OFFICIAL
Our ref:
FOI25/593; CM25/28994
28 January 2026
Waldek
By emai
l: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Waldek
Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593 – Decision letter
I write to give you a decision about your request to the Attorney-General's Department (the
department) for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
Your request
On 29 November 2025, you requested access to:
the five unpublished submissions that were made to the AGD on the Public Interest Disclosure
and Other Legislation Amendment (Whistleblower Protections) Bill 2025.
On 2 December 2025, the department acknowledged your request and sought your agreement to an
extension of time of 30-days under s 15AA of the FOI Act. On the same day, you wrote to the
department indicating you did not agree to this extension of time.
On 8 December 2025, the department wrote to seek your agreement to exclude the following
categories of information from the documents in your request:
- duplicates of documents that are in scope;
- personal information of members of the public;
- contact details for teams, internal to the department and other agencies
- personal information belonging to officers of the department and other government
agencies.
On the same day, you wrote to the department to advise that you agreed to exclude duplicates of
documents in scope. You advised that you did not agree to exclude the other three categories of
information from your request.
On 16 December 2025, the department wrote to advise you that the processing period for your request
had been extended by 30-days under s 15(6) of the FOI Act to allow the department to consult with
third parties.
On 18 December 2025, the department wrote to advise you that part of your request had been
transferred to NBN Co in accordance with ss 16(3) and 16(3a) of the FOI Act.
A decision in relation to your request is due on 28 January 2026.
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My decision
I am an officer authorised under s 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to freedom of
information requests made to the department.
I have identified 4 documents that fall within the scope of your request. I did this by making inquiries of
staff likely to be able to identify relevant documents and arranging for comprehensive searches of
relevant departmental electronic and hard copy holdings.
In making my decision regarding access to the relevant documents, I have taken the following material
into account:
• the terms of your request
• the content of the documents identified as within scope of your request
• the provisions of the FOI Act
• the views of third parties consulted by the department, and
• the FOI Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner (the Guidelines).
I have decided to grant access in full to 1 document and access in part to 3 documents.
Additional information
In accordance with the published publication policy for this consultation, the department did not
publish submissions made to the department if one or more of the following applied:
• The submitter indicated they did not want the submission to be made public.
• Publication of the submission could amount to a breach of s 20 of the
Public Interest
Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act), relating to disclosure or use of identifying information.
• The submission included personal information of people other than the submitter.
The department is publishing this information now following consultation with relevant individuals and
organisations and in accordance with the requirements of the FOI Act (including relevant exemptions).
Your review rights under the FOI Act are set out at
Attachment A to this letter.
The schedule of documents at
Attachment B sets out brief information about each document within
the scope of your request and my decision in relation to access to each of those documents.
The statement of reasons at
Attachment C sets out the reasons for my decision to refuse access to
certain material to which you have requested access.
The documents to which I have decided to grant full or partial access under the FOI Act are at
Attachment D.
Disclosure log publication If an agency grants access to a document in response to an FOI request, it
is required to publish that information publicly on a website (the disclosure log) within 10 business
days of giving access to the information (subject to certain exceptions for personal and business
information that it would be unreasonable to publish). The documents released to you in this decision
will be published on the department's disclosure log on or before Wednesday 11 February 2026.
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593 Decision letter
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Questions about this decision
If you wish to discuss this decision, please contact the FOI team who can be reached on
(02) 6141 6666 or by email to
xxx@xx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Susan McKeag
Assistant Secretary
Transparency Frameworks Branch
Attachments
Attachment A:
Review rights
Attachment B: Schedule of documents
Attachment C: Statement of reasons
Attachment D: Documents
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593 Decision letter
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Attachment A – Your review rights
If you disagree with my decision, you may ask for an internal review or Information Commissioner
review. We encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it may provide a more rapid
resolution of your concerns.
Internal review
You may apply for an internal review of my decision within 30 days of receiving this letter. Your request
for internal review must be in writing, and should provide reasons why you believe the review is
necessary. You may apply by emailing
xxx@xx.xxx.xx or by post to:
Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Section
Office of Corporate Counsel
Attorney-General’s Department
3-5 National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
Another officer will make a new decision on your request within 30 days of receiving your request for
internal review. If you are unhappy with the internal review decision, you may ask for an information
Commissioner review.
Information Commissioner review
Information Commissioner review requests must be submitted within 60 days of the relevant
decision, unless an extension of time is granted. Your request should include your contact details, a
copy of my decision, and the reasons why you disagree with my decision. You can apply in one of the
following ways:
Online:
https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=ICReview&layoutcode=ICReviewWF
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Mail: Director of FOI Dispute Resolution, GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.
More information about Information Commissioner review is available at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-
information-reviews/information-commissioner-review
FOI Complaints
If you are concerned about how we handled your FOI request, please let us know what we could have
done better, as we may be able to rectify the situation. If you are not satisfied with our response, you
can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner. Your complaint must be in writing, and can
be lodged in one of the following ways:
Online:
https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=Complaint&layoutcode=FOIComplaintWF
Email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Mail: Director of FOI Dispute Resolution, GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.
