3
Relevant material
In reaching my decision I referred to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the documents relevant to the 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 identified nine documents as falling within the scope of your request. These
documents were in the possession of the Department on 21 September 2025 when your request
was received.
Attachment A is a schedule which describes the relevant documents and sets out my decision in
relation to each of them.
5
Decision
The decision in relation to the documents in the possession of the Department which fall within the
scope of your request is as follows:
• Release five documents in part with deletions
• Exempt four documents in full
6
Reasons for Decision
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemption provision applies to that information
are set out below.
6.1 Section 22 of the FOI Act – irrelevant to request
Section 22 of the FOI Act provides that if giving access to a document would disclose information
that would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request, it is possible for the Department to
prepare an edited copy of the document, modified by deletions, ensuring that the edited copy would
not disclose any information that would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request.
On 22 September 2025, the Department advised you that its policy is to exclude the personal details
of officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES), as well as the mobile and work telephone
numbers of SES staff and non-public facing email addresses, contained in documents that fall within
scope of an FOI request.
I have decided that parts of documents marked
‘s22(1)(a)(ii)’ would disclose information that could
reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to your request. I have prepared an edited copy of the
documents, with the irrelevant material deleted pursuant to section 22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act.
The remainder of the documents have been considered for release to you as they are relevant to
your request.
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6.2 Section 42 of the FOI Act – Legal Professional Privilege
Section 42 of the FOI Act provides that a document is an exempt document if it is of such a nature
that it would be privileged from production in legal proceedings on the ground of legal professional
privilege.
I am satisfied that parts of document 3, and the entirety of documents 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4, comprise
confidential communications passing between the Department and its legal advisers, for the
dominant purpose of giving or receiving legal advice.
In determining that the communication is privileged, I have taken into the consideration the following:
• there is a legal adviser-client relationship
• the communication was for the purpose of giving and/or receiving legal advice;
• the advice given was independent and
• the advice was given on a legal-in-confidence basis and was therefore confidential.
The content of these documents are not part of the rules, guidelines, practices or precedents relating
to the decisions and recommendations of the Department. The documents do not fall within the
definition of operational information and remain subject to legal professional privilege.
I have decided that parts of document 3, and the entirety of documents 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4, are exempt
from disclosure under section 42 of the FOI Act.
6.3 Section 47E of the FOI Act – Operations of Agencies
Section 47E(d) of the FOI Act provides that documents are conditionally exempt if disclosure would,
or could reasonably be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient
conduct of the operations of an agency.
I consider that the disclosure of the parts of documents marked ‘
s47E(d)’ would, or could reasonably
be expected to, have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the
operations of the Department.
Managing the integrity of Australia’s visa process is integral to the operations of the Department.
Any prejudice to the effectiveness of the operational methods and procedures used in undertaking
that role would result in a substantial adverse effect on the operations of the Department.
I have decided that parts of the documents are conditionally exempt under section 47E(d) of the FOI
Act. Access to a conditionally exempt document must generally be given unless it would be contrary
to the public interest to do so. I have turned my mind to whether disclosure of the information would
be contrary to the public interest, and have included my reasoning in that regard below.
6.4 The public interest – section 11A of the FOI Act
As I have decided that parts of the documents are conditionally exempt, I am now required to
consider whether access to the conditionally exempt information would be contrary to the public
interest (section 11A of the FOI Act).
A part of a document which is conditionally exempt must also meet the public interest test in section
11A(5) before an exemption may be claimed in respect of that part.
In summary, the test is whether access to the conditionally exempt part of the document would be,
on balance, contrary to the public interest.
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In applying this test, I have noted the objects of the FOI Act and the importance of the other factors
listed in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act, being whether access to the document would do any of the
following:
(a) promote the objects of this Act (including all the matters set out in sections 3 and 3A)
(b) inform debate on a matter of public importance
(c) promote effective oversight of public expenditure
(d) allow a person to access his or her own personal information.
Having regard to the above I am satisfied that:
•
Access to the documents would promote the objects of the FOI Act.
•
The subject matter of the documents does not seem to have a general characteristic of
public importance. The matter has a limited scope and, in my view, would be of interest
to a very narrow section of the public.
•
No insights into public expenditure will be provided through examination of the
documents.
•
You do not require access to the documents in order to access your own personal
information.
I have also considered the following factors that weigh against the release of the conditionally exempt
information in the documents:
•
Disclosure of the parts of the documents that are conditionally exempt under section
47E(d) of the FOI Act could reasonably be expected to prejudice visa processing
functions and, as a result, the ability of the Department to conduct its daily activities. I
consider there to be a strong public interest in ensuring that the ability of the Department
to conduct its visa processing functions is not compromised or prejudiced in any way. I
consider that this would be contrary to the public interest and that this factor weighs
strongly against disclosure.
I have also had regard to section 11B(4) which sets out the factors which are irrelevant to my
decision, which are:
a)
access to the document could result in embarrassment to the Commonwealth
Government, or cause a loss of confidence in the Commonwealth Government
b)
access to the document could result in any person misinterpreting or misunderstanding
the document
c)
the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to which the request
for access to the document was made
d)
access to the document could result in confusion or unnecessary debate.
I have not taken into account any of those factors in this decision.
Upon balancing all of the above relevant public interest considerations, I have concluded that the
disclosure of the conditionally exempt information in the documents would be contrary to the public
interest and it is therefore exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act.
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7
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.
8
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.
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 Office 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 will 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.
9
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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10 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]
Steph
Position number: 60035139
Authorised Decision Maker
Department of Home Affairs
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