Our ref: T22/9
Alex Pentland
By email to:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Alex,
Freedom of information request no. 5-2122
1
The purpose of this letter is to give you a decision about access to documents that you
requested under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
2
On 28 March 2022, you sought access to:
Correspondence held by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, following the commencement
of the 45th Parliament (30 August 2016) relating to the following lapsed pieces of legislation:
(a)
National Development Bank Bill
(b)
Plebiscite (Allowing Australians to Decide Who Comes Here) Bill
(c)
Democratising Lawmaking Bill
(d)
Commonwealth Electoral Law Amendment (Compulsory Voter Identification)
Bill
(e)
Fair Work Amendment (Protecting the Right of Return to Work After
Running for Parliament) Bill.
Decision and reasons for decision
3
I, Stephen Campbell, General Manager Corporate, am an officer authorised under
subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act to make decisions in relation to FOI requests.
4
Staff of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) conducted searches of OPC’s
records management systems for any documents relevant to each point in your request. These
searches were unable to identify any correspondence as specified in your request.
Documents non-existent (section 24A)
5
I have decided to refuse your request under subsection 24A(1) of the FOI Act
(Documents non-existent).
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 Sydney Avenue Forrest ACT 2603
Locked Bag 30 Kingston ACT 2604 • Telephone (02) 6120 1400 • Fax (02) 6120 1403 • ABN 41 425 630 817
www.opc.gov.au
m22qs108.docx
6
Under subsection 24A(1) of the FOI Act, an agency 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 does not exist.
7
There are no further searches which could reasonably be undertaken to locate these
documents. I am therefore satisfied that reasonable searches have been conducted and such
documents do not exist.
8
I have taken the following material into account in making my decision:
•
the FOI Act;
•
the guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under
section 93A of the FOI Act.
9
Please note that each of these Bills appear to be private Senator’s Bills and generally,
the Office of Parliamentary Counsel only drafts government Bills.
Your review rights
10
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or
Information Commissioner review of the decision. We encourage you to seek internal review
as a first step as it may provide a more rapid resolution of your concerns.
Internal review
11
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply for an internal review of my
decision. Your application must be made within 30 days after the date of this letter.
12
An internal review will be conducted by a different officer. No particular form is
required to apply for review although it will assist your case to set out in the application the
grounds on which you believe that the original decision should be overturned. An application
for a review of the decision should be lodged in one of the following ways:
email:
xxx@xxx.xxx.xx
post: FOI Coordinator, Locked Bag 30, Kingston ACT 2604
13
If you choose to seek an internal review, you will subsequently have a right to apply
for Information Commissioner review of the internal review decision.
Information Commissioner review
14
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 after the date of this 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
[Q:\WORD\MEMOS\M22QS108.DOCX] [31 Mar 2022] [4:36 PM]
Page 2
post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001
15
More information about Information Commissioner review is available at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/information-commissioner-
review/.
FOI Complaints
16
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your FOI request, please let us
know what we could have done better. We may be able to rectify the problem. If you are not
satisfied with our response, you can make a complaint to the Australian Information
Commissioner. A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be made in writing.
Complaints can be lodged in one of the following ways:
online:
https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICCA_1
email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney 2001
17
More information about complaints is available at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/reviews-and-complaints/make-an-foi-complaint/.
18
If you are not sure whether to lodge an Information Commissioner review or an
Information Commissioner complaint, more information is available at
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/.
Yours sincerely
Stephen Campbell
General Manager Corporate
31 March 2022
[Q:\WORD\MEMOS\M22QS108.DOCX] [31 Mar 2022] [4:36 PM]
Page 3
Document Outline
