FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
PRINCIPAL REGISTRY
HARRY GIBBS COMMONWEALTH LAW COURTS
119 NORTH QUAY
BRISBANE QLD 4000
31 May 2022
Julie-Anne
Right to Know
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Julie-Anne,
Request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
I refer to your request dated 14 May 2022 for access to documents under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (
FOI Act), and the formal acknowledgement of your request dated
17 May 2022. As you may be aware, the period of processing your request is currently due to
expire on Monday 13 June 2022.
Extension of time to process your FOI request
Since receiving your FOI request, it has become apparent that the documents you seek access
to contain personal information about individuals. It appears that the individuals concerned
might reasonably wish to contend that the documents are conditionally exempt under section
47F of the FOI Act and access to the documents would, on balance, be contrary to the public
interest under the FOI Act. In accordance with subsection 27A(3) of the FOI Act, the
Federal Court of Australia (
Court) must give those individuals a “
reasonable opportunity to
make submissions in support of the exemption contention” before making a decision on the
release of the documents that contain personal information about those individuals.
The Court will have regard to any submissions it receives from the individuals concerned, but
the final decision about whether to grant you access to the documents you have requested rests
with the Court.
For this reason, the Court has determined that the requirements of section 27A of the FOI Act
make it appropriate to extend the period for processing your request by a further period of 30
days in accordance with subsection 15(6) of the FOI Act.
The processing period for your request will now expire on Wednesday 13 July 2022.
Yours sincerely,
B Henderson
FOI Officer