ONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT
BARTON
FOI
FOI/2020/214
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
REQUEST BY:
Trav S
DECISION BY: Peter Rush
Assistant Secretary
Parliamentary and Government Branch
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Trav S
I refer to your request of 11 September 2020, made to the Department of the Prime Minister
and Cabinet (the
Department) under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act), in
the following terms:
Please provide the requested information administratively, but if this is not reasonably
possible consider it a request for information under the FOI Act.
I seek a copy of the handbook, manual or work instruction governing the
drafting/production of declarations or amendments to the Humanitarian Overseas
Service Medal.
Please don't provide the medal's Letters Patent or governing regulations in this
request.
Authorised decision-maker
I am authorised to make this decision in accordance with arrangements approved by the
Department’s Secretary under section 23 of the Act.
Postal Address: PO Box 6500, CANBERRA ACT 2600
Telephone: +61 2 6271 5849 Fax: +61 2 6271 5776 www.pmc.gov.au ABN: 18 108 001 191
Decision
I have decided to refuse your request under section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act.
Reasons
Section 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides that:
An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a) all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document;
and
(b) the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i)
is in the agency’s or Minister’s possession but cannot be found; or
(ii)
does not exist.
The drafting/production of declarations or amendments to the Humanitarian Overseas Service
Medal (HOSM) are undertaken by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) based on
instructions from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as the agency with policy
responsibility for the HOSM.
Noting the division of responsibility between the Department and OPC described above, and
having regard to where documents relevant to the request might be held, if they exist, the
Department undertook relevant searches, but no documents meeting the request have been
found.
I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to find documents meeting the terms
of your request and that no such documents exist in the Department.
I have therefore decided to refuse your request under section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act.
Processing and access charges
I have decided not to impose charges in respect of your request.
Review rights
Information about your rights of review under the FOI Act is available at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/.
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Complaint rights
You may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner about the Department’s actions
in relation to a request. Making a complaint about the way the Department has handled an
FOI request is a separate process to seeking review of the Department’s decision. Further
information about how to make a complaint is available at https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-
of-information/reviews-and-complaints/.
Yours sincerely
Peter Rush
Assistant Secretary
Parliamentary and Government Branch
12 October 2020
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