29 documents related to file 12/5946 - HOSM Amendment Regulation: Iraq clasp

Trav S made this Freedom of Information request to Office of Parliamentary Counsel

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear OPC,

This is a request for information under the FOI Act.

Please provide a document listing the 29 documents held in file number 12/5946 relating to the HOSM Amendment Regulation: Iraq clasp. We ask that the list records each document's date, topic/subject and the department creating each document.

Some background:

The Australian Senate has a continuing order requiring departments and agencies to provide the Senate with a list of indexed files created by them.

On 14 November 2012, a Senate Officer confirmed AGDs created file number 12/5946 - Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal Regulation: Iraq Clasp. Refer Senate Order Final List - January to June 2012.

On 23 September 2019, AGD transferred a FOI request to the OPC. The request sought documents related to a proposed amendment to extend the HOSM to specific commercial contractors. The documents included correspondence between AGD, PMC and AusAID. Relevantly, AusAID disclosed some of these documents to me in 2012 and I retain a copy.

On 4 May 2021, OPC confirmed they held a file numbered 12/5946 relating to the HOSM Regulation: Iraq clasp. It includes 29 documents largely comprising drafting instructions from PMC to the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publication and correspondence from OLDP to PMC. Included are draft and final regulations prepared by OLDP in response to PMC instructions.

On 12 July 2021, Mr Peter Rush from PMC claimed his department held no documents relevant to a file titled HOSM Amendment Regulation: Iraq clasp. Paradoxically his department separately claims legal professional privilege over the 29 documents.

Yours faithfully,

Trav S

FOI, Office of Parliamentary Counsel

The sender of this email certifies that its contents, and any attachments,
are of an 'OFFICIAL' nature.

Dear Mr [name removed]

I understand your request to be for us to create a new list of the
documents in file 12/5946.

The FOI process enables people to request documents that are already held
by agencies, rather than new documents.

Accordingly, I wanted to suggest that you withdraw your request for the
purposes of the FOI Act, which would allow us to deal with your request
through administrative access instead as administrative access can be used
to access new documents. If you take this approach, we anticipate
responding within a similar timeframe to the FOI process (i.e. 30 days).
If you are unhappy with our response, you would of course be free to
re-submit your request under the FOI Act, and we would follow the process
required by that Act.

Could you please confirm whether you would like to proceed with
administrative access as outlined above or are instead making a request
for existing documents under the FOI Act at this time.

Regards,

| FOI Contact Officer
a: 28 Sydney Ave Forrest ACT 2603
e: [OPC request email]
w: www.opc.gov.au

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Dear FOI,
Thank you very much for the advice.
If documents relevant to the file aren't already catalogued or listed in an existing document we would be happy to withdraw the request and apply for such a document via an administrative access request.
Yours sincerely,
Trav S

FOI, Office of Parliamentary Counsel

The sender of this email certifies that its contents, and any attachments, are of an 'OFFICIAL' nature.

Good morning Mr [name removed],

Thank you for your response.

I would like to confirm that OPC is processing your request through administrative access and a response will be provided in due course.

Regards,

Kathleen

| FOI Contact Officer
a: 28 Sydney Ave Forrest ACT 2603
e: [OPC request email]
w: www.opc.gov.au

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Dear FOI,
That would be appreciated Kathleen.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Trav S

FOI, Office of Parliamentary Counsel

The sender of this email certifies that its contents, and any attachments,
are of an 'OFFICIAL: Sensitive' nature.

 

Dear Trav S

 

We are not able to provide the list you requested through administrative
access. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has indicated
that doing so would disclose information subject to legal professional
privilege. It remains open to you to make an FOI request.

 

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request, please let
us know what we could have done better. We may be able to rectify the
problem. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can make a
complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner
([1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...).

 

Regards,

 

 

 

| FOI Contact Officer

a: 28 Sydney Ave Forrest ACT 2603

e: [OPC request email]

w: www.opc.gov.au

 

 

 

[OPCTRIM:PC:C20/43]

References

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1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...

Dear FOI,
Thank you for your email.
Do we need to re-apply or can we reinstate the request under the FOI Act as a result of the new information?
Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
Trav S

FOI, Office of Parliamentary Counsel

The sender of this email certifies that its contents, and any attachments,
are of an 'OFFICIAL: Sensitive' nature.

Thank you for your response. Yes, you will need to reapply.

Regards,

| FOI Contact Officer
a: 28 Sydney Ave Forrest ACT 2603
e: [OPC request email]
w: www.opc.gov.au

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