OFFICE OF THE HON MATT THISTLETHWAITE MP
Assistant Minister for Defence
Assistant Minister for Veterans Affairs
Assistant Minister for the Republic
Ref: FOI23/321; CM23/12513
Alex Pentland
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Alex
Freedom of Information Request FOI23/321 Decision letter
The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about your request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) which you submitted to the Attorney-General's Department
(the department). You were advised on 27 June 2023 that your request was transferred under
s 16(1) of the FOI Act to the Assistant Minister for the Republic.
Your request
On 26 June 2023, you requested access to:
I seek access to al Correspondence between the Assistant Minister for the Republic Matt
Thistlethwaite and the fol owing organisations from 1 June 2022 until today:
(a. ) Australian Monarchist League;
(b. ) Australian Republican Movement;
(c. ) Australians for Constitutional Monarchy; and
(d. ) Real Republic;
On 18 July 2023, the department wrote to you on behalf of the Assistant Minister for the Republic, advising
you that a practical refusal reason exists under section 24AA of the FOI Act, and requesting you reduce the
scope of your FOI request.
You replied to the department the same day requesting an internal review of your FOI request, and advised
that you did not wish to revise the scope of your request.
On 19 July 2023, the department, on behalf of the Assistant Minister for the Republic wrote to you advising
that an internal review for your FOI request was not possible during the consultation process and sought
your agreement to revise the scope of your request by 1 August 2023.
The department did not receive a further reply from you.
My decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to freedom of
information requests made to the department.
As advised in my letter of 18 July 2023, I have previously decided that a practical refusal reason exists in
relation to your FOI request within the meaning in section 24AA of the FOI Act (copy at Attachment A).
I am writing now to advise that, as you did not revise the scope of your FOI request, a practical refusal
reason still exists.
In coming to this decision, I have taken into consideration the ministerial office resources that would be
required to identify, locate and collate all documents within the scope of your request, and decide whether
to grant, refuse or defer access to each of those documents would divert the resources of the office from
its other operations.
Accordingly, I have decided to refuse access to the documents you requested pursuant to section 24(1)(b)
of the FOI Act (copy at Attachment A).
A similar FOI request has been published on the Attorney-
Disclosure Log. You may
wish to request a copy of the documents released for this request, FOI23/364 by emailing the Freedom of
Information team at xxx@xx.xxx.xx
Review rights and questions
Your review rights under the FOI Act are set out at Attachment B to this letter.
If you wish to discuss this decision, the FOI case officer for this matter is Kellie, who can be reached on
(02) 6141 6666 or by email to xxx@xx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely
Eleesa Hodgkinson |Chief of Staff
Office of the Hon Matt Thistlethwaite MP
2 August 2023
Attachments
Attachment A:
Sections 24AA and 24 of the FOI Act
Attachment B:
Review rights
Assistant Minister for the Republic Freedom of Information Request AMRO FOI23/321 Decision letter Page 2 of 4
Attachment A
Section 24AA of the FOI Act: When does a practical refusal reason exist?
(1) For the purposes of section 24, a practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request for
a document if either (or both) of the following applies:
(a) the work involved in processing the request:
(i) in the case of an agency--would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of
the agency from its other operations; or
(ii) in the case of a Minister--would substantially and unreasonably interfere with the
performance of the Minister's functions;
(b) the request does not satisfy the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b) (identification
of documents).
(2) Subject to subsection (3), but without limiting the matters to which the agency or Minister may
have regard, in deciding whether a practical refusal reason exists, the agency or Minister must
have regard to the resources that would have to be used for the fol owing:
(a) identifying, locating or collating the documents within the filing system of the agency, or the
office of the Minister;
(b) deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document to which
the request relates, or to grant access to an edited copy of such a document, including
resources that would have to be used for:
(i) examining the document; or
(ii) consulting with any person or body in relation to the request;
(c) making a copy, or an edited copy, of the document;
(d) notifying any interim or final decision on the request.
(3) In deciding whether a practical refusal reason exists, an agency or Minister must not have regard
to:
(a) any reasons that the applicant gives for requesting access; or
(b) the agency's or Minister's belief as to what the applicant's reasons are for requesting access;
or
(c) any maximum amount, specified in the regulations, payable as a charge for processing
a request of that kind.
Section 24 of the FOI Act: Power to refuse request--diversion of resources etc.
(1) If an agency or Minister is satisfied, when dealing with a request for a document, that a practical
refusal reason exists in relation to the request (see section 24AA), the agency or Minister:
(a) must undertake a request consultation process (see section 24AB); and
(b) if, after the request consultation process, the agency or Minister is satisfied that the practical
refusal reason still exists--the agency or Minister may refuse to give access to
the document in accordance with the request.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the agency or Minister may treat 2 or more requests as a
single request if the agency or Minister is satisfied that:
(a) the requests relate to the same document or documents; or
(b) the requests relate to documents, the subject matter of which is substantially the same.
Assistant Minister for the Republic Freedom of Information Request AMRO FOI23/321 Decision letter Page 3 of 4
Attachment B
FOI Review rights
If you are dissatisfied with the decision of the Attorney-
apply for internal review or Information Commissioner review of the decision.
The department encourages applicants to consider seeking internal review as a first step as it may provide
a more rapid resolution of your concerns.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), applications for internal review must be
made in writing within 30 days of the date of the decision letter, and be lodged in one of the following
ways:
email: xxx@xx.xxx.xx
post: Freedom of Information and Privacy Section
Strategy and Governance Branch
Attorney-
3-5 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600
An officer of the department other than the officer who made the original decision will complete the
internal review within 30 days of receipt of your request.
Providing reasons you believe internal review of the decision is necessary will facilitate the completion of
the internal review.
Information Commissioner review
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner to review my
decision. An application for review by the Information Commissioner must be made in writing within 60
days of the date of the decision letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:
online: https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICR_10
email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001
More information about Information Commissioner review is available on the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner website. Go to https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-
freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-information-reviews/information-commissioner-review
Assistant Minister for the Republic Freedom of Information Request AMRO FOI23/321 Decision letter Page 4 of 4
