FOI Reference: LEX 12337
File Reference: 25/10761
May 2025
Tyler (Right to Know)
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Tyler
Re: Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your request received by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the
department) for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI
Act).
I am writing to provide you with a decision about your request.
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 and exempt
material removed.
Your request
On 1 April 2025, the department received four requests from you regarding the Australia-UK
Treaty for Defence and Security Cooperation 2013, and Australia-UK Agreement for Defence
and Security Cooperation 2024.
On 1 April 2025, the department sought your agreement to consolidate the four requests
into one, as the four requests were very similar subject matters.
On 2 April 2025, you provided the fol owing consolidated scope:
1. Australia-UK Treaty for Defence and Security Cooperation 2013 (in AUSTRALIAN
TREATY SERIES [2014] ATS 21):
(i) Is it possible to provide the following documents, with redactions or omissions if
necessary, on this Treaty:
- diplomatic notes exchanged between Australia and the UK on their completion of
"respective internal procedures" and the entry into force of the treaty?
(This is said in Article 13 paragraph 1, of the treaty)
- "full powers" for both parties to sign the treaty.
R G Casey Building John McEwen Cres Barton 0221
DFAT.GOV.AU
T
+61 2 6261 1111
@DFAT
On these diplomatic notes and full powers - if there are issues in providing copies of
diplomatic notes or ful powers from the UK, would it be possible to at least provide
copy of such diplomatic notes and full powers from Australia?
(ii) Is it possible to provide the following documents, [within the possession of your
Department and] with redactions or omissions if necessary, on this Treaty:
- documents recording the Governor-General's approval of the Treaty;
- accompanying documents submitted to the Governor-General in seeking the
Governor-General's approval of the Treaty?
2. Australia-UK Agreement for Defence and Security Cooperation 2024
(https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aph.go
v.au%2FParliamentary Business%2FCommittees%2FJoint%2FTreaties%2FUKIrelandD
efence&data=05%7C02%7Cfoi%40dfat.gov.au%7C72b6e84a3b0544a9f1ad08dd714e
8191%7C9b7f23b30e8347a58a40ffa8a6fea536%7C0%7C0%7C638791304186317050
%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwM
CIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=8
BM5lZNQ9DCRGPrVmzHuPUEVAFAoU9hqTmVar7IG5TI%3D&reserved=0)
(i) Is it possible to provide the following documents, with redactions or omissions if
necessary, on the "full powers" of Australia and UK respectively for signing this
Agreement?
On these "full powers" - if there are issues in providing copy of full powers from the
UK, would it be possible to at least provide copy of the full powers from Australia?
(ii) Is it possible to provide the following documents, [within the possession of your
Department and] with redactions or omissions if necessary, on this Agreement-
- documents recording the Governor-General's approval for Australia to sign the
Agreement;
- accompanying documents submitted to the Governor-General in seeking the
Governor-General's approval for Australia to sign the Agreement?
Authority
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to
FOI requests.
Reasons
In making my decision I have taken into account:
• the terms of your consolidated request;
• the documents 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 (FOI Guidelines).
The reasons for my decision and for the application of exemptions under the FOI Act to the
document are set out below. Where I refer to sections of the FOI Act, these are available at
www.legislation.gov.au.
Where I refer to parts of the FOI Guidelines, these are available at OAIC | FOI Guidelines.
Damage to international relations (section 33(a)(i i) of the FOI Act)
Under section 33(a)(iii) of the FOI Act, a document is exempt if its disclosure would, or could
reasonably be expected to, cause damage to the international relations of the
Commonwealth.
The phrase international relations have been interpreted to mean the ability of the
Australian Government to maintain good working relations with other governments and
international organisations and to protect the flow of confidential information between
them (FOI Guidelines, paragraph 5.39).
This applies to documents, the disclosure of which could diminish the confidence which
another country has in Australia as a reliable recipient of confidential information, making
that country or its agencies less wil ing to cooperate with Australian agencies in future (FOI
Guidelines, paragraph 5.42).
Furthermore, the expression damage could include intangible damage, including inhibiting
future negotiations between the Australian Government and a foreign government, or the
future flow of confidential information from a foreign government (FOI Guidelines,
paragraph 5.25).
I have had regard to the nature of the information, the circumstances in which it was
communicated, and the nature of Australia’s international relationship with the foreign
country (FOI Guidelines, paragraph 5.40). Based on these considerations, I consider that the
disclosure of the relevant material to which you seek access, would be reasonably likely to
cause damage to Australia’s foreign relationships.
For these reasons, I have decided that the information marked up in the documents is
exempt under section 33(a)(iii) of the FOI Act.
