3
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
4
Documents in scope of request
The Department has undertaken reasonable searches for documents within the scope of your
request.
The relevant business area of the Department, Australian Border Force Data and Reporting,
conducted searches of their holdings and advised that there are no documents that meet the scope
of your request.
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.
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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 1 September 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.
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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.
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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 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 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 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,
[Signed electronically]
Sean
Position number: 60134237
Authorised Decision Maker
Department of Home Af airs
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