Thank you for your email to the Freedom of Information Team at the
Department of Finance. An officer will respond to your email shortly. In
the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
the FOI Team on (02) 6215 1783.

Kind regards,

FOI Team, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.

 

Kind regards

 

FOI Coordinator

 

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UNCLASSIFIED

Good afternoon Eddie,

 

Freedom of Information Request – FOI 18/96

Thank you for your email to the Department of Finance (Finance) requesting
access to the following under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act):

 

… a copy of all explanatory material and a copy of the question that was
asked in the 1988 referendum on  Local Government.

 

Under the FOI Act, a ‘document’ does not include material maintained for
reference purposes that is otherwise publicly available (see section
4(1)).

 

Publicly available information

Finance notes that the documents/information you are seeking is publicly
available. Specifically, the Parliamentary Handbook (2014) includes a part
on Referendum Results, accessible [1]here, which details the questions
asked in referendums, including the 1988 Referendum. The yes and no case
for this referendum is detailed in Part 2 of ‘Constitutional Change’,
tabled in the House of Representatives on 24 March 1997 and accessible
[2]here. Further information on the referendum can be obtained from the
National Library of Australia:

 

·         Yes or no? : referendums Saturday 3 September 1988 : the cases
for and against / authorised by the Australian Electoral Commission, AEC:
see [3]https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2007...

·         [Referendum, 3 September 1988 : ephemera relating to the
campaign on the questions of Parliamentary terms, fair elections, local
government, rights and freedoms]: see
[4]https:/catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2594620?lookfor=subject:%22Australia%20Constitution%20(Local%20Government)%201988.%22&offset=1&max=1

 

Way forward

Having regard to the information that is publicly accessible and section
12 of the FOI Act, Finance is of the view that your request is not valid.
Furthermore, we note that the AEC may be better placed to process any
request regarding referendums where documents are not publicly accessible,
noting their role in referendums (explained here:
[5]https://aec.gov.au/Elections/referendums...).

 

On this basis, unless we receive a valid FOI request or hear further from
you, we propose to treat this matter as finalised.

 

Kind regards

FOI Officer

 

[6]cid:image001.jpg@01D20F6A.7457D930

 

FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch

Business Enabling Services

Department of Finance

T: 02 6215 1783 E: [7][Finance request email]

A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

UNCLASSIFIED

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/down...
2. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Bus...
3. https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2007...
4. https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2594...
5. https://aec.gov.au/Elections/referendums...
7. mailto:[Finance request email]