Activities during the Afghanistan War

Cuzco Katakan made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Defence

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was refused by Department of Defence.

Dear Department of Defence,

I would like the full information of Australia's time during the Afghan war, including POW records and any illegal activities committed as we have a right to know.

Also, the activities specifically of the SASR, 1st Commando Regiment and 2nd Commando Regiment as these are public regiments with their actions needing to be known by Australians

Yours faithfully,
Anonymous

FOI, Department of Defence

UNCLASSIFIED

Good morning

Thank you for contacting Freedom of Information at the Department of Defence.
We have received your email and you will be advised of the status of your inquiry by a FOI team member who will be in touch with you.

Kind regards

Matt Ashauer
FOI Inquiries
Freedom of Information
Information Management and Access
Governance and Reform Division

Department of Defence
CP1-06-003
PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610
(02) 6266 3685

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence. Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email immediately.

show quoted sections

FOI, Department of Defence

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    191119 1645 Cuzco Katakan FOI requests at Defence Freedom of Information request Activities during the Afghanistan War.txt

    1K Download View as HTML

UNCLASSIFIED

Good morning,

 

Thank you for your attached FOI inquiry, dated 19 November 2019, relating
to Australia’s involvement in the Afghan war.  

 

I note that your request is seeking access to 'all information' relating
to the above mentioned matter.  Please be advised that a request for
any/all documents concerning a particular subject will likely attract
refusal under section 24AA of the FOI Act because, with few exceptions, it
would simply not be possible for the decision maker to certify that he or
she has identified every copy of every document in the Department's
possession. To do so would require a search of every hard copy file and
the electronic communication and records management systems used by
Defence.  It is considered that the workload involved in conscientiously
attempting to do so would involve a substantial and unreasonable diversion
of the resources of the agency.

 

Taking the above into consideration, under section 24AA of the FOI Act and
for the purposes of section 24 of the FOI Act, Defence considers that a
'practical refusal reason' exists in relation to your FOI request. 
Specifically, Defence considers that the work involved in processing the
request in its current form would substantially and unreasonably divert
the resources of the Defence from its other operations.  In particular, a
very significant amount of resources would have to be diverted to arrange
for the required searches to be undertaken, to then review any documents
that were identified as being possibly relevant to your request.  And
finally, to undertake the decision making process on any documents that
did meet the parameters of your request.

 

This diversion would constitute a significant drain on the resources of
the agency, and would have an unreasonable, substantial and adverse effect
in the ability of areas to conduct their normal business.

 

In accordance with section 24AB of the FOI Act, Defence is required to
consult with you advising of the intention to refuse access to your
request in its current form.

 

In accordance with paragraph 24AB(2)(c) of the FOI Act, I am the nominated
person with whom you should contact with a view to agreeing to one of the
following options:

 

    a.    withdraw your request

    b.    revise your request; or

    c.    indicate that you do not wish to revise your request.

 

In accordance with section 24AB(9) of the FOI Act, Defence is only
required to undertake this consultation process once, and you must contact
me within 14 days to discuss.

 

Notwithstanding all of the above, I would suggest you provide a date range
and further information on the specific documents you seek.

 

I encourage you to contact me so I can assist you in moving forward with
your inquiry.

 

Kind regards,

 

Case Management

 

Freedom of Information

Information Management and Access

Governance and Reform Division

 

Department of Defence

PO Box 7910 Canberra ACT 2610

 

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence
and is subject to the jurisdiction of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914.
If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact the
sender and delete the email.

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email
may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.