LEX 9870 Decision Letter.pdf

FOI Reference: LEX 9870
File Reference: 24/2290
15 February 2024

CR
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear CR

Re: Freedom of Information Request

I am writing to provide you with a decision about your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

I have identified documents relevant to your request. After careful consideration, I have
decided to grant you access to an edited copy of the documents, with irrelevant material
removed.

Request

On 7 January 2024 you requested access to:
  1.  A list of all FOI requests received by the department relating to the 2023 Hamas-
Israel Conflict. The list should include the reference number and date of receipt for
each request.
  2.  Al correspondence between the department and FOI applicants regarding the above-
mentioned requests.
  3.  Al internal correspondence exchanged within the department regarding the above-
mentioned requests.
  4.  Al correspondence between the department and any external parties regarding the
above-mentioned requests.
  5.  Al correspondence between FOI applicants and any external parties regarding the
above-mentioned requests. For example, communications with the OAIC or the AAT,
if applicable.
  Please include any email attachments as they form part of the scope of this request.

R G Casey Building John McEwen Cres Barton 0221
DFAT.GOV.AU
T +61 2 6261 1111
@DFAT

Please exclude the fol owing information:

i.  Personal information of FOI applicants.
ii.  Personal information of departmental staff.
iii.  Personal information of any third parties.
iv.  Duplicate content.

Fol owing further exchange of emails between yourself and the department, on 9 January
2024, you revised the scope of your request to:
  1.  Al correspondence between the department's FOI team and FOI applicants regarding
FOI requests relating to the 2023 Hamas-Israel Conflict
2.  Al  internal correspondence sent to/from the department's FOI team regarding the
above-mentioned requests.
3.  Al  correspondence between the department's FOI team and any external parties
regarding the above-mentioned requests.
4.  All correspondence between FOI applicants and any external parties regarding the
above-mentioned requests. For example, if applicable, correspondence between FOI
applicants and third parties, where the department's FOI team was copied.
  Please exclude early parts of email streams captured in later emails. I have also
maintained my previous exclusions:
  i.  Personal information of FOI applicants.
ii.  Personal information of departmental staff.
iii.  Personal information of any third parties.
iv.  Duplicate content.

On 16 January 2024 the department notified you of its intention to refuse your request on
the basis that the work involved in processing the request as it currently stood would
substantial y and unreasonably divert the department’s resources from its other operations.

The department and yourself then engaged in an extensive consultation process between
16 January 2024 to 29 January 2024, spanning over 20 email exchanges, with the
department providing extensive assistance and additional information relating to the
requests captured by your FOI request.

On 29 January 2024 you revised the scope of your request to:
  “The date range for my request is 9 October 2023 to 7 January 2024 at 11.27 am.
  1.  Any outgoing letters from the department's FOI team to FOI applicants regarding FOI
requests relating to the 2023 Hamas-Israel Conflict.

•  Including any letter attachments sent from the department’s FOI team to
applicants (such as 24AB consultation letters, decision letters, etc).

•  Excluding correspondence exchanged between the department and applicants,
except where attached that correspondence is captured by documents in part 3.
  2.  [removed]
  3.  Al correspondence between the department's FOI team and any external parties
regarding the above-mentioned requests.

•  This includes other agencies, Minister’s Offices and the OAIC.

•  o With regard to the OAIC:

o  Exclude correspondence with the OAIC concerning section 15AA
extensions of time.

•  o With regard to the Minister’s Offices:

o  Where documents that were subsequently disclosed to the applicant are
attached these are out of scope (as they would be available on the
disclosure log).
  4.  [removed]
  Exclusions:

i.  FOI request LEX 9321.

ii.  Early parts of email streams captured in later emails.

iii.  Any documents subsequently disclosed to the applicant (as they would be
available on the disclosure log).

iv.  Personal information of FOI applicants.

v.  Personal information of departmental staff.

vi.  Personal information of any third parties.

vii.  Duplicate content.”

