OFFICIAL

 

FOI Request: LEX 12886

  

Dear Oliver Smith

  

Thank you for your email dated 24 September 2025 seeking access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).  

  

This email sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the department),
together with seeking your agreement to grant the department with an
extension of 30 calendar days to process your request.

 

Scope of request:  

On 24 September 2025 you requested access to:

 

o All correspondence (including emails, internal memos, briefing notes,
and letters) sent by or received by Departmental staff holding
Position Number: 2826 from 1 January 2025 to the date this request is
processed.

 

I consent to the Department redacting:

o Personal contact details, and
o Any third-party personal or commercially sensitive information that is
not relevant to the substance of the documents.

  

On 4 October 2025, you amended your request to the following:

 

All correspondence (including emails, internal memos, briefing notes, and
letters) sent by or received by Departmental staff Amanda Kyd (Position
Number: 2826) in their capacity as an officer working at the Australian
Consulate General, Ho Chi Minh City, from 1 January 2025 to the date [24
September] this request is processed.

 

I confirm my consent to the redaction of personal contact details and
third-party material that is irrelevant. I also request the documents in
electronic form.

 

If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.  

 

Request for additional time

Timeframe for receiving our decision:  

We received your request on 24 September 2025, and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
A decision is currently due to you by Friday 24 October 2025. The period
of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances.

 

Request for additional time

We are writing to you to seek your agreement to providing the department
with an extension of 30 calendar days to process your FOI request
(section 15AA of the FOI Act). This would mean that a decision would
become due to you by Monday 24 November 2025.

 

The reason for the extension is that the department has received a
significant increase of FOI requests which we are trying to work through.
In addition, in the ACT it is school holidays, and we have had staff on
entitled leave.

 

Please note that if the department is unable to provide you with a
decision by the statutory due date, the department’s Secretary is deemed
to have refused your request. We are seeking to avoid that outcome.

We would be grateful if you could please reply at your earliest
opportunity, but by no later than 17:00 Wednesday 15 October 2025.  

 

General FOI matters

Charges:   

Please note that the department may issue charges for processing FOI
requests. If applicable, we will advise you of any relevant charges when
we are in a position to estimate the resources required to process your
request.   

   

Disclosure log:

Please note that, with some exceptions (such as personal information),
documents released under the FOI Act may later be published on the
department’s [1]disclosure log.

  

Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:  

It is the department’s policy to withhold the personal information of
junior staff from ministerial offices and government officials not in the
Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent, including their email
addresses and contact numbers, together with all signatures, mobile phone
numbers, departmental inboxes and technical transmission details including
reference numbers.  

   

Duplicate documents and incomplete email chains:  

Your request will be processed on the basis that you did not intend to
capture duplicate documents or duplicate emails within email chains.

 

If you require the excluded information or documents, please let us know
at [2][DFAT request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise, we
will take it that you agree to the information and documents being
excluded from the scope of your request.

 

Personal Information:  

If we need to consult with other people or organisations regarding your
FOI request, we may need to disclose your personal information (e.g. your
name). When we consult it may be apparent that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. Please let us know if you have
any concerns in this regard. Further information on the way the department
handles personal information is accessible via our [3]privacy policy.  

  

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by reply email.  

  

Kind regards  

  

Jonathan | DFAT FOI Team

_____________________________________________________
Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division

 

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

 

[4]dfat.gov.au | [5]X | [6]Facebook | [7]Instagram  | [8]LinkedIn

 

© Brooke Rigney-Lively (2024)

 

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our
respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to their Elders,
past, present and emerging.

 

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Oliver Smith

 

I am writing to notify you that today your request was transferred to the
Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) under section 16(1)(b) of the FOI Act
as you are seeking access to documents relating to an employee of DoHA.

 

DoHA will treat your request as though it was received the same day that
we did. You should therefore expect a decision from DoHA by Monday 24
November 2025.

 

DoHAwill write to your separately in relation to the processing of your
request.

 

Kind regards

 

Jonathan | DFAT FOI Team

_____________________________________________________
Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division

 

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

 

[1]dfat.gov.au | [2]X | [3]Facebook | [4]Instagram  | [5]LinkedIn

 

© Brooke Rigney-Lively (2024)

 

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia,
and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our
respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to their Elders,
past, present and emerging.

 

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

Dear Oliver Smith, 

 

Thank you for your email. 

 

The purpose of this email is to acknowledge the Department of Home Affairs
(the Department) has received and accepted a section 16 transfer from the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for your Freedom of
Information request dated 24 September 2025, and it has been assessed as
a duplicate of FOI request FA 25/09/01874. 

 

As FA 25/09/01874 is still being processed for the same documents, the
Department would like to invite you to consent to withdrawing this new
request.

 

Please respond to [1][email address] by COB Friday 17 October
2025.

 

If you do not respond by the above date, or you do not consult the
Department during this period, your request will be taken to have been
withdrawn in accordance with section 24AB(7) of the FOI Act.

 

Contact

 

Should you have any questions in relation to this process, please do not
hesitate to contact [2][email address].

 

 

Kind regards

 

Phil (he/him)
Authorised FOI Officer, Freedom of Information
Position Number: 60157242

Privacy, FOI and Records Management Branch | Legal Group

Email: [3][email address]

Department of Home Affairs [4]www.homeaffairs.gov.au

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

 

 

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately.  This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
 

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. 
The Department of Home Affairs, the ABF and the National Emergency
Management Agency respect your privacy and have obligations under the
Privacy Act 1988.  

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

Dear Oliver Smith, 

 

I am writing to notify you of your duplicate Freedom of Information
request.

   

As FA 25/09/01874 is still being processed, we will take no further action
on the duplicate request and has now been closed. 

 

Kind regards

 

Phil (he/him)
Authorised FOI Officer, Freedom of Information
Position Number: 60157242

Privacy, FOI and Records Management Branch | Legal Group

Email: [1][email address]

Department of Home Affairs [2]www.homeaffairs.gov.au

 

 

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

 

 

From: FOI <[email address]>
Sent: Tuesday, 14 October 2025 9:10 AM
To: [FOI #13708 email]
Subject: CM: FOI Request – Duplicate request [SEC=OFFICIAL:Sensitive]

 

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

Dear Oliver Smith, 

 

Thank you for your email. 

 

The purpose of this email is to acknowledge the Department of Home Affairs
(the Department) has received and accepted a section 16 transfer from the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for your Freedom of
Information request dated 24 September 2025, and it has been assessed as
a duplicate of FOI request FA 25/09/01874. 

 

As FA 25/09/01874 is still being processed for the same documents, the
Department would like to invite you to consent to withdrawing this new
request.

 

Please respond to [3][email address] by COB Friday 17 October
2025.

 

If you do not respond by the above date, or you do not consult the
Department during this period, your request will be taken to have been
withdrawn in accordance with section 24AB(7) of the FOI Act.

 

Contact

 

Should you have any questions in relation to this process, please do not
hesitate to contact [4][email address].

 

 

Kind regards

 

Phil (he/him)
Authorised FOI Officer, Freedom of Information
Position Number: 60157242

Privacy, FOI and Records Management Branch | Legal Group

Email: [5][email address]

Department of Home Affairs [6]www.homeaffairs.gov.au

 

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

 

 

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately.  This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
 

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. 
The Department of Home Affairs, the ABF and the National Emergency
Management Agency respect your privacy and have obligations under the
Privacy Act 1988.  

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/