OFFICIAL

Good afternoon Reasonable Prospects,

 

Please note, we have recently updated our Freedom of Information webform
which is our preferred method for FOI request submissions. It would be
greatly appreciated when submitting requests in the future if you could
please lodge them through the FOI [1]webform.

 

I refer to your request dated 7 January 2026, seeking access to documents
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) as follows:

 

For any case whose PROMIS number is within (the amended) scope of LEX 5029
(that is, Op Foster cases), and where at any point in that case's history
its case status has been some version of 'finalised', I request the Sexual
Offence Case Finalisation Note

  

Timeframe – Seeking your agreement to an extension of time

 

Upon consideration of your request, the AFP is of the view that your
request will take longer than 30 days to process.  The delay is
regrettable, however, due to an excessive number of requests that have
come through our office it will not be possible to advise you of a
decision by 9 February 2026

 

Accordingly, pursuant to section 15AA of the Act, I seek your agreement to
extend the period by 30 days to notify you of a decision by 10 March 2026.
This would enable us to finalise LEX 5029 while keeping this matter within
the statutory timeframes.

 

I would be grateful if you would advise this office in writing of your
agreement to the proposed extension of time by close of business 16
January 2026.

   

Consents – Please provide your response: YES/NO

 

Please advise this office whether you consent to exclude the following
information:

 

• All identifying information of AFP members and Commonwealth employees
below SES level (names, ID numbers, signatures, images) (AFP members
and Commonwealth employees);
• AFP and Commonwealth agency contact details other than the official
public channels (direct telephone numbers and email addresses);
• Job titles of AFP members and Commonwealth employees below SES;
• Draft documents;
• Personal information of any individual other than you from the
documents you are seeking;

• Information provided by third parties to the AFP from the documents
you are seeking;
• All information about any third parties from the documents you are
seeking;
• Duplicate documents; and
• Documents you have already provided to us, or that we have already
sent to you.

 

Please advise this office of the following: YES/NO

 

• Do the documents you seek relate to current court proceedings? and
• Are the documents you are seeking older than 20 years old?:

 

Disclosure of your identity: YES/NO

 

The AFP may be required to consult with third parties in accordance with
sections 26A, 27 and 27A of the Act. Please advise us if you consent to
being identified as a third party where consultation with a third party is
necessary? If we do not receive your consent, we will not disclose your
identity to third parties.

 

Third Party Information:

 

Upon a review of your request, I can see that you are seeking to
obtain information that also relates to a third party. Please note that
FOI considers the circumstances and details which make up the Case Note to
be third party personal information, not just their names.  Please be
advised that under FOI you are unable to acquire information that relates
to third parties/other individuals without the consent of those concerned
. In accordance with the provisions of the Act where third party
information is concerned the AFP would be required to consult with those
individuals (where appropriate) to seek to obtain their consent on the
release of their personal information. Where consultation cannot occur or
it is not appropriate to do so, the information will be subject to
exemption in accordance with section 47F of the Act (personal privacy
exemption) and therefore redacted prior to release.

 

Information Publication Scheme:

 

Please be advised that effective 1 May 2011 and in accordance with section
8(2) of the Act, an agency is required to publish information on the AFP
website following the notification of a decision in respect of a freedom
of information request. Details of the decision will be published in a
Disclosure Log which can be found at
[2]https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/informat....

 

The requirement to publish information released under FOI reinforces the
objectives of the FOI Act to promote a pro-disclosure culture across
government, and to increase recognition that information held by
government is a national resource. Exceptions to the requirement to
publish information would apply to personal information and information
concerning the business affairs of a person if it was considered
‘unreasonable’ to do so. 

 

If however, after noting the above, you wish to raise any concerns about
the publication of information concerning your request prior to the
notification of a decision, please advise the AFP in writing before 9
February 2026.

 

If you have any queries in relation to this matter, please do not hesitate
to contact our team at [3][AFP request email].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

LIBBY
Writing to you from Ngunnawal Country
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER
[4]Australian Federal Police

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/governan...
2. https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/informat...
3. mailto:[AFP request email]
4. http://www.afp.gov.au/