ONE NATIONAL CIRCUIT
BARTON
FOI
FOI/2022/101
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982
REQUEST BY:
Trav S
DECISION BY: Peter Rush
Assistant Secretary
Parliamentary and Government Branch
Trav S
By ema
il: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear Trav S
I refer to your email received by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (‘the
Department’) on 30 March 2022, in which you made a request under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) in the following terms:
In 2021, my colleagues and I submitted a confidential briefing document titled "Proposed
Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal Amendment Regulation: Iraq Clasp" to government
stakeholders. Statements from 2 Foreign Affairs Ministers and AusAID's Acting Director
General were attached. As was a legislative drafting document produced by OPC in
consultation with PM&C and AusAID.
Please provide a copy of all correspondence between your office and Mr Andrew Wallace MP
relating to this brief and the matters raised therein.
Public interest compels scrutiny, review and comment of government's advice in this case.
Relevantly, documents obtained via FOI evidence previous events in which the Branch
responsible for HOSM administration deceived and misled government and members of the
public. The basic legal premise "Falsus in uno, flasks in omnibus" bears weight in this case.
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.
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
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 the scope of
your request, and also reviewed documents disclosed by the Department on its
Disclosure Log
for related FOI requests.
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/.
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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
Peter Rush
Assistant Secretary
Parliamentary and Government Branch
28 April 2022
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