DEFENCE FOI 689/24/25
STATEMENT OF REASONS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
1.
I refer to the request by James Smith (the applicant), seeking access to the following
documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act):
I request footage of the question and answer portion of Minister Linda Reynolds'
appearances and speeches at the following events:
20 November 2020:
https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/speeches/2020-11-20/business-news-breakfast-
perth
9 December 2020:
https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/speeches/2020-12-09/f-35-industry-
achievements
Background
2.
On 26 February 2025, the applicant submitted a request under the FOI Act to the
Minister for Defence.
3.
On 4 March 2025, the applicant was notified that the request was transferred to the
Department of Defence (Defence) under section 16 of the FOI Act on the basis the request
was more closely connect to the functions of Defence.
FOI decision maker
4.
I am the authorised officer pursuant to section 23 of the FOI Act to make a decision
on this FOI request.
Documents identified
5.
I have identified one media file (document) as falling within the scope of the request.
Decision
6.
I have decided to:
a. partially release the item dated 9 December 2020 in accordance with section 22
[access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted] of the FOI Act on
the grounds that the deleted material is considered exempt under section 47F
[Public interest conditional exemptions – personal privacy] of the FOI Act; and
b. refuse access to the item dated 20 November 2020 under section 24A [requests may
be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or have not been received] of
the FOI Act.
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Material taken into account
7.
In making my decision, I have had regard to:
a. the terms of the request;
b. the content of the identified document in issue;
c. relevant provisions of the FOI Act; and
d. the Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (the Guidelines).
Section 22 – Access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted
8.
Section 22 of the FOI Act permits an agency to prepare and provide an edited copy of
a document where the agency has decided to refuse access to an exempt document or
that to give access to a document would disclose information that would reasonably be
regarded as irrelevant to the request for access.
9.
The document being released in part contains exempt material. I am satisfied that it is
reasonably practicable to remove the exempt material and release the document to you
in an edited form.
Section 24A – Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or
have not been received
10.
Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act states:
(1) 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.
11.
Paragraph 3.94 of the Guidelines advises the detail this statement of reasons should
include to refuse a request under section 24A(l):
…the statement of reasons given to the applicant should sufficiently identify the
document, explain why it cannot be found or is known not to exist or to be in the
agency’s possession, describe the steps the agency took to search for the
document, and note the limitations of any search…
12.
To ensure that all reasonable steps have been taken in relation to this request, every
reasonable avenue of locating the footage on 20 November 2020 have been exhausted.
13.
Personnel within Digital Media conducted searches for the media file on
19 March 2025. Searches were undertaken using the Digital Media Video Archive
server and hard copy files from the Defence Archive for files using keywords from the
scope of request. These include the date ‘20 November 2020’ in different formats,
‘Minister Reynolds’ and ‘MINDEF’. No records were found matching the scope of the
request.
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14.
I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to locate the document sought
by the applicant, and I am satisfied that the document cannot be found or do not exist,
and refuse the request under section 24A(1) of the FOI Act.
Section 47F - Public interest conditional exemptions – personal privacy
15.
Section 47F(1) of the FOI Act states:
A document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure under this Act would involve
the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including
a deceased person).
16.
The FOI Act shares the same definition of ‘personal information’ as the
Privacy Act
1988 (Cth). The Guidelines provide that:
6.123 Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified
individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
(a)whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
(b)whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
17.
I found that the document dated 9 December 2020 contained personal information that
would reasonably identify a third party. This includes facial appearance of two
individuals.
18.
In my assessment of whether the disclosure of personal information is unreasonable, I
considered the following factors in accordance with section 47F(2):
1. the extent to which the information is well known;
2. whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have
been) associated with the matters dealt with in the document;
3. the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources;
4. the effect the release of the personal information could reasonably have on the
third party.
19.
I found that the specific personal information listed is not well known, and the
information is not readily available from publicly accessible sources. In addition, I
consider there to be an effect on the individuals in the release of aspects of the
footage.
20.
Section 11A(5) of the FOI Act states:
The agency or Minister must give the person access to the document if it is
conditionally exempt at a particular time unless (in the circumstances) access to
the document at that time would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.
21.
I have considered the factors favouring disclosure as set out in section 11B(3) [factors
favouring access] of the FOI Act. The relevant factors being whether access to the
document would:
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(a) promote the objects of this Act (including all the matters set out in sections
3 and 3A);
(b) inform debate on a matter of public importance.
22.
In my view, disclosure of this information would have limited value in increasing
public participation in the Defence process (section 3(2)(a) of the FOI Act), nor would
it markedly increase scrutiny or discussion of Defence activities (section 3(2)(b) of the
FOI Act).
23.
Disclosure may promote some of the objects of the FOI Act, as information held by
the Government is a national resource. However, there is a strong public interest in not
releasing information which would unreasonably affect the privacy of individuals.
24.
Paragraph 6.233 of the Guidelines specifies a non-exhaustive list of public interest
factors against disclosure. The factors I find particularly relevant to this request are
that release of this information could reasonably be expected to prejudice:
x the protection of an individual’s right to privacy; and
x an agency’s ability to obtain similar information in the future.
25.
It is in the public interest that Defence consider the regard for the health and wellbeing
and to protect third party information. As I have established above, the release of this
information would be an unreasonable disclosure of information.
26.
I have not taken any of the factors listed in section 11B(4) [irrelevant factors] of the
FOI Act into account when making this decision.
27.
I am satisfied, based on the above particulars, the public interest factors against
disclosure outweigh the factors for disclosure, and that, on balance, it is against the
public interest to release the information to you. Accordingly, I find that the
information is exempt under section 47F of the FOI Act.
Chris Owens Assistant Secretary Media and Information Disclosure
Department of Defence
$SULO
