2018) if you are able to narrow this down further to a more specific date range that would also be very helpful.

If you have any questions regarding this please let us know via return email.

Kind regards,

Will
Position No. 60046990
Authorised FOI Officer
Freedom of Information
E: [email address]

OFFICIAL

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #7168 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...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

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 Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and attachments immediately. This email, including attachments, may contain confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this email.

hide quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Good morning Eleanor,

Thank you for your email.

Yes we apologise for the delay in getting back to you for this case. We had some documents that we thought were in scope but they turned out to be the wrong ones. So we are still searching for any documents that may be in scope. I have contacted another area of the Department and am waiting to see what they can find.

Thanks for your patience on this.

Yours sincerely

Will
Position No. 60043894
Authorised FOI Officer
Freedom of Information
E: [Department of Home Affairs request email]

OFFICIAL

-----Original Message-----
From: Eleanor Davey <[FOI #7168 email]>
Sent: Friday, 11 June 2021 3:42 PM
To: FOI <[Department of Home Affairs request email]>
Subject: RE: FOI Request - FA 21/03/01159 - Practical Refusal Notice [SEC=OFFICIAL]

Dear Will, dear FOI colleagues,

I was wondering if it would be possible to have an update on this request. I am conscious of the time frame for the normal response to the request and hope it can be resolved soon. Thanks again for your work on assessing it so far.