13 May 2025
Ben Fairless
BY EMAIL: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
In reply please quote:
FOI Request:
FA 25/04/01394
File Number:
FA25/04/01394
Dear Ben Fairless,
Freedom of Information (FOI) request – Decision
On 23 April 2025, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) received a request for access
to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request for access under the
FOI Act.
1
Scope of request
You have requested access to the following documents:
I am seeking access to documents relating to the removal, suppression, or anonymisation
of aircraft data from third-party flight tracking services such as FlightRadar24,
PlaneFinder, ADS-B Exchange, or similar platforms.
Specifically, I’m after:
1.
Policies, procedures, or internal guidelines concerning requests to third-party
services for the removal or suppression of aircraft tracking data;
2.
Correspondence between your agency and third-party flight tracking platforms
relating to the suppression, removal, or anonymisation of aircraft data;
3.
Internal discussions, briefings, or records outlining the rationale or decisions
around seeking to suppress aircraft data from public tracking platforms;
4.
Statistics, reports, or summaries indicating the volume and nature of requests
made to third-party platforms over the past five years;
5.
Any agreements, memoranda of understanding, or formal arrangements
between your agency and third-party flight tracking platforms relating to data suppression
or visibility restrictions.
I am not seeking access to the personal information of members of the public, nor do I
require the direct contact details or last names of public servants below the Senior
Executive Service level (or equivalent for your agency).
808 Bourke Street Melbourne VIC 3000
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx • www.homeaffairs.gov.au
I have submitted this request to multiple state and federal agencies. Please contact me
before initiating any transfer to another agency as they may have already received an
identical request.
Please consider if it’s possible to process this request informally/administratively. If you
find it can’t be treated that way, please consider it a formal Freedom of Information
request.
2
Authority to make decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions in respect of
requests to access documents or to amend or annotate records.
3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the FOI Act
• Guidelines published by the Office of the Information Commissioner under section 93A
of the FOI Act (the FOI Guidelines)
• advice from Departmental officers with responsibility for matters relating to the
documents to which you sought access
4
Documents in scope of request
The Department has undertaken reasonable searches for documents within the scope of your
request. In summary, the searches undertaken included interrogation of standard record-keeping
systems and consultation with the relevant business areas:
• Office of the Secretary
• National Security and Resilience
• Legal Group
• Performance, Planning and Policy Coordination Branch
• Cyber and Infrastructure Security Group
• Deputy Secretary Executive
• ABF Regional Operations
Having regard to your request and the types of documents that may fall within the scope of your
request, I am satisfied that the searches conducted were extremely thorough and all reasonable
steps have been taken to locate any document relevant to your request.
5
Decision
Section 24A of the FOI Act provides that the Department may refuse a request for access to a
document if all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document and the Department is
satisfied that the document does not exist.
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I am satisfied that the Department has undertaken reasonable searches in relation to your
request and that no documents were in the possession of the Department on 23 April 2025 when
your FOI request was received. As such, I am refusing your request based on the application of
section 24A of the FOI Act.
6
Legislation
A copy of the FOI Act is available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562. If you
are unable to access the legislation through this website, please contact our office for a copy.
7
Your review rights
If you disagree with this decision, you have the right to apply for either an internal review or an
Information Commissioner review of the decision.
Internal review
If you want the Department to review this decision, you must make your internal review request
within 30 days of being notified of this decision.
When making your internal review request, please provide the Department with the reasons why
you consider this decision should be changed.
You can send your internal review request to:
Email: xxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
The internal review wil be carried out by an officer who is more senior than the original decision
maker. The Department must make its decision on the review within 30 days of receiving your
request for internal review.
Information Commissioner review
If you want the Australian Information Commissioner to review this decision, you must make your
request to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) within 60 days of being
notified of this decision.
You can apply for an Information Commissioner review using the Information Commissioner
review application form on the OAIC website.
You can find more information about Information Commissioner reviews on the OAIC website.
8
Making a complaint
You may make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner if you have concerns
about how the Department has handled your request under the FOI Act. This is a separate
process to the process of requesting a review of the decision as indicated above.
You can make an FOI complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) at: FOI Complaint Form on the OAIC website.
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9
Contacting the FOI Section
Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Section at
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
Signed electronically
Louise
Position number 60081621
Authorised Decision Maker
Department of Home Affairs
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