FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
PRINCIPAL REGISTRY
HARRY GIBBS COMMONWEALTH LAW COURTS
119 NORTH QUAY
BRISBANE QLD 4000
20 January 2023
Mr Rex Martinich
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Martinich,
Request under the Freedom of Information Act
I refer to your email to the Federal Court of Australia (
Court) of 21 December 2022 requesting
access to documents under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (
FOI Act). I have
carefully read and considered your request, including the very specific and targeted parameters
that you include.
Authorised decision-maker
I am authorised under section 23 of the FOI Act to make decisions on behalf of the Court in
relation to requests made under the FOI Act.
Decision
I have decided, pursuant to subsection 24A(1) of the FOI Act, to refuse your request for access
to documents as I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to find the documents
you have requested, but the documents cannot be found or do not exist.
I have taken the following into account in making my decision:
• the terms of your request;
• the relevant provisions of the FOI Act and case law considering those provisions;
• the
Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 (
Charges Regulations); and
• the FOI Guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(
FOI Guidelines).
Reasons for Decision
Subsection 24A(1) of the FOI Act provides:
(1) 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
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(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.
Extensive searches were undertaken by staff of the Court to identify any documents falling
within the scope of your request. These searches included consultations with senior staff in the
Court’s People and Culture, and National Operations teams, searches of the Court’s human
resources and recruitment shared drive and folders, searches of staff emails, and searches of
the Court’s electronic document, records management and information system.
As a result of the searches undertaken, no documents could be found that fell within the scope
of your request. I am not aware of any other steps that could reasonably have been taken to
identify the documents you have requested.
Having regard to the above, I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to find any
documents within the ambit of your request, and that the documents cannot be found or do not
exist. As there are no documents to provide you, I must refuse access to the documents
requested under subsection 24A(1) of the FOI Act.
Charges
You have not been charged for the processing of your request.
Your Review Rights
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or to the Information
Commissioner for review of those decisions. I encourage you to seek internal review as a first
step as it may provide a more rapid resolution of your concerns.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to the Court for an internal review
of my decision. The internal review application must be made within thirty (30) days of the
date of this letter.
Where possible, please attach reasons as to why you believe review of the decision is necessary.
The internal review will be carried out by another officer within thirty (30) days.
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 sixty (60) days of the date of this letter and be lodged in one of the
following ways:
online:
https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/oaic/foi-review-/
ema
il: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
post: GPO Box 2999, Canberra ACT 2601
in person: Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW
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More information about the Information Commissioner review is available on the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner (
OAIC) website at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-
of-information/reviews-and-complaints/information-commissioner-review/.
Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with the way the Court has handled your FOI request, you may complain
to the Information Commissioner in writing. There is no fee for making a complaint. More
information about making a complaint is available on the OAIC website, including a link to
the online complaints form which the OAIC recommends using for complaints, at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/make-an-foi-
complaint.
Yours sincerely,
B Henderson
FOI Officer
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