OFFICIAL

Reference: FOI/2022/209

Dear BE

Thank you for your email of 4 August 2022 in which you made a request
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department).

You set out the terms of the request as follows:

I seek access under the FOI Act 1982 to Question Time briefs (however
described).  This request is limited to Question Time briefs for the 47th
Parliament (ie Question Time briefs prepared for 27 – 28 July and 1-4
August).   I also request a copy of the Department’s current index of
Question Time briefs.   

Duplicate copies of the same document are not required, although different
or updated versions of a document are.  If a document contains tracked
changes or comments, it is requested that the document be provided in a
form where all tracked changes and comments are visible. 

Names and contact details for departmental staff below the SES level are
not required and can be treated as irrelevant under s22 of the Act for the
purposes of this request. 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

The 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the
day after the Department received your request, you should therefore
expect a decision from us by 5 September 2022.  The processing period of
30 days may be extended in certain circumstances and we will write to you
separately regarding any extension of time.

Charges

Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you
are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of
the charge as soon as possible.

Publication of documents

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[1]https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...,
subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any
objections to the publication of any of the information which may be
released to you please contact us by email at [2][DPMC request email].  If you
do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to
provide supporting reasons.

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:

·         any person’s signature;

·         the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);

·         the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;

·         the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.

If you consider that the information categorised above is relevant to the
terms of your request please let us know at [3][DPMC request email], otherwise
we will take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the
scope of your request (that is, the information will be treated as
irrelevant and deleted from any documents for release). The names and
other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless there is some
reason for that information to be exempt from release.

Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

Yours sincerely

Leisha

Coordinator | 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. [5][email address]  w. [6]pmc.gov.au

[7]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. https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://www.pmc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Our reference: FOI/2022/209

Dear BE

Please find attached correspondence regarding your request under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to discuss any aspect of
your request.

Yours sincerely,

Tina

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. [1][email address]  w. [2]pmc.gov.au

[3]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. https://www.pmc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Dear BE

Thank you for your email to PM&C revising the terms of your request.

It is our view that your request continues to attract practical refusal
reasons noting the large amount of documents that continues to fall within
the terms of the request. The work involved in processing your request,
including the assessment and extensive consultation that would be required
with responsible line areas and external agencies, would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the Department from its other
operations.

Please find attached the QTB Index comprising of 66 briefs with some third
party information redacted for privacy reasons. The brief is being
provided to you under administrative access arrangements to assist you to
further revise the scope of your request. To remove the practical refusal
reasons, you may wish to limit your request to the briefs that are of
particular interest or priority to you.

The current due date for a decision on your FOI request is Tuesday 6
September 2022, however we will be unable to issue a decision by this
date. Accordingly we seek your agreement under s15AA of the FOI Act for a
21 day extension of time to 27 September 2022. We will endeavour to
finalise your request sooner if possible.

We would be grateful for your response on both matters by COB Monday 5
September 2022.

Yours sincerely

Tina

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. [1][email address]  w. [2]pmc.gov.au

[3]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.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

FOI/2022/209

Dear BE

Please find attached the decision regarding your request under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982.

Yours sincerely

Tina

Adviser | FOI Section[]

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Ngunnawal Country | One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box
6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
e. [1][email address]  w. [2]pmc.gov.au

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D888E5.6B56D250 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. https://www.pmc.gov.au/