Tender Guidelines
Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
I request a copy of the following documents
- The department's guidelines for the awarding of tenders
Yours faithfully,
John Smith
** This is an automated response. Please do not reply to this email **
Thank you for contacting the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
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National Information Access Processing
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Phone: 1800 555 254
[1]www.dva.gov.au/about-us/our-business-reporting/freedom-information
References
Visible links
1. http://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/our-busin...
Dear Mr Smith,
Freedom of Information Request: FOI 38201 Acknowledgement
I refer to your request for access to documents held by the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs (Department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(FOI Act). Your request was received by the Department on 15 September
2020, and was made in the following terms:
I request a copy of the following documents
- The department's guidelines for the awarding of tenders
In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, the due date for a
decision on your request is 15 October 2020.
Interrupted work practices impacted by COVID-19
The Department is continuing to work through its FOI case load as quickly
as possible. However, the Department is and will continue to experience an
interruption in the way it will be able to manage FOI requests. As you are
likely to be aware, COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has been declared a pandemic by
the World Health Organisation. As the Department focuses its efforts on
managing the impact of COVID-19 on its critical services and employees,
other non-critical services may not be delivered within expected
timeframes. It is possible that during this time, business areas that
would ordinarily have capacity to undertake searches and assist in the
processing of FOI requests may not be readily available to provide that
assistance. This may have an impact on the manner and timeframe in which
the Department can process FOI requests.
We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and
cooperation during this period.
When the processing period may be extended or suspended
The current due date may be extended by up to 30 days if agreed by you
(section 15AA of the FOI Act). Also, the due date may be extended by an
additional 30 days in each instance, if your request is considered
voluminous or complex (section 15AB of the FOI Act) or if the Department
is required to undertake a third party consultation (sections 26A, 27 or
27A of the FOI Act). If any of these extensions apply, the Department will
notify you. Additionally, there are occasions where the time to process
your request may be suspended. This will usually take place if a practical
refusal consultation process takes place (section 24AB of the FOI Act) or
if a charges notice is issued to process your request (section 29 of the
FOI Act).
If the Department decides that either of these apply to your request, the
Department will notify you.
Communication with you
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[FOI #6721 email]. We will send all notices and
correspondence to this address. Please advise us if you wish
correspondence to be sent to another address or if your address changes.
If you do not advise us of changes to your address, correspondence and
notices will continue to be sent to the address specified above.
FOI Disclosure Log
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published in a disclosure log on the Department’s website at
[1]https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview....
Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication, however it is
subject to certain exceptions, including where publication of personal,
business, professional or commercial information would be unreasonable.
When a decision is provided to you, the Department will advise if the
documents released to you will be published on the Department’s FOI
Disclosure log.
Contacting us about your request
We will email again when the Department has more information. Should you
have any enquiries concerning this matter, please contact me at
[2][email address].
Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at
[3]https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
Yours sincerely,
Molly (Position Number 62213164)
Legal Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
t 1800 555 254 | e [4][email address] | [5]www.dva.gov.au
p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
[6]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[7]cid:image001.png@01D32593.9CC39540The Department acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of the land throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to country, sea and community. We pay our respect to all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures and to their
elders past and present.
Dear Mr Smith
I refer to your FOI request FOI 38201, as made in the following terms:
I request a copy of the following documents
- The department's guidelines for the awarding of tenders
I referred your FOI request to the Department’s Provider Engagement &
Management Branch for review (the Branch).
The Branch advised that the Department does not hold any documents in
scope of your request that are not already publically available. This is
because the Department’s procurement is handled in accordance with the
Commonwealth Procurement Rules. The link to the guidelines and
requirements for all types of procurements can be found at:
[1]https://www.finance.gov.au/government/pr....
Noting that the Department does not hold any documents in scope of you
request, we ask that you confirm whether you agree to withdraw your
request by COB 2 September 2020.
Kind regards
Molly
Molly (Position Number 62213164)
Legal Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
t 1800 555 254 | e [2][email address] | [3]www.dva.gov.au
p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
[4]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[5]cid:image001.png@01D32593.9CC39540The Department acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of the land throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to country, sea and community. We pay our respect to all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures and to their
elders past and present.
IMPORTANT: This document contains legal advice and may be subject to legal
professional privilege. Unless it is waived or lost, legal professional
privilege is a rule of law that, in part, provides that the client need
not disclose confidential communications between a legal practitioner and
client. To keep this privilege, the purpose and content of this advice
must only be disclosed to persons who have a need to know and on the basis
that those persons also keep it confidential.
