OFFICIAL
Freedom of Information (FOI) request
Notice of Decision
Reference: FOI-2023-361
To Naveen
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Naveen
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 7 December 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:
I would like to know the details of the mRNA vaccine mandate for the members of Parliament
during 2021 and 2022.
Did the Australian Government had any mRNA Covid vaccine requirements for members of
Parliament to enter Parliament building In Canberra?
How many Members of Parliament had exemptions for mRNA vaccines? What were the reasons
for their exemptions?
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.
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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Material taken into account
In reaching my decision I have had regard to the fol owing:
• the terms of your request
• searches and inquires undertaken by the Department
• the FOI Act
• the FOI Guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner
1 (the Guidelines)
Decision
I have decided to refuse your request under section 24A(1) of the FOI Act, on the grounds that the
Department has taken al reasonable steps to locate the documents you have requested, and those
documents do not exist.
Reason for decision
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding to refuse your request for access are set out below.
1. Documents cannot be found or do not exist
Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a) all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b) the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i) is in the agency’s or Minister’s possession but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist.
In determining what the FOI Act means with respect to ‘al reasonable steps’, I have had regard to the
Guidelines which discuss the meaning of ‘reasonable’ in section 24A(1)(a). It is not designed to go
beyond the limit assigned by reason, not to be extravagant or excessive, rather to be moderate and of
such an effort to be appropriate or suitable to the circumstances
2.
The Department has conducted a search, for any relevant records that would meet the terms of your
request, in its Outlook email system and Parliamentary Document Management System. There were
no documents responsive to the terms of your request found to be in the possession of the
Department.
1 Section 93A of the FOI Act
2 Paragraph 3.88 of the FOI Guidelines
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OFFICIAL
In addition, the Department has undertaken inquiries with the Parliamentary and Government Section
and Parliamentary Liaison Officers regarding any relevant records that would meet the terms of your
request. They advised that they are not aware of any documents held by the Department that would
be responsive to your request.
I am satisfied the measures taken by the Department to locate documents in response to your request
under the FOI Act are appropriate and suitable given the circumstances. After taking al reasonable
steps to find the documents, no documents relevant to your request have been identified.
Accordingly, I am refusing your request for access under section 24A(1) of the FOI Act as the
documents you have requested cannot be found.
Additional Information
Vaccination requirements were specific to each jurisdiction, and the relevant State or Territory
Governments were responsible for implementing any mandates. Accordingly you may wish to seek
information from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government on the topic of mandatory
vaccination in the ACT.
Additional y, I note that the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) supports Parliament and is
the agency responsible for the day-to-day operations of Australian Parliament House (APH). You may
wish to contact DPS to seek additional information about vaccine requirements for entering APH:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Review rights
If you disagree with my decision, you may apply for internal review or Information Commissioner
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,
please attach the reasons why you disagree with the decision.
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.
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More information about Information Commissioner review is available
here.3
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. We may be able to rectify the problem. 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.4 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
Kim Dobbie
A/g Assistant Secretary
Health and Aged Care Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
8 January 2024
3 https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-
information-reviews/information-commissioner-review
4 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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