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Notice of Decision
REQUEST BY: Jabez Grant
(Right-to-know.org.au)
REFERENCE: FOI/2425/090
Freedom of Information Act 1982
Dear Jabez,
Freedom of information request ref. FOI/2425/090
1. The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about access to documents that you requested from the
National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
2. I am an officer authorised by the NIAA’s Chief Executive Officer under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make
decisions in relation to FOI requests.
Summary
3. On 24 June 2025, you requested access to the fol owing documents:
“I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act video or audio recordings or verbatim
transcripts of the most recent Audit and Risk Committee or whichever committee is the committee established
by s 45 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. I am not asking for meeting
papers or minutes or lists of action items.”
4. On 27 June 2025, the NIAA acknowledged your request.
5. A decision in relation to your request is due on
24 July 2025.
Material taken into account
6. I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:
• the terms of your request
• the acknowledgement sent to you
• advice provided by NIAA officials
• the FOI Act, and
• Guidelines made by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (FOI
Guidelines).
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Decision
7. Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides that where al reasonable steps have been taken to find documents,
and the agency is satisfied that documents cannot be found or do not exist, then the agency may refuse a
request for access to the documents.
8. I have decided that the documents you requested access to do not exist (section 24A(1)(b)(i ) of the FOI Act).
Information about why they do not exist is given below.
Information about why the documents do not exist
9. No verbatim transcripts are made of meetings of the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC). There are also no video
or audio recordings of the meeting.
10. As such, the documents you have requested do not exist.
Information about searches
11. The NIAA searched for documents by:
• asking officials familiar with the ARC about whether the requested documents exist, and if so, where they
are stored.
12. These officials confirmed that the documents you requested do not exist, because the ARC does not create
these documents.
13. On the basis of this advice, no formal searches were made.
14. I am satisfied that this approach was reasonable, having regard to
• the subject matter of the documents you seek,
• the record management systems in place, and
• the advice I received from NIAA officials familiar with the ARC.
15. I am satisfied that al reasonable steps have been taken to locate documents within the scope of your FOI
request, and that no documents have been identified. Accordingly, I have decided to refuse your request
under subsection 24A(1) of the FOI Act.
16. Your rights to seek review under the FOI Act or submit a complaint are set out in
Attachment A to this notice.
Questions about this decision
17. If you have any questions about this notice or NIAA’s FOI process, please contact the NIAA’s FOI Coordinator
at:
Email:
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Post:
Freedom of Information Coordinator
National Indigenous Australians Agency
GPO Box 2191
Canberra ACT 2601
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Yours sincerely
Elizabeth Tsitsikronis
Branch Manager
Governance, Assurance and Risk Branch
9 July 2025
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Document Outline
