FOI Reference: LEX 9423
File No: 23/26964
December 2023
Alex Pentland
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Alex
The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about access to documents that you
requested under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
In relation to parts (a) and (e) of your request, I have identified documents relevant to these
parts of your request and, after careful consideration, I have decided to release the
documents in part with irrelevant and exempt material removed.
In relation to parts (b) to (d) of your request, I have not identified any documents relevant
to these parts of your request and, after careful consideration, I have decided to refuse
these parts of your request.
Request
On 3 November 2023 you sought access under the FOI Act to:
a) Al correspondence between DFAT and the Australian Government entities in relation
to Former Prime Minister's John Howard, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison regarding
a visit to London for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship summit
b) notes, summaries or records of discussions between the DFAT Secretary and John
Howard in relation to a visit to London for the Al iance for Responsible Citizenship
summit
c) notes, summaries or records of discussions between the DFAT Secretary and Tony
Abbott in relation to a visit to London for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship
summit
d) notes, summaries or records of discussions between the DFAT Secretary and Scott
Morrison relation to a visit to London for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship
summit
R G Casey Building John McEwen Cres Barton 0221
DFAT.GOV.AU
@DFAT
T
+61 2 6261 1111
e) Any submissions sent by DFAT to the Foreign Minister or the Trade Minister in
relation to Former Prime Minister's John Howard, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison
regarding a visit to London for the Al iance for Responsible Citizenship summit
Reasons
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to
FOI requests.
In making my decision I have taken into account:
• the terms of the request including the date your request was received,
• the documents found to be within the scope of your request,
• submissions made in response to third party consultations under section 27A of the
FOI Act,
• the FOI Act, and
• the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act.
The reasons for my decision are set out below. Where I refer to sections of the FOI Act,
these are available at www.legislation.gov.au. Sections of the FOI Guidelines referenced can
be found online at https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/freedom-of-
information-guidance-for-government-agencies/foi-guidelines.
Parts (b) to (d) of your request
Thorough searches conducted by the Secretary’s Office found no documents relevant to
parts (b) to (d) of your request. I am therefore satisfied that documents do not exist in
relation to these parts of your request and refuse these parts of your request under section
24A(1) of the FOI Act.
Parts (a) to (e) of your request
Substantial adverse effect on the operations of an agency (section 47E(d) of the FOI Act)
Under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act, a document is conditional y exempt if disclosure
would, or could reasonably be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on the proper
and efficient conduct of the operations of the department. In this case, the conditionally
exempt material involves internal email addresses.
I have decided that some of the material contained within the documents is conditionally
exempt under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act, as its release could have a substantial adverse
effect on operations of the department. Specifically, disclosure of the material could
reasonably be expected to prejudice the department’s internal processes. Publicly available
contact channels have been established to mitigate this risk.
Personal privacy (section 47F(1) of the FOI Act)
Under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act, a document is conditional y exempt if release would
constitute an unreasonable disclosure of personal information. The test of
‘unreasonableness’ implies a need to balance the public interest in disclosure of
government-held information and the private interest in the privacy of individuals
(paragraph 6.138 of the FOI Guidelines).
I have had regard to the factors in section 47F(2) of the FOI Act and consider that disclosure
of the conditionally exempt material would constitute an unreasonable disclosure of
personal information.
I am satisfied that in addition to these special circumstances the disclosure of the personal
information would be unreasonable for the fol owing reasons:
• the documents do not contain any of your personal information,
• you do not have the consent of the individuals for the release of their personal
information, and
• there have been objections to the release of the personal information.
For these reasons, I have decided that the relevant material is conditionally exempt under
section 47F(1) of the FOI Act.
Professional affairs (section 47G(1)(a) of the FOI Act)
Relevantly, under section 47G(1)(a) of the FOI Act a document is conditional y exempt if its
disclosure would disclose information concerning a person in respect of their business or
professional affairs in circumstances which would, or could reasonably be expected to,
unreasonably affect that person adversely in respect of their lawful business or professional
affairs.
The business information exemption is intended to protect the interests of third parties
dealing with the Government (paragraph 6.185 of the FOI Guidelines). I have careful y
considered the contents of the documents that fal within the scope of this request and
have also consulted with the relevant offices listed in your request about the release of the
documents.
Taking into considerations objections to the release of the material, I am satisfied that
material contained within the documents is conditional y exempt under section 47G(1) of
the FOI Act and the disclosure would, or could reasonably be expected to unreasonably
affect the professional affairs of a person (section 47G(1)(a) of the FOI Act).
Public Interest Considerations
As sections 47E(d), 47F(1) and 47G(1)(a) of the FOI Act are conditional exemptions I have
considered whether providing access to the material in question would, on balance, be
contrary to the public interest (section 11A of the FOI Act).
In assessing the public interest, I have considered the FOI Guidelines and the public interest
factors favouring disclosure, including to:
• promote the objects of the FOI Act.
I have also considered the public interest factors against disclosure, including that
disclosure could reasonably be expected to:
• prejudice the protection of an individual’s right to privacy, and
• prejudice the management function of an agency.
I have concluded that granting you access to the documents would, on balance, be contrary
to the public interest.
Irrelevant material (section 22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act)
In determining what is relevant to your request, I have taken note of the terms of your
request. Some material contained within the documents and captured by your request is
not relevant to the scope of your request and has been removed (section 22(1)(a)(ii) of the
FOI Act).
I have also taken note of the email which you received from the department on 3
November 2023 in which you were invited to respond if you required the names and
contact details of government officials not in the Senior Executive Service. As you have not
stated that you require this information, I have decided to remove it from the documents.
Review
Your review rights are attached for your reference.
Should you have any queries regarding this matter please contact the FOI Section by email
to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Cameron Archer
Assistant Secretary
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Attachment
Your review rights
Internal review
You may apply for internal review of the decision (section 54 of the FOI Act). The internal
review application must be made within 30 days of receipt of this letter.
Where possible, please attach reasons why you believe review of the decision is necessary.
The internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30 days.
Any request for internal review should be directed via email to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or
addressed to:
Freedom of Information
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
R G Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221
Australia
Australian Information Commissioner
You may apply within 60 days of receipt of this letter to the Australian Information
Commissioner to review my decision (section 54L of the FOI Act).
You may also make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner about the
Department’s actions in relation to this decision (section 70 of the FOI Act). Making such a
complaint about the way the Department has handled your FOI request is a separate
process to seeking review of my decision.
Further information on applying for an Australian Information Commissioner review is
available at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/freedom-of-information-
guidance-for-government-agencies/freedom-of-information-reviews/internal-review-
process
Further information about how to make a complaint is available at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-
rights/freedom-of-information-complaints/make-an-foi-complaint