UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Tymeka

Thank you for your FOI request below.

I note that it is highly unlikely that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) would be in possession of documents that the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Abbott, has relied upon in relation to possible changes of immigration laws. It is most likely that documents of this nature, should they exist, would be held by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C).

Please advise whether you wish DIBP to continue to process your request (including consideration of its validity under the FOI Act), or whether you would prefer to withdraw it and submit it to PM&C. Your response by close of business Thursday, 19 February 2015, would be appreciate. The department will continue to process your request in the meantime.

Yours sincerely,
Beth Morrison

FOI Coordinator
Freedom of Information Section - Department of Immigration and Border Protection
Telephone: (02) 6264 1699
Email: [email address]

show quoted sections

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 15/02/01190 ; ADF2015/6701

 

Dear Tymeka

 

I refer to your request for access to information, received on 13 February
2015, for:

 

There has been recent speculation that Tony Abbott is changing immigration
laws due to recent terrorist plots.

 

Is there any documentation revealing this?

 

This email is to advise that the department has not accepted your request
as valid under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). This is
because your request is for 'information' and not for a document in the
department's possession at the time of your request. I will outline more
fully the reasons for this below.

 

Access to Documents

The right to request documents under the FOI Act is outlined in the
Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC):

 

Section 11(1) of the FOI Act gives every person a legally enforceable
right to obtain access to a document of an agency or an official document
of a minister, unless the document is exempt. [para 2.1]

 

The right of access enshrined in the FOI Act applies to ‘documents’. This
term is defined in s 4(1) to include maps, photographs, and any article
from which sounds, images or writing are capable of being reproduced (for
example, emails). There is no general obligation on agencies to reduce
information to written documentary form in order to facilitate an FOI
request, except in relation to information that is stored on a computer
tape or disk (s 17). [para 1.26]

 

The right of access is to existing documents, rather than to information.
The FOI Act does not require an agency or minister to create a new
document in response to a request for access, except in limited
circumstances where the applicant seeks access in a different format (see
Part 8 of these Guidelines) or where the information is stored in an
agency computer system rather than in discrete form.

The right of access applies to documents that exist at the time the FOI
request was made. [para 3.8]

 

Therefore, any general request for 'information' or 'data' that does not
already exist in a document held by the department is considered an
invalid request.

 

The full Guidelines can be accessed on the OAIC's website at:
[1]http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...

 

This request has been closed.

 

Yours Sincerely

Beth Morrison

 

FOI Coordinator

Freedom of Information Section - Department of Immigration and Border
Protection
Telephone: (02) 6264 1699
Email: [2][email address]

 

UNCLASSIFIED

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References

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