I note that your original request captured 30 previous FOI requests (cited in the section
24AB consultation letter sent to you on 16 January 2024). Of the 30 previous FOI requests,
not al  the requests contained documents relevant to the revised scope. For convenience I
have included a schedule of documents which identifies which requests captured
documents relevant to the revised scope (Attachment A).

Reasons

I am authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to FOI
requests and have been appointed to be the decision-maker on your request.

In making my decision I have taken into account:

•  the terms of your request,
•  the documents found to be within the scope of your request,
•  the FOI Act, and
•  the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section
93A of the FOI Act.

Sections of the FOI Act referenced in my decision letter can be found online at
www.legislation.gov.au. Relevant sections of the FOI Guidelines can be found online at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/freedom-of-information-guidance-for-
government-agencies/foi-guidelines.

Irrelevant material (section 22(1)(a)(i ) of the FOI Act)

Some of the material excluded from the documents released to you is outside the scope or
could reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to your request (section 22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI
Act).

In determining what is relevant to your request, I have taken into account the terms of your
revised request. Specifically, I have considered the date range of your request and the
exclusions being:

i.  FOI request LEX 9321.

ii.  Early parts of email streams captured in later emails.

iii.  Any documents subsequently disclosed to the applicant (as they would be
available on the disclosure log).

iv.  Personal information of FOI applicants.

v.  Personal information of departmental staff.

vi.  Personal information of any third parties.

vii.  Duplicate content.

As you have stated that you do not require this information, I have decided to remove this
material from the documents being released to you.

Review rights

Information about your review rights is set out in Attachment B for your reference.

Contact

Should you have any queries regarding this matter please contact the FOI Section by email
at xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.

Yours sincerely

Warren Macilwain
Assistant Secretary
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Attachment B
Number
LEX
Date
Revised scope relevant pages and consultations
Reference
Received
1.
LEX 9204
09.10.23
Pages 1 – 3
2.
LEX 9207
09.10.23
Pages 4 – 14
3.
LEX 9262
15.10.23
Pages 15 – 19
4.
LEX 9269
14.10.23
Pages 20 – 29
5.
LEX 9295
17.10.23
Pages 30 – 39
6.
LEX 9321
22.10.23
Nil relevant documents (out of scope)
7.
LEX 9322
21.10.23
Pages 40 – 48
8.
LEX 9326
20.10.23
Nil additional documents to those captured in
LEX 9269 above
9.
LEX 9346
24.10.23
Nil additional documents to those captured in
LEX 9269 above
10.
LEX 9358
25.10.23
Pages 49 – 57
11.
LEX 9365
26.10.23
Pages 58 – 63
12.
LEX 9366
26.10.23
Pages 64 – 72
13.
LEX 9368
27.10.23
Pages 73 – 76
14.
LEX 9373
27.10.23
Nil relevant documents
15.
LEX 9419
02.11.23
Nil additional documents to those captured in
LEX 9269 above
16.
LEX 9427
03.11.23
Pages 77 to 81
17.
LEX 9428
03.11.23
Pages 82 – 90
18.
LEX 9582
21.11.23
Pages 91 – 104
19.
LEX 9614
22.11.23
Pages 105 – 106
20.
LEX 9615
22.11.23
Pages 107 – 108
21.
LEX 9662
21.12.23
Pages 109 – 111
22.
LEX 9703
08.12.23
Nil relevant documents
23.
LEX 9708
08.12.23
Nil relevant documents
24.
LEX 9712
11.12.23
Nil relevant documents
25.
LEX 9716
09.12.23
Nil relevant documents
26.
LEX 9726
11.12.23
Pages 112 – 127
27.
LEX 9788
17.12.23
Pages 129 - 131
28.
LEX 9820
21.12.23
Nil relevant documents
29.
LEX 9824
21.12.23
Nil relevant documents
30.
LEX 9836
22.12.23
Nil relevant documents

Attachment B

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 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 Section
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 the date 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