OFFICIAL

Hi Janelle,

Thank you for your request made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(Cth) (FOI Act).  We hope to be able to assist you to seek an answer to
this request.

Request better directed to relevant authority of a State or Territory

I anticipate you have directed your FOI request to ACIC on the basis it
hosts a number of national policing information systems, including the
[1]National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS).

NAFIS is a fingerprint and palm print database and matching system, which
is used by police agencies (but not by the ACIC) to help solve crime and
identify individuals by establishing a person’s identity from fingerprint
and palm impressions. The NAFIS allows police to upload and search in near
'real time' for fingerprint data obtained from an arrest point, or from
evidence obtained at a crime scene. This makes it possible to identify a
person of interest within minutes and link that identity to existing
warnings, warrants or associated criminal activity information held within
other police information reference systems.  Only fingerprints collected
by participating agencies pursuant to their statutory functions are
contained in this database.

While NAFIS is hosted by the ACIC, the data contained within it is
provisioned from, and owned by, the relevant policing jurisdictions. The
data is provided in confidence to ACIC, and ACIC does not have its own
authority to disclose the data contained within NAFIS. Even within the FOI
context, ACIC is required to seek the approval of the body who provisioned
the data to release information from within NAFIS.  Accordingly, the ACIC
strongly recommends that the information you have requested would be
better sought directly from the relevant policing agency in the
jurisdiction in which you believe the fingerprints to have been collected.
All States and Territories have their own respective legislative
frameworks for seeking such information.

More information is required to make a valid FOI request to the ACIC

If you still wish to pursue an FOI request to the ACIC noting the above,
we require further information to enable us to identify the information
you seek. Section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act requires that you provide
information reasonably necessary to enable us to identify the documents
you seek. At this time, I have taken your request to be for ‘the
fingerprints of Aaron James Doughty’. Due to the nature of the information
sought, we require the date of birth of Aaron James Doughty, as well as
the jurisdiction in which you believe the fingerprints to have been
collected, to enable us to conduct searches and isolate the personal
information, if in our possession, of the subject.

As noted above, if any records were identified in ACIC’s possession, ACIC
will need to consult with the relevant jurisdiction who collected the
fingerprint and this would likely require more time than it would take for
you to approach the relevant agency yourself.

Action required

We recommend you approach the relevant jurisdiction’s policing authority.

ACIC will assume you have proceeded with our advice and will treat your
request as withdrawn if we have not received further correspondence from
you indicating otherwise by 5 July 2022.

Regards,

FOI Delegate
Legal ACT

[2]cid:image001.png@01D3306D.813A81A0 E: [3][email address]

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[4]cid:image002.jpg@01D3306D.813A81A0  [5]cid:image003.jpg@01D3306D.813A81A0

The ACIC acknowledges the
traditional custodians and we pay
our respects to Elders past, present [6]cid:image006.png@01D3E3AB.09F859E0
and future. We recognise and
celebrate their culture, connection
to land, water and community.

NOTE RE LEGAL PRIVILEGE: This message may contain legal advice and may be
the subject of a claim for legal professional privilege. Care should be
taken to avoid unintended waiver of that privilege. Unintended waiver can
occur if the existence or content of the advice is disclosed. If legal
professional privilege is waived, the whole of the legal advice may have
to be produced in litigation or under FOI. The author should be consulted
prior to any decision to disclose the existence or content of this advice
to a third party

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