OFFICIAL

Reference: FOI/2024/219

Dear Ms Torrens

Thank you for your email of 11 July 2024 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 am requesting access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (Cth), specifically seeking copies of all correspondence sent from
the Australian government to the United Nations regarding the topics of
Israel and Palestine, covering the period from January 2000 to the present
day, 2024. My request includes:

Diplomatic Correspondence: All letters, emails, and communiqués sent to
the United Nations or its affiliated bodies that discuss or mention Israel
and Palestine, including but not limited to issues concerning conflicts,
peace processes, humanitarian aid, and resolutions.

Meeting Summaries: Summaries or records of meetings involving Australian
and UN officials where discussions about Israel and Palestine took place.

Position Papers and Briefings: Any position papers, policy briefings, or
statements prepared by or for the Australian government for submission to
the United Nations regarding Israel and Palestine.

Reports on UN Resolutions: Any communications related to Australian
government positions on United Nations resolutions concerning Israel and
Palestine.

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 12 August 2024.  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....

Kind regards,

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

______________________________________________________________________ 
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

Dear Deborah ,

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

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

[5]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/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

OFFICIAL

Dear Deborah ,

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

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

[5]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/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

OFFICIAL

Dear Deborah ,

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

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

[5]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/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

OFFICIAL

Ref: FOI 2024/217-218-219

Dear Ms Torrens

We write to follow-up on our email below seeking clarification on your
revised request.

It would be appreciated if you could respond by COB 19 September 2024. If
we do no hear from you by this date, we may proceed to a decision based on
the information available.

Feel free to contact us should you have any questions about the processing
of your request.

Kind regards

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

[5]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.

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 9 September 2024 11:18 AM
To: [email address]
Cc: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: PM&C FOI Request - 2024/217-218-218 - Seeking additional
information [SEC=OFFICIAL]

OFFICIAL

Dear Ms Torrens

I write in relation to your FOI Request in the following terms (revised):

Narrowing the Timeframe: I will limit the scope of my request to documents
created or received between January 2023 and July 2024. This should
substantially reduce the volume of documents and focus the search on more
recent materials.

Specific Document Types: Instead of requesting a wide range of documents,
I will focus on formal correspondence, briefings, and submissions
specifically related to Australia's support provided to Israel and
Palestine, as well as any communications sent to the United Nations on
these matters.

Clarification of Departmental Relevance: I understand that not all aspects
of my request may fall within the purview of the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet. Therefore, I am particularly interested in documents
prepared by or for the Prime Minister, including any advice provided by
your Department regarding Australia’s position on Israel and Palestine in
international forums.

Apologies for the delay in processing your request, the Department has
undertaken fresh searches for documents related to your revised request.
Unfortunately, the scope is still too broad to process and we require some
additional information from you to enable us to conduct more targeted
searches.

In relation to your request for “formal correspondence, briefings, and
submissions specifically related to Australia's support provided to Israel
and Palestine”, it would assist if you could specify what kind of support
you are seeking information on, for example, financial, humanitarian/aid,
military or political etc.  Please be advised DFAT is the lead agency for
communications to the UN not PM&C.

Regarding “documents prepared by or for the Prime Minister, including any
advice provided by your Department regarding Australia’s position on
Israel and Palestine in international forums”, it would be helpful if you
could define which international forums you are seeking the communications
from. It is noted that Australia is a member of a number of multilateral
and regional forums.

Once you are able to provide a bit more clarification around the scope of
your request we will be able to better identify the documents in our
searches.

Feel free to contact us should you have any questions about the processing
of your request.

Kind regards

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. [6][email address]  w. [7]pmc.gov.au

[8]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[9]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[10]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/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
6. mailto:[email address]
7. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
8. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
9. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

OFFICIAL

Ref: FOI 2024/217-218-219

Dear Ms Torrens

We write to follow-up on our email below seeking clarification on your
revised request.

It would be appreciated if you could respond by COB 19 September 2024. If
we do no hear from you by this date, we may proceed to a decision based on
the information available.

Feel free to contact us should you have any questions about the processing
of your request.

Kind regards

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

[5]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.