You should consider this advice and take it into account when forming a
decision on how best to proceed. If you decide to adopt a position that
does not align with this advice, you should not state that DVA Legal
Services & Audit Branch has cleared or endorsed a particular position.
From: INFORMATION.LAW
Sent: Thursday, 17 September 2020 3:13 PM
To: 'John Smith'
Cc: INFORMATION.LAW
Subject: FOI Acknowledgment – FOI 38201 - Right to Know - JOHN SMITH
[SEC=OFFICIAL]
Dear Mr Smith,
Freedom of Information Request: FOI 38201 Acknowledgement
I refer to your request for access to documents held by the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs (Department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(FOI Act). Your request was received by the Department on 15 September
2020, and was made in the following terms:
I request a copy of the following documents
- The department's guidelines for the awarding of tenders
In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, the due date for a
decision on your request is 15 October 2020.
Interrupted work practices impacted by COVID-19
The Department is continuing to work through its FOI case load as quickly
as possible. However, the Department is and will continue to experience an
interruption in the way it will be able to manage FOI requests. As you are
likely to be aware, COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has been declared a pandemic by
the World Health Organisation. As the Department focuses its efforts on
managing the impact of COVID-19 on its critical services and employees,
other non-critical services may not be delivered within expected
timeframes. It is possible that during this time, business areas that
would ordinarily have capacity to undertake searches and assist in the
processing of FOI requests may not be readily available to provide that
assistance. This may have an impact on the manner and timeframe in which
the Department can process FOI requests.
We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and
cooperation during this period.
When the processing period may be extended or suspended
The current due date may be extended by up to 30 days if agreed by you
(section 15AA of the FOI Act). Also, the due date may be extended by an
additional 30 days in each instance, if your request is considered
voluminous or complex (section 15AB of the FOI Act) or if the Department
is required to undertake a third party consultation (sections 26A, 27 or
27A of the FOI Act). If any of these extensions apply, the Department will
notify you. Additionally, there are occasions where the time to process
your request may be suspended. This will usually take place if a practical
refusal consultation process takes place (section 24AB of the FOI Act) or
if a charges notice is issued to process your request (section 29 of the
FOI Act).
If the Department decides that either of these apply to your request, the
Department will notify you.
Communication with you
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[6][FOI #6721 email]. We will send all notices
and correspondence to this address. Please advise us if you wish
correspondence to be sent to another address or if your address changes.
If you do not advise us of changes to your address, correspondence and
notices will continue to be sent to the address specified above.
FOI Disclosure Log
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published in a disclosure log on the Department’s website at
[7]https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview....
Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication, however it is
subject to certain exceptions, including where publication of personal,
business, professional or commercial information would be unreasonable.
When a decision is provided to you, the Department will advise if the
documents released to you will be published on the Department’s FOI
Disclosure log.
Contacting us about your request
We will email again when the Department has more information. Should you
have any enquiries concerning this matter, please contact me at
[8][email address].
Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at
[9]https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
Yours sincerely,
Molly (Position Number 62213164)
Legal Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
t 1800 555 254 | e [10][email address] | [11]www.dva.gov.au
p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
[12]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[13]cid:image001.png@01D32593.9CC39540The Department acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of the land throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to country, sea and community. We pay our respect to all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures and to their
elders past and present.
** This is an automated response. Please do not reply to this email **
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Thank you for your email. The Department will take all reasonable efforts
to respond to your email and process your request.
Please note that due the threat of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the Department
is experiencing a diversion of resources that are critical to managing
Australia’s response. This means we may not be able to process your
request within the expected timeframe and where needed, will be seeking
extensions of time to manage requests and may need to consult with you if
your request is not clear or is for a large and unmanageable number of
documents. The Department remains committed to ensuring it can process as
many information access requests as it can during the pandemic. We ask for
your assistance by only making requests where they are of a priority and
to ensure those requests are as specific as possible.
We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding,
cooperation and patience during this difficult time for all Australians.
More detailed messaging can be found on the Department’s website at
[1]https://www.dva.gov.au/newsroom/latest-n....
Kind regards,
Information Law Section
Department of Veterans' Affairs
References
Visible links
1. https://www.dva.gov.au/newsroom/latest-n...
Dear Mr Smith,
Please see attached correspondence in relation to your FOI requests:
38197, 38198, 38200 and 38202.
Kind regards,
Molly (Position Number 62213164)
Legal Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
t 1800 555 254 | e [1][email address] | [2]www.dva.gov.au
p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
[3]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[4]cid:image001.png@01D32593.9CC39540The Department acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of the land throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to country, sea and community. We pay our respect to all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures and to their
elders past and present.
IMPORTANT: This document contains legal advice and may be subject to legal
professional privilege. Unless it is waived or lost, legal professional
privilege is a rule of law that, in part, provides that the client need
not disclose confidential communications between a legal practitioner and
client. To keep this privilege, the purpose and content of this advice
must only be disclosed to persons who have a need to know and on the basis
that those persons also keep it confidential.
You should consider this advice and take it into account when forming a
decision on how best to proceed. If you decide to adopt a position that
does not align with this advice, you should not state that DVA Legal
Services & Audit Branch has cleared or endorsed a particular position.
Dear Mr Smith,
Please see attached correspondence in relation to your FOI requests:
38197, 38198, 38200 and 38202.
Kind regards,
Molly (Position Number 62213164)
Legal Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
t 1800 555 254 | e [1][email address] | [2]www.dva.gov.au
p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
[3]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[4]cid:image001.png@01D32593.9CC39540The Department acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of the land throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to country, sea and community. We pay our respect to all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures and to their
elders past and present.
IMPORTANT: This document contains legal advice and may be subject to legal
professional privilege. Unless it is waived or lost, legal professional
privilege is a rule of law that, in part, provides that the client need
not disclose confidential communications between a legal practitioner and
client. To keep this privilege, the purpose and content of this advice
must only be disclosed to persons who have a need to know and on the basis
that those persons also keep it confidential.
You should consider this advice and take it into account when forming a
decision on how best to proceed. If you decide to adopt a position that
does not align with this advice, you should not state that DVA Legal
Services & Audit Branch has cleared or endorsed a particular position.
Dear Mr Smith,
Please see attached correspondence in relation to your FOI requests:
38197, 38198, 38200 and 38202.
Kind regards,
Molly (Position Number 62213164)
Legal Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
t 1800 555 254 | e [1][email address] | [2]www.dva.gov.au
p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
[3]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[4]cid:image001.png@01D32593.9CC39540The Department acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of the land throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to country, sea and community. We pay our respect to all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures and to their
elders past and present.
IMPORTANT: This document contains legal advice and may be subject to legal
professional privilege. Unless it is waived or lost, legal professional
privilege is a rule of law that, in part, provides that the client need
not disclose confidential communications between a legal practitioner and
client. To keep this privilege, the purpose and content of this advice
must only be disclosed to persons who have a need to know and on the basis
that those persons also keep it confidential.
You should consider this advice and take it into account when forming a
decision on how best to proceed. If you decide to adopt a position that
does not align with this advice, you should not state that DVA Legal
Services & Audit Branch has cleared or endorsed a particular position.
Dear Mr Smith,
Please see attached correspondence in relation to your FOI requests:
38197, 38198, 38200 and 38202.
Kind regards,
Molly (Position Number 62213164)
Legal Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
t 1800 555 254 | e [1][email address] | [2]www.dva.gov.au
p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
[3]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[4]cid:image001.png@01D32593.9CC39540The Department acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of the land throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to country, sea and community. We pay our respect to all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures and to their
elders past and present.
IMPORTANT: This document contains legal advice and may be subject to legal
professional privilege. Unless it is waived or lost, legal professional
privilege is a rule of law that, in part, provides that the client need
not disclose confidential communications between a legal practitioner and
client. To keep this privilege, the purpose and content of this advice
must only be disclosed to persons who have a need to know and on the basis
that those persons also keep it confidential.
You should consider this advice and take it into account when forming a
decision on how best to proceed. If you decide to adopt a position that
does not align with this advice, you should not state that DVA Legal
Services & Audit Branch has cleared or endorsed a particular position.
Dear Mr Smith,
Please see attached correspondence in relation to your FOI requests:
38197, 38198, 38200 and 38202.
Kind regards,
Molly (Position Number 62213164)
Legal Officer
Information Law Section
Legal Services and Audit Branch
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
t 1800 555 254 | e [1][email address] | [2]www.dva.gov.au
p GPO Box 9998, Canberra ACT 2601
[3]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[4]cid:image001.png@01D32593.9CC39540The Department acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of the land throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to country, sea and community. We pay our respect to all
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures and to their
elders past and present.
IMPORTANT: This document contains legal advice and may be subject to legal
professional privilege. Unless it is waived or lost, legal professional
privilege is a rule of law that, in part, provides that the client need
not disclose confidential communications between a legal practitioner and
client. To keep this privilege, the purpose and content of this advice
must only be disclosed to persons who have a need to know and on the basis
that those persons also keep it confidential.
You should consider this advice and take it into account when forming a
decision on how best to proceed. If you decide to adopt a position that
does not align with this advice, you should not state that DVA Legal
Services & Audit Branch has cleared or endorsed a particular position.