More information about Freedom of Information complaints is available at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-
information-complaints
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593 Decision letter
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Attachment B - Schedule of documents - Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593
Doc Date
No.
Description
Access decision
Exemption/s applied
no.
pgs
1
24 November
4
Submission – Fusion Party of Australia
Grant access in
Section 47F(1): Public interest conditional exemption -
2025
part
Personal Privacy
2
24 November
2
Submission – Anonymous
Grant access in
Section 47F(1): Public interest conditional exemption -
2025
part
Personal Privacy
3
24 November
2
Submission – Electronic Frontiers
Grant access in full Nil
2025
Australia
4
24 November
35
Submission – Professor Peter Tregear
Grant access in
Section 47F(1): Public interest conditional exemption -
2025
part
Personal Privacy
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593 Decision letter
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Attachment C - Statement of reasons - FOI25/593
This document, when read in conjunction with the schedule of documents at
Attachment B,
provides information about the reasons I have decided not to disclose certain material to you in
response to your request for documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
Public interest conditional exemptions
An agency or minister can refuse access to a document or part of a document that is
conditionally exempt from disclosure under Division 3 of Part IV of the FOI Act
. Documents for
your request which are conditionally exempt under Division 3 relate to personal privacy (s 47F).
Brief information about each of the conditional exemptions applied when making a decision
about disclosure of each of the documents to which you have requested access is set out
below. Additional information about each of these conditional exemptions can be obtained
from the Guidelines available at
: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-
guidelines/part-6-conditional-exemptions.
Where a document is assessed as conditionally exempt, it is only exempt from disclosure if
disclosure would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest. The public interest test is
weighted in favour of giving access to documents so that the public interest in disclosure
remains at the forefront of decision making.
A single public interest test applies to each of the conditional exemptions. This public interest
test includes certain factors that
must be taken into account where relevant, and other factors
which
must not be taken into account. My reasoning in regard to the public interest are set out
under the heading ‘
Section 11A(5): Public interest test’ below.
Section 47F: Public interest conditional exemption - personal privacy
Section 47F(1) of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure
would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including
a deceased person). For the purposes of the FOI Act, personal information is defined as:
information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably
identifiable whether the information or opinion is true or not; and whether the information or
opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
I have identified third party personal information in the relevant documents for your request
.
In deciding whether to conditionally exempt the personal information described above, I have
had regard to the following factors set out in s 47F(2) of the FOI
Act:
(a) the extent to which the information is well known;
(b) whether the people to whom the information relates are known to be (or to have been)
associated with the matters dealt with in the document;
(c) the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources;
(d) any other matters that the agency considers relevant.
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593 Decision letter
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I have also had regard to the following factors for determining whether disclosure is
unreasonable provided at paragraph 6.137 of the Guidelines issued by the OAIC:
a. the author of the document is identifiable
b. the document contains third party personal information
c. release of the document would cause stress to the third party
d. no public purpose would be achieved through release.
The person named is a non-SES member of staff at the Commonwealth Ombudsman who is not
well known and would ordinarily not be known to be associated with the particular matters
dealt with in the documents. Generally, such information is only known to the person with
whom they corresponded and is not otherwise made publicly available by the agency. I
consider that release of the information, including allegations made in relation to the third
party, would reasonably be expected to cause stress to the third party. I also consider that the
disclosure of this information would not otherwise increase scrutiny, discussion or comment
around decision making or increase public participation in Government processes in any
meaningful way.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the personal information of this individual is conditionally
exempt under s 47F(1) of the FOI Act. I have turned my mind to whether disclosure of the
information would be contrary to the public interest, and have included my reasoning in this
regard under the header ‘
Section 11A(5): Public interest test’.
Section 11A(5): Public interest test
Access to a conditionally exempt document must generally be given unless doing so would be
contrary to the public interest. The Guidelines issued by the OAIC provide at paragraph 6.224
that the public interest test is considered to be:
•
something that is of serious concern or benefit to the public, not merely of individual
interest,
•
not something of interest to the public, but in the interest of the public,
•
not a static concept, where it lies in a particular matter will often depend on a balancing
of interests,
•
necessarily broad and non-specific, and
•
related to matters of common concern or relevance to all members of the public, or a
substantial section of the public.
In deciding whether to disclose conditionally exempt material, I have considered the factors
favouring access set out in s 11B(3) of the FOI Act. I have not taken into account the irrelevant
factors listed under s 11B(4) of the FOI Act.
Of the factors favouring disclosure, I consider that release of the conditionally exempt material
identified for your request would promote the objects of the FOI Act through releasing
information held by government.
The FOI Act does not list any specific factors weighing against disclosure. However, I have
considered the non-exhaustive list of factors against disclosure in the Guidelines as well as the
particular circumstances relevant to the conditionally exempt material.
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593 Decision letter
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I consider the release of the conditionally exempt material could, as the case may be,
reasonably be expected to prejudice:
• the fair treatment of individuals
• the protection of an individual’s right to privacy
• the protection of a safe and harassment free workplace for government employees
and contractors
On balance, I consider the factors against disclosure outweigh the factors favouring access and
that providing access to the conditionally exempt material identified for your request would be
contrary to the public interest.
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/593 Decision letter
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