ONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT
BARTON
FOI
FOI/2022/022
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
REQUEST BY:
Mr Neil Wilson
DECISION BY: Petra Gartmann
Assistant Secretary
Legal Policy Branch
Mr Neil Wilson
By ema
il: mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Mr Wilson
I refer to your email received by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (‘the
Department’) on 8 January 2022, in which you made a request under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) in the following terms:
Awards and Culture Branch corresponded with AusAID on 22 February 2012 in an email
titled HOSM for CRG Contractors in Iraq [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]. In that document a Mr
Peter Rush made the following statement:
“After our meeting with you (AusAID) we sounded the Parliamentary Secretary to the PM and
then advised you that we could not pursue the matter without an initiating letter from the
Minister for Foreign Affairs.”
I am scrutinising the Branch’s activities in accordance with my rights under the FOI Act.
Please provide me a copy of:
1. The document recording the Branch sounding the Parliamentary Secretary to the
PM as Mr Rush states
2. Any correspondence between the Branch and the Parliamentary Secretary to the
PM (including her staff) related to this topic that occurred in the years 2011 and
2012.
Mr Rush remains with PM&C and he is the best placed to help you search for and recover the
documents if they do exist.
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
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 sections 24A(1)(b)(i) and (ii) of the FOI Act on
the basis that all reasonable steps have been taken to find the requested documents and I am
satisfied they cannot be found or do not exist.
In making my decision, I have considered the following:
•
the terms of your FOI request;
•
the FOI Act; and
•
the ‘Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner issued under
section 93A of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982’.
My reasons for decision are set out below.
Reasons for decision
Under section 24A of the FOI Act, 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 Department undertook searches of relevant systems for documents within scope of your
request. Due consideration was also given to previous similar requests and documents
disclosed by the Department on its
Disclosure Log. I am satisfied that no documents relevant to your request are in the possession of the
Department, or if they exist they cannot be found. I have therefore decided to refuse the
request under section 24A(1)(b)(i) and (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/information-
commissioner-review/.
2
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
Petra Gartmann
Assistant Secretary
Legal Policy Branch
14 April 2022
3
