Dear Julie,

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (the department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:

In a news article published by The Canberra Times on 19 July 2019 current
Veterans Affairs Secretary Liz Cosson (best known for leaving a highly
sensitive dossier of classified information in the Qantas Lounge, on the
suicide of a veteran) 'promised to change the adversarial culture of the
agency ... [known for its] ruthless way it has dealt with veterans for
many years', stating 'we are changing ... [and I urge] people to get in
touch ... [via] secretary @ dva.gov.au' if they had a problem with any
member of Veterans Affairs. I've been advised that the Office of the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs manages this secretary @ dva.gov.au inbox
and maintains statistics regarding the emails this address receives as
well as record of what action it chose to take or not to take.

As this information is kept electronically, it is not available in a
discrete hardcopy document and therefore can be prepared using resources
ordinarily available to Veterans Affairs.

I request a table listing the number of emails received by the secretary @
dva.gov.au group inbox (which is used only for this purpose) since its
announcement on 1 July 2019, and the number of emails the Office of the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs who manage this group inbox decided would be
classified as 'no further action' (or in plain English, ignored or decided
would receive no response from the Office of the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs or the Secretary).

To avoid doubt, I do not give consent for notices to be given in any other
form other than in unencrypted PDF format sent directly to my address for
notices, nor do I give consent for any s 22 redactions.

Your request was received by the department on 3 May 2022 and the 30 day
statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after
that date. The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult
third parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act. We will
advise you if this happens.

Charges

The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your
request and the amount of any such charge as soon as practicable. No
charge is payable for providing a person with their own personal
information.

Your address

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[1][FOI #8853 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.

Disclosure log

Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

Request to treat certain material as out of scope or irrelevant to the
request

As requested: I do not give consent for notices to be given in any other
form other than in unencrypted PDF format sent directly to my address for
notices, nor do I give consent for any s 22 redactions.

Further assistance

If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]

Yours sincerely

Aaron (position number 62214261)

Registration Officer

Information Access Unit

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

t 1800 838 372 | e [3][email address] |
[4]www.dva.gov.au

p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601

[5]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #8853 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/

Dear Julie,

Please see attached the decision in regards to your FOI request – LEX
49447.

Kind regards

Isaac (Position Number 62329534)

Information Access Officer

Information Access Unit

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

e [email address]

Dear Julie,

Thank you for sending in the internal review request that has now been
registered under reference LEX 50042.

Please accept this as the formal acknowledgement and copies of relevant
documents will be sent to you in due course.

Contacting you about your request

You have advised your electronic address is
[1][FOI #8853 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.

If you have any questions, please contact us using the following details:

Post:      Information Access Unit,

Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

GPO Box 9998 BRISBANE QLD 4001

Email:   [2][DVA request email]

Yours sincerely,

Aaron (position number 62214261)

Registration Officer

Information Access Unit

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

t 1800 838 372 | e [3][email address] |
[4]www.dva.gov.au

p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601

[5]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #8853 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/

Good morning Julie A,

Please find attached the internal review decision LEX 50042 in relation to
Lex 49447.

I have affirmed the original decision.

Regards

Brett

Assistant Director

Information Access Unit

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

“DVA is committed to supporting veterans and their families.  We all
deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect.  We ask that you treat us
the same way”. 

DVA has arrangements in place for staff to work at home as much as
possible to contribute to the Nation’s agenda to minimise social
interaction and support social distancing. To assist us it would be
appreciated if you could communicate with me via email using this address
[email address]

Dear Ms Julie,

I refer to previous Information Access requests you made to the Department
of Veterans’ Affairs (Department) – LEX 49947 and LEX 50042 (internal
review of LEX 49947).

On 15 September 2022, the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) sent the Department a notice under section 54Z of the
FOI Act, advising that you sought their review of the decisions (OAIC
reference numbers: MR22/01212).

In response to the OAIC review, the Department has decided to make a
substituted decision under section 55G of the FOI Act.

Please find the Department’s decision attached.

Kind regards

Ramona | Assistant Director

Position Number: 62336362

Information Access Unit I Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch

Client Engagement and Support Services Division

Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Tel 1800 838 372 (1800 VETERAN)

e [1][email address]

[2]www.dva.gov.au

[3]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[4]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[5]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[6]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590

[7]cid:image009.jpg@01D8EDC8.743A0070

[8]cid:image010.jpg@01D8EDC8.743A0070

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.dva.gov.au/
3. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
4. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
5. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
6. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus