ONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT 
  
BARTON 
 
    FOI 
 
 
FOI/2021/028/IR 
 
INTERNAL REVIEW DECISION AND REASONS  
UNDER SECTION 54 OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 
 
REQUEST BY: 
Trav S 
 
DECISION BY:  John Reid 
 
First Assistant Secretary 
 
Government Division 
 
 
 
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx   
 
 
Dear Trav S 
 
I refer to your request, dated 28 May 2021, seeking internal review of the decision (the 
primary decision) made on 17 May 2021 by Mr Peter Rush, Assistant Secretary, 
Parliamentary and Government Branch, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the 
Department), in relation to your request, dated 2 March 2021, for access under the Freedom 
of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) in the following terms: 
 
Palladium Group Pty Ltd is eligible for the HOSM with Phillipines clasp.  Please 
release the following documents for public review: 
 
1.  Palladium Group's submission for HOSM eligibility. 
 
2.  Submissions and testimonials from other entities related to Palladium Group's 
participation in the eligible relief operation. 
 
The primary decision identified three documents relevant to the terms of your FOI request 
(the requested documents) and granted access: 
  in part, to Document 1, with material exempt under sections 47F (personal 
information) and 47G (business information) of the FOI Act, and irrelevant material 
deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act; and 
  in full, to Documents 2 and 3, with irrelevant material deleted under section 22 of the 
FOI Act.  
 
Under section 54(2) of the FOI Act, an applicant is entitled to apply for an internal review of a 
decision refusing to give access to a document in accordance with a request. 
 
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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In your request for internal review, you specified as follows: 
 
We would like access to the material redacted via Section 22 exemptions.   
 
Authorised decision maker 
 
Section 54C(2) of the FOI Act provides that an agency must arrange for a person (other than 
the person who made the original decision) to review the decision.  
 
I am authorised to make this decision in accordance with arrangements approved by the 
Department’s Secretary under section 23 of the FOI Act. 
 
Internal review decision 
 
I have decided to affirm the primary decision. 
 
In reaching my decision, I have had regard to: 
  the terms of your request; 
  the primary decision; 
  your request for internal review; 
  the FOI Act; and 
  the ‘Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A 
of the FOI Act’ (the FOI Guidelines).  
 
Reasons 
 
Section 22 of the FOI Act – irrelevant material 
 
As advised in the primary decision, section 22 of the FOI Act provides that exempt or 
irrelevant information may be deleted from a copy of a document, and access granted to such 
an amended copy where it is reasonably practicable to do so, unless it is apparent that the 
applicant would not wish to have access to such a copy. 
 
I have carefully reviewed the material in the requested documents that the primary decision-
maker found to be irrelevant to your request. I also note that you did not advise that you 
required signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers or Ministerial staff 
below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers, which the 
Department indicated in the acknowledgement sent to you on 5 March 2021 would be 
removed. 
 
I am satisfied with the primary decision-maker’s finding regarding the irrelevant material 
deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act and the reasons underpinning those findings. 
Accordingly, I adopt and affirm those findings and reasons as my own for the purposes of this 
internal review.  
 
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/information-
commissioner-review/. 
 
 
 
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Complaint rights  
 
You may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner about the Department’s actions 
in relation to this decision. 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 
 
 
John Reid 
First Assistant Secretary 
Government Division 
28 June 2021 
 
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