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 9 September 2024 11:18 AM
To: [email address]
Cc: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: PM&C FOI Request - 2024/217-218-218 - Seeking additional
information [SEC=OFFICIAL]

OFFICIAL

Dear Ms Torrens

I write in relation to your FOI Request in the following terms (revised):

Narrowing the Timeframe: I will limit the scope of my request to documents
created or received between January 2023 and July 2024. This should
substantially reduce the volume of documents and focus the search on more
recent materials.

Specific Document Types: Instead of requesting a wide range of documents,
I will focus on formal correspondence, briefings, and submissions
specifically related to Australia's support provided to Israel and
Palestine, as well as any communications sent to the United Nations on
these matters.

Clarification of Departmental Relevance: I understand that not all aspects
of my request may fall within the purview of the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet. Therefore, I am particularly interested in documents
prepared by or for the Prime Minister, including any advice provided by
your Department regarding Australia’s position on Israel and Palestine in
international forums.

Apologies for the delay in processing your request, the Department has
undertaken fresh searches for documents related to your revised request.
Unfortunately, the scope is still too broad to process and we require some
additional information from you to enable us to conduct more targeted
searches.

In relation to your request for “formal correspondence, briefings, and
submissions specifically related to Australia's support provided to Israel
and Palestine”, it would assist if you could specify what kind of support
you are seeking information on, for example, financial, humanitarian/aid,
military or political etc.  Please be advised DFAT is the lead agency for
communications to the UN not PM&C.

Regarding “documents prepared by or for the Prime Minister, including any
advice provided by your Department regarding Australia’s position on
Israel and Palestine in international forums”, it would be helpful if you
could define which international forums you are seeking the communications
from. It is noted that Australia is a member of a number of multilateral
and regional forums.

Once you are able to provide a bit more clarification around the scope of
your request we will be able to better identify the documents in our
searches.

Feel free to contact us should you have any questions about the processing
of your request.

Kind regards

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. [6][email address]  w. [7]pmc.gov.au

[8]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[9]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[10]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/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
6. mailto:[email address]
7. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
8. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
9. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

OFFICIAL

Ref: FOI 2024/217-218-219

Dear Ms Torrens

We write to follow-up on our email below seeking clarification on your
revised request.

It would be appreciated if you could respond by COB 19 September 2024. If
we do no hear from you by this date, we may proceed to a decision based on
the information available.

Feel free to contact us should you have any questions about the processing
of your request.

Kind regards

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

[5]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.

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 9 September 2024 11:18 AM
To: [email address]
Cc: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: PM&C FOI Request - 2024/217-218-218 - Seeking additional
information [SEC=OFFICIAL]

OFFICIAL

Dear Ms Torrens

I write in relation to your FOI Request in the following terms (revised):

Narrowing the Timeframe: I will limit the scope of my request to documents
created or received between January 2023 and July 2024. This should
substantially reduce the volume of documents and focus the search on more
recent materials.

Specific Document Types: Instead of requesting a wide range of documents,
I will focus on formal correspondence, briefings, and submissions
specifically related to Australia's support provided to Israel and
Palestine, as well as any communications sent to the United Nations on
these matters.

Clarification of Departmental Relevance: I understand that not all aspects
of my request may fall within the purview of the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet. Therefore, I am particularly interested in documents
prepared by or for the Prime Minister, including any advice provided by
your Department regarding Australia’s position on Israel and Palestine in
international forums.

Apologies for the delay in processing your request, the Department has
undertaken fresh searches for documents related to your revised request.
Unfortunately, the scope is still too broad to process and we require some
additional information from you to enable us to conduct more targeted
searches.

In relation to your request for “formal correspondence, briefings, and
submissions specifically related to Australia's support provided to Israel
and Palestine”, it would assist if you could specify what kind of support
you are seeking information on, for example, financial, humanitarian/aid,
military or political etc.  Please be advised DFAT is the lead agency for
communications to the UN not PM&C.

Regarding “documents prepared by or for the Prime Minister, including any
advice provided by your Department regarding Australia’s position on
Israel and Palestine in international forums”, it would be helpful if you
could define which international forums you are seeking the communications
from. It is noted that Australia is a member of a number of multilateral
and regional forums.

Once you are able to provide a bit more clarification around the scope of
your request we will be able to better identify the documents in our
searches.

Feel free to contact us should you have any questions about the processing
of your request.

Kind regards

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. [6][email address]  w. [7]pmc.gov.au

[8]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[9]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[10]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/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
6. mailto:[email address]
7. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
8. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
9. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...