ONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT 
  
BARTON 
 
    FOI 
FOI/2021/027 
 
 
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 
 
REQUEST BY: 
Mr Tyson Smith 
 
 
DECISION BY:  Mr Peter Rush 
 
Assistant Secretary 
Parliamentary and Government Branch 
 
 
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx  
 
 
Dear Mr Smith 
 
I refer to your email of 25 February 2021 in which you made a request (the FOI request) 
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the Department of the Prime 
Minister and Cabinet (the Department) in the following terms: 
 
I am seeking access to any document(s) that indicates the date and time in which the 
Gaetjens review was designated as 'for deliberation of Cabinet'. 
 
On 26 February 2021, the Department wrote to you to advise that your request did not meet 
the requirements of a valid request under section 15 of the FOI Act, on the basis that it did not  
provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably necessary to enable a 
responsible officer of the Department to identify it, as it was unclear what “Gaetjens review” 
the request referred to. 
 
On 1 March 2021, you provided the following clarification: 
 
In relations to “Gaetjens review” what I mean is the report that Scott Morrison 
announced would be conducted by Phil Gaetjens which seeks to investigate which staff 
in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) were aware of the assault allegation in relation 
to Brittany Higgins. 
 
Accordingly, your request, as clarified, is as follows: 
 
I am seeking access to any document(s) that indicates the date and time in which the 
report that Scott Morrison announced would be conducted by Phil Gaetjens, which 
seeks to investigate which staff in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) were aware of 
the assault allegation in relation to Brittany Higgins, was designated as 'for 
deliberation of Cabinet'. 
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 

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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 FOI Act.  
 
Decision 
 
I have decided to refuse your request under section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act, on the basis 
that the Department has taken all reasonable steps to locate the documents you have 
requested, and those documents do not exist. 
 
In making this decision, I have had regard to the following material: 
  the terms of your request; 
  the advice from the Department’s business area responsible for the subject matter of 
the FOI request; 
  the FOI Act; and 
 
  the ‘Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A 
of the Freedom of Information Act 1982’ (the FOI Guidelines). 
 
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. 
 
Having regard to the terms of the FOI request, I sought advice from the relevant officials 
within the Department responsible for the subject matter of the request as to whether 
documents meeting those terms exist. I confirm no documents meeting the terms of the FOI 
request exist.   
 
I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to find documents relevant to the 
request, and that the requested documents do not exist. 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 processing 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/make-an-foi-complaint/.  
 
Yours sincerely 
 
 
Peter Rush 
Assistant Secretary 
Parliamentary and Government Branch  
8 April 2021 
 
 
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