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Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the FOI Act
• Guidelines published by the Of ice 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
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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 by
the following business areas of the Department:
• Submissions, Briefs and PDMS Section
• Envoy Support including ASECA
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 thorough and all reasonable steps have
been taken to locate any document relevant to your request.
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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.
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 15 July 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.
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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.
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Your review rights
Internal review
You do not have the right to seek an internal review of this decision. This is because section 54E(b)
of the FOI Act provides that, when an agency is deemed to have refused an FOI request under
section 15AC of the FOI Act, the applicant does not have the right to seek an internal review of the
deemed decision.
The Department was deemed to have refused your request under section 15AC of the FOI Act
because it did not make this decision within the statutory timeframes for the request.
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While the Department has now made a substantive decision on your request, section 15AC of the
FOI Act continues to apply to your request, which means that any request you make for internal
review will be invalid.
Information Commissioner review
You can instead request the Australian Information Commissioner to review this decision. If you want
to request an Information Commissioner review, you must make your request to the Of ice of the
Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) within 60 days of being notified of this decision.
You can apply for an Information Commissioner review at:
Information Commissioner review
application form on the OAIC website.
If you have already applied for an Information Commissioner review, there is no need to make a new
review request. The OAIC wil contact you shortly to give you an opportunity to advise whether you
wish the review to continue, and to provide your reasons for continuing the review.
You can find more information about Information Commissioner reviews
on the OAIC website.
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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 Of ice of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
at
: FOI Complaint Form on the OAIC website.
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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,
Electronically signed
Malcolm
Position number: 60195675
Authorised Decision Maker
Department of Home Af airs
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