Our ref:
FOI25/435; CM25/24763
24 September 2025
Tyler
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Tyler
Freedom of Information Request FOI25/435 – Decision letter
The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about your request for access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) which you submitted to the Attorney-General's Department
(the department).
Your request
On 9 September 2025, you requested access to:
signed copy of the following legislative instruments:
- Electronic Transactions Regulations 2020
- Electoral Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Regulations 2021
- Electronic Transactions Amendment Regulations 2021
- Electronic Transactions Amendment Regulations 2022
- Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment (Your Future, Your Super—Addressing
Underperformance in Superannuation) Regulations 2023
- Electronic Transactions Amendment Regulations 2024
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes) Regulations 2024
On 9 September 2025, the department acknowledged your request.
My decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to freedom of
information requests made to the department.
I have identified 4 documents that fall within the scope of your request. I did this by making inquiries of
staff likely to be able to identify relevant documents and arranging for comprehensive searches of relevant
departmental electronic and hard copy holdings.
In making my decision regarding access to the relevant documents, I have taken the following material into
account:
• the terms of your request
• the content of the documents identified as within scope of your request
• the provisions of the FOI Act
• the FOI Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner (the Guidelines).
I have decided to grant access to the following documents you have requested in full:
- Electronic Transactions Regulations 2020
- Electronic Transactions Amendment Regulations 2021
- Electronic Transactions Amendment Regulations 2022
- Electronic Transactions Amendment Regulations 2024
Section 24A of the FOI Act relevantly provides that an agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to
a document if all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document and the agency is satisfied that
the document:
• is in the agency’s possession but cannot be found, or
• does not exist.
When considering a decision to refuse access under section 24A of the FOI Act, the FOI Guidelines advise
that an agency or minister should take comprehensive steps to locate documents, having regard to:
• the subject matter of the documents,
• the current and past file management systems and the practice of destruction or removal of
• documents,
• the individuals within an agency or minister’s office who may be able to assist with the location of
• documents, and
• the age of the documents.
To identify and locate the below instruments, I arranged for staff likely to be able to
identify documents to undertake comprehensive searches of relevant departmental information holdings.
Despite these efforts, no relevant documents were identified.
•
Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment (Your Future, Your Super—Addressing
Underperformance in Superannuation) Regulations 2023, and
•
Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes) Regulations 2024
•
Electoral Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Regulations 2021
Having regard to the above, I am satisfied that reasonable steps to locate the documents to which you have
sought access were undertaken. I am also satisfied that the instruments you reference do not exist within
the department’s records holdings. I have therefore decided to refuse access to those instruments
pursuant to section 24A of the FOI Act.
You may wish to consider directly contacting the below agencies for access to the above instruments:
• The Treasury - xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
• The Australian Taxation Office - xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
• The Department of Finance - xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/435 Decision letter
Page 2 of 4
Additional information
Your review rights under the FOI Act are set out at
Attachment A to this letter.
The schedule of documents at
Attachment B sets out brief information about each document within the
scope of your request and my decision in relation to access to each of those documents.
The documents to which you I have decided to grant access under the FOI Act are at
Attachment C.
Disclosure log publication If an agency grants access to a document in response to an FOI request, it is
required to publish that information publicly on a website (the disclosure log) within 10 business days of
giving access to the information (subject to certain exceptions for personal and business information that it
would be unreasonable to publish). The documents released to you in this decision will be published on the
department's disclosure log on or before 8 October 2025.
Questions about this decision
If you wish to discuss this decision, the FOI case officer for this matter is Kellie, who can be reached on
(02) 6141 6666 or by email to xxx@xx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Emma Funnell
Assistant Secretary
Strategy and Governance Branch
Attachments
Attachment A:
Review rights
Attachment B:
Schedule of documents
Attachment C:
Documents
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/435 Decision letter
Page 3 of 4
Attachment A – Your review rights
If you disagree with my decision, you may ask for an internal review or Information Commissioner review.
We encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it may provide a more rapid resolution of your
concerns.
Internal review You may apply for an internal review of my decision within 30 days of receiving this letter. Your request for
internal review must be in writing, and should provide reasons why you believe the review is necessary.
You may apply by emailing xxx@xx.xxx.xx or by post to:
Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Section
Office of Corporate Counsel
Attorney-General’s Department
3-5 National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
Another officer will make a new decision on your request within 30 days of receiving your request for
internal review. If you are unhappy with the internal review decision, you may ask for an information
Commissioner review.
Information Commissioner review
Information Commissioner review requests must be submitted within 60 days of the relevant decision,
unless an extension of time is granted. Your request should include your contact details, a copy of my
decision, and the reasons why you disagree with my decision. You can apply in one of the following ways:
Online: https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=ICRequest&layoutcode=ICRequestWF
Email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Mail: Director of FOI Dispute Resolution, GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.
More information about Information Commissioner review is available at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-
information-reviews/information-commissioner-review
FOI Complaints
If you are concerned about how we handled your FOI request, please let us know what we could have done
better, as we may be able to rectify the situation. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can make a
complaint to the Information Commissioner. Your complaint must be in writing, and can be lodged in one
of the following ways:
Online: https://webform.oaic.gov.au/prod?entitytype=Complaint&layoutcode=FOIComplaintWF
Email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Mail: Director of FOI Dispute Resolution, GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.
More information about Freedom of Information complaints is available at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-of-
information-complaints
Attorney-General's Department Freedom of Information Request FOI25/435 Decision letter
Page 4 of 4
Attachment B - Schedule of documents - Freedom of Information Request FOI25/435
Doc
Date
No.
Description
Access decision
Exemption/s applied
no.
pgs
1
23 July 2020
17
Signed instrument Electronic Transactions
Grant access in ful
Nil
Act 1999 and Electronic Transactions
Amendment Regulations 2020
2
16 December
17
Signed instrument Electronic Transactions
Grant access in ful
Nil
2021
Act 1999 and Electronic Transactions
Amendment Regulations 2021
3
31 March 2022
11
Signed instrument Electronic Transactions
Grant access in ful
Nil
Act 1999 and Electronic Transactions
Amendment Regulations 2022
4
12 September
10
Signed instrument Electronic Transactions
Grant access in ful
Nil
2024
Act 1999 and Electronic Transactions
Amendment Regulations 2024
Document Outline
