OFFICIAL
Freedom of Information (FOI) request
Notice of Decision
Reference: FOI/2023/349
To Trav S
Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Trav S
I refer to your request to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), under
the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), received on 27 November 2023.
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
Scope of request
You set out your request in the fol owing terms:
On 27 October 2023 your department issued a Notice of Revised Decision under s 55G of the FOI
Act. That decision related to PM&C document Reference FOI/2021/112IC.
The revised decision maker stated 'consultation comments from another agency' were part of
the material taken into account. They also stated 'fresh consultation comments received from
another agency' were part of the reason they decided to grant partial release of the requested
documents.
I will be grateful if you will provide me a copy of the documents referred to as 'consultation
comments from another agency' and 'fresh consultation comments received from another
agency'.
Postal Address: PO Box 6500, CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: +61 2 6271 5849 Fax: +61 2 6271 5776 www.pmc.gov.au ABN: 18 108 001 191
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OFFICIAL
Authorised decision-maker
I am authorised to make this decision in accordance with arrangements approved by the
Department’s Secretary under section 23 of the FOI Act.
Material taken into account
In reaching my decision I referred to the fol owing:
• the terms of your request
• the document identified as relevant to the scope of your request
• the FOI Act
• the Guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner1 (the FOI Guidelines)
Document in scope of request
The Department has identified one document that fal s within the scope of your request.
In relation to the revised decision (FOI/2021/112IC), the two statements, being ‘consultation comments
from another agency’ and ‘fresh consultation comments received from another agency’, pertain to a
single consultation that took place with another Commonwealth department. As a result, there is only
one document responsive to your request. No other consultations were engaged during the
preparation of the revised decision.
Decision
I have decided to grant access in ful , with irrelevant material deleted, to the document identified
within the scope of your request.
The document is enclosed with my decision.
Reason for decision
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding that certain information is irrelevant are set out below.
1. Deletion of irrelevant matter
Section 22 of the FOI Act authorises the Department to give access to an edited copy of a document
if giving access to a document would disclose information that would be reasonably regarded as
irrelevant to the request, and it is possible for the Department to prepare an edited copy.
On 4 December 2023, the Department advised you of its policy to exclude the personal and direct
contact details of officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) and any Ministerial staff, as well as
any person’s signature, and the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers, which are contained in
1 s 93A of the FOI Act
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OFFICIAL
documents that fal within the terms of an FOI request. This category of information is identified as
irrelevant. The remaining material that has been found irrelevant relates to a separate FOI matter that
is outside the scope of your request.
Accordingly I am satisfied parts of the document are irrelevant under section 22(1)(a)(i ) of the FOI Act.
The remaining information has been released to you as being relevant to your request.
Review rights
If you disagree with my decision, you may apply for a review of the decision.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Department for an internal review of
my decision.
The internal review application must be made within 30 days after the date of this letter. Where
possible please attach reasons why you believe review of the decision is necessary. The internal review
wil be carried out by another officer within 30 days from the date it is received.
Applications for review should be sent to xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
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
after the date of this letter.
More information about Information Commissioner review is available here.2
FOI Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your FOI request, please let us know what we could
have done better. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can make a complaint to the
Australian Information Commissioner. A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be made in
writing.
More information about complaints is available here.3
2 https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-information-
reviews/information-commissioner-review
3 https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-information-
complaints/make-an-foi-complaint
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OFFICIAL
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your requests, you can contact the FOI Section by email at
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Tim Wardle
Acting Assistant Secretary, Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
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