Our ref:
FOI21/212; CM21/176629
22 November 2021
Mr Matthew Peos
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Peos
Freedom of Information Request FOI21/212 – Decision letter
The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about your request for access to documents under
the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) which you submitted to the Attorney-General's
Department (the department).
Your request
On 21 October 2021, you requested access to:
1) Any documentation regarding the specific circumstances and legal maxim to decide that
Government Workers can continue to be employed whilst being unvaccinated?
2) Which Jurisdiction this decision falls under?
3) Which laws, statute or act governs the employment of government employees?
4) Documents relating to the assessment of mandatory vaccination policies for government
workers?
5) Documents relating to the mandate for compulsory vaccination of government workers?
6) Any documents which support specifically the decision to not require mandatory vaccination
of government employees?
A decision in relation to your request is due on 22 November 2021.
My decision
I am an officer authorised under section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to
freedom of information requests made to the department.
In making my decision, I have taken the fol owing into account:
• the terms of your request,
• advice provided to me by officers with responsibility for matters to which your request
relates,
• the provisions of the FOI Act, and
• the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the
FOI Act (the Guidelines).
Section 24A of the FOI Act relevantly provides that an agency or Minister may refuse a request for
access to a document if all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document and the agency is
satisfied that the document:
• is in the agency’s possession but cannot be found, or
• does not exist.
When considering a decision to refuse access under section 24A of the FOI Act, the Guidelines
relevantly provide at paragraph 3.89 that an agency or minister should take comprehensive steps to
locate documents, having regard to:
• the subject matter of the documents,
• the current and past file management systems and the practice of destruction or removal of
documents,
• the record management systems in place,
• the individuals within an agency or minister’s office who may be able to assist with the
location of documents, and
• the age of the documents.
To identify documents for your request, I arranged for staff likely to be able to identify documents to
undertake comprehensive searches of the relevant departmental electronic holdings. In particular, a
departmental staff member with responsibility for processing FOI requests interrogated the
department’s record management system using search terms which were developed with reference
to the information provided in the scope of your request. Despite these efforts, no relevant
documents were identified.
Having regard to the above, I am satisfied that reasonable steps to locate the documents to which
you have sought access were undertaken. I am also satisfied that the documents do not exist within
the department’s records holdings. I have therefore decided to refuse access pursuant to
section 24A of the FOI Act.
Additional information
The Fair Work Ombudsman has published material regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and the
workplace on their website which contains information which may be of interest to you. This
information is available from https://coronavirus.fairwork.gov.au/coronavirus-and-australian-
workplace-laws/covid-19-vaccinations-and-the-workplace.
Your review rights under the FOI Act are set out at
Attachment A to this letter.
If you wish to discuss this decision, the FOI case officer for this matter is Joanna, who can be reached
on (02) 6141 6666 or by email to
xxx@xx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Euphrasia Chen
Assistant Director
Freedom of Information and Privacy Section
Attachments
Attachment A:
Review rights
Freedom of Information request FOI21/212 – Decision letter
Page 2 of 3
Attachment A - FOI Review rights If you are dissatisfied with the decision of the Attorney-General’s Department (the department), you
may apply for internal review or Information Commissioner review of the decision.
The department encourages applicants to consider seeking internal review as a first step as it may
provide a more rapid resolution of your concerns.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), applications for internal review
must be made in writing within 30 days of the date of the decision letter, and be lodged in one of
the following ways:
email: xxx@xx.xxx.xx
post: Freedom of Information and Privacy Section
Strategy and Governance Branch
Attorney-General’s Department
3-5 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600
An officer of the department other than the officer who made the original decision will complete the
internal review within 30 days of receipt of your request.
Providing reasons you believe internal review of the decision is necessary will facilitate the
completion of the internal review.
Information Commissioner review
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner to
review my decision. An application for review by the Information Commissioner must be made in
writing within 60 days of the date of the decision letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:
online: https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICR 10
email: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001
More information about Information Commissioner review is available on the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner website. Go to https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/reviews-and-complaints/information-commissioner-review/.
FOI Review rights
Freedom of Information request FOI21/212 – Decision letter
Page 3 of 3