Material communicated in confidence (section 33(b) of the FOI Act)
Under section 33(b) of the FOI Act, a document is exempt if disclosure would divulge any
matter communicated in confidence to the Australian Government by or on behalf of a
foreign government, an authority of a foreign government or an international organisation.
Information is communicated in confidence by or on behalf of another government or
international organisation if it was communicated under an express or implied
understanding that the communication would be kept confidential (FOI Guidelines,
paragraph 5.46).
Paragraph 5.44 of the FOI Guidelines also provides that an understanding of confidentiality
need not be formal and may be inferred from the circumstances in which the
communications occurred.
For these reasons, I have decided that the information marked up in the documents is
exempt under section 33(b) of the FOI Act.
Substantial adverse effect on an agency’s proper and efficient conduct of operations
(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 department’s operations. A substantial adverse effect may be an
indirect effect (FOI Guidelines, paragraph 6.82).
The predicted effect must bear on the departments proper and efficient operations, that is,
the department is undertaking its operations in an expected manner (FOI Guidelines,
paragraph 6.115).
The documents in scope include official diplomatic communiqués. I am satisfied that
disclosure of this material within the scope of your request would prejudice the flow of
similar information to the department in the future and that the departments inability to
obtain similar information in future would, or could reasonably be expected to, have a
substantial adverse effect on the department’s ability to undertake its operational activities
effectively and efficiently.
For these reasons, I have decided that the information marked up in the documents is
conditional y exempt under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act.
As section 47E(d) of the FOI Act is a conditional exemption, I must grant you access to this
material unless providing access would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest
(section 11A(5) of the FOI Act).
In assessing the public interest, I have considered the FOI Guidelines referred to above and
the public interest factors listed in section 11B of the FOI Act as favouring access, including
whether granting access to the documents would:
• promote the objects of the FOI Act; and
• inform debate on a matter of public importance.
I have also considered public interest factors against disclosure, including that disclosure
may reasonably be expected to:
• prejudice the department’s ability to communicate effectively with other nations;
and
• prejudice the diplomatic activities of the department.
On balance, I am of the view that the public interest is weighted against the disclosure of
the conditional y exempt material. In forming this view, I have not taken into account any of
the irrelevant factors specified in section 11B(4) of the FOI Act.
Irrelevant and excluded 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
request and the email which you received from the department on 2 April 2025, in which
you were invited to respond if you required the personal information of junior staff from
ministerial offices and government officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) or
equivalent, including their email addresses and contact numbers, together with al
signatures, mobile phone numbers, departmental inboxes and technical transmission details
including reference numbers. As you have not stated that you require this information, I
have decided to remove it from the documents being released to you.
Review rights
Information about your review rights is set out in the
Attachment for your reference.
Contact
Should you have any queries regarding this matter please contact the Freedom of
Information Section by email (xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx).
Yours sincerely
Catherine Dobbin
Assistant Secretary
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
REVIEW AND COMPLAINT OPTIONS
Further information on applying for an IC
review is available on Office of the
If you consider the department made the
Australian Information Commissioners
wrong decision, please request a review.
(OAIC) website.i
If you are dissatisfied with the way your
Third party review rights
request was processed, please make a
complaint.
Third parties who were consulted by the
department are entitled to seek an
REVIEW
internal review of the department’s
How to seek a review of this decision
decision to grant access to a document.
Internal review by the department
Further information about third party
review rights is available on OAICs
You may apply for internal review of the
website.i
decision (section 54 of the FOI Act). The
internal review application must be made
You may also apply for an external review
within 30 calendar days from the day you
by the IC (section54L of the FOI Act). To
receive this notice. Where possible, please
do this, you must make your application
attach reasons why you believe review of
within 30 calendar days from the day you
the decision is necessary.
receive this notice.
A new decision maker, who was not
COMPLAINT
involved in the initial decision, will review
How to make a complaint about process
your request, and make a new decision
within 30 calendar days.
Complaint to the department
Any request for internal review should be
If you wish to make a complaint about
directed via email to xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or
how your FOI request was processed by
addressed to:
the department, we welcome you sending
an email with the details of your
Freedom of Information Section
complaint to the department in the first
Department of Foreign Affairs and
instance via xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Trade
R G Casey Building
Complaint to the IC
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221
You may also make a complaint to the IC
about the Departments actions in relation
External review by the Information
to this decision (section 70 of the FOI Act).
Commissioner (IC)
Further information about how to make a
You may apply to the Australian
complaint is available on OAICs website.i i
Information Commissioner to review this
decision (section54L of the FOI Act). To do
this, you must contact the IC within 60
calendar days from the day you receive
this notice.
