Docusign Envelope ID: 9A94B9FF-A500-4460-8E74-F044AA596792
Peter Christensen Senior Information Governance
and Access Officer
University Governance Office
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
25 November 2025
Joyce Mayer
Via Email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
SUBJECT FOI 202500276– Practical Refusal/ Request Consultation
Dear Joyce Mayer,
On 24 October 2025, the Australian National University received your request seeking access to
documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act)
.
Practical Refusal
I, Peter Christensen, am an officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions
in relation to FOI requests.
I have considered the scope of your request and I am satisfied, for the reasons outlined below, that
your request in its current form
1. Does not provide such information concerning the document/s as is reasonably necessary
to enable a responsible officer of this agency to identify the exact document/s you are
seeking.
On this basis I intend to refuse access to the documents you have requested. This is called a
‘practical refusal reason’ (section 24AA of the FOI Act).
However, before I make a final decision to do this, you have an opportunity to revise your request.
This is called a ‘request consultation process’ as set out under section 24AB of the FOI Act. You
have 14 days, commencing the day after you receive this notice, to respond in one of the ways set
out below under the heading ‘what you need to do’.
The Australian National University
Canberra 2600, ACT Australia
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University)
CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C
Docusign Envelope ID: 9A94B9FF-A500-4460-8E74-F044AA596792
Why I intend to refuse your request
Your request received on 2025 is as follows:
‘I am requesting any documents and communications, including email, Signal, Teams or other
messaging platforms, which document the decision to engage an external company,
‘Shapeshifters Creative’ to produce collateral in relation to the Nixon working groups.
Specifically, I am requesting:
1. Any documents, or communications held by the University to engage an external consultant
to provide a service already available through existing ANU staff areas; and copies of the due
diligence undertaken to ensure there was no internal capability to complete this work, prior to
the decision to engage an external consultant.
2. The invoices, terms of reference and scope of work undertaken by ‘Shapeshifters Creative’
for the Nixon project, including date of engagement and services.
3. Whether an exemption was sought for procurement of these external services; and who
authorised the use of the consultant.
4. Any emails, documents, Signal or other messaging platforms held by the IVC Office or the
IVC about the decision to use a third party to complete work for ANU; and why this decision has
not been communicated transparently to the broader ANU staff community.
One of the core requirements of making an FOI request is that the request must provide such
information as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency to identify a
document (section 15(2)(b) of the Act).
Request consultation process
You now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to proceed. Below are some
effective methods that can be used to revise your request.
Specify documents: By providing more specific information about exactly what documents you are
seeking, our agency will be able to pinpoint the documents and/or business areas you are
interested in and avoid using excessive resources to locate and process documents that you are not
interested in. For example: are you seeking documents relating to a particular project or in general.
Increase precision: The more precise you can be with your request, the easier it is to locate
documents and process them. Even if you are not aware of what a specific document or documents
are called that you want access to, provide as much information about the document(s) as possible
to assist us with searches. Broad information leads to broad searches, which leads to increased
processing times to work through the larger number of documents obtained. If a significant
The Australian National University
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CRICOS Provider #00120C
Docusign Envelope ID: 9A94B9FF-A500-4460-8E74-F044AA596792
number of documents fall within your revised scope, the practical refusal reason will not be
considered to be removed.
Date Range: Provide a specific time frame for your request to ensure that all reasonable searches
can be undertaken.
What you need to do
Before the end of the consultation period, you must do one of the following, in writing, in
accordance with section 24AB(6) of the Act:
• Make a revised request – according to the advice above or in another way; or
• Tell us that you do not wish to revise the request; or
• Withdraw the request.
The consultation period runs for 14 days and starts on the day after you receive this notice.
If you revise your request in a way that adequately addresses the practical refusal grounds outlined
above, we will recommence processing it. (Please note that the time taken to consult you regarding
the scope of your request is
not taken into account for the purposes of the 30-day time limit for
processing your request).
If you do not do one of the three things listed above during the consultation period, your request
will be taken to have been withdrawn, and you will receive formal notification of this once the
request consultation process has been finalised.
Contact officer
If you would like to discuss revising your request or have any questions, please contact our office
via email in the first instance vi
a xxx@xxx.xxx.xx quoting
FOI 202500276 as your reference number
in the subject line.
Yours sincerely
Mr Peter Christensen
Senior Information Governance and Access Officer
University Governance Office
Australian National University
The Australian National University
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CRICOS Provider #00120C
Docusign Envelope ID: 9A94B9FF-A500-4460-8E74-F044AA596792
Your review rights
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or Information
Commissioner review of the decision. We encourage you to seek internal review as a first step as it
may provide a more rapid resolution of your concerns
Application for Internal Review of Decision
Section 54A of the Act, gives you the right to apply for an internal review of my decision.
It must be made in writing within 30 days of receipt of this letter, no particular form is required but
it is desirable to set out in the application the grounds on which you consider the decision should
be reviewed.
The application should be addressed to Freedom of Information at
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Application for Information Commissioner Review of decision
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner to
review my decision. An application must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this
letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:
Form: either online form or downloadable form available at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-
rights/freedom-of-information-reviews/information-commissioner-review
email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Post: Director of FOI Dispute Resolution, GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001
More information is available on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/your-freedom-of-information-rights/freedom-
of-information-reviews
The Australian National University
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