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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

 

Your email has been received by the Department of Home Affairs Freedom of
Information (FOI) Section.

 

The FOI section only responds to valid FOI requests and other matters
relating to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).  Visit the
FOI Information on our Website for more information on what [1]information
can be accessed under the FOI Act 1982.

 

What is a valid FOI request?

 

A valid FOI request may be for:

- documents you previously provided to the Department as part of a visa
application

- a copy of a decision record made by the Department

- statistical information held by the Department

- papers or briefings the Department prepared.

 

If your email is a valid FOI request, the Department will contact you
shortly to acknowledge your request.

 

A valid FOI request must:

o Be in writing and state the request is for consideration under the FOI
Act.
o Have enough information for us to be able to identify the documents
you are seeking.
o Provide a physical or electronic address where we can send our
decision.

 

Do not send duplicate emails as this may cause longer delays in processing
times.

 

What is an invalid FOI request?

 

Invalid FOI requests may include:

- Making a visa application

- Seeking evidence of your Australian Citizenship

- Seeking information about traveling to or departing Australia.

 

If your email is not specific an FOI request or FOI related matter, the
FOI section will not respond.

 

What happens next?

Once we receive and have registered your FOI request, we will send you an
acknowledgment letter by email. Read the acknowledgment letter carefully
for further instructions.

 

FOI requests are generally processed in the order they are received.

 

We will contact you as soon as the Department has assessed your request
under the FOI Act.

 

We’re responding to a large volume of requests

Due to the current high volume of requests, we will not provide progress
up-dates on current FOI requests.  This is to ensure we are able to
process as many requests as possible, including yours.

 

If processing your request is going to take us a lot of time and because
it is large or unspecific, it may be refused.  

 

Still have a question or request?

If you still have a question, which has not been answered above, and which
is about the work of the Department, use our general enquiries web page

[2]https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-sup...

 

You may be able to resolve your enquiry faster using these other resources

 

We only action and respond to FOI requests that are valid under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982. You may be able to resolve your enquiry
faster by using these resources:

 

General information about travelling to Australia:

 

The Department of Home Affairs, “Entering Australia” site
[3]https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering...

 

·       For visa and our requirements for entry to Australia
[4]https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/ge...

For a copy of your visa refusal or visa grant letter you should contact
the office where you lodged your visa application. 

·       To check your current visa details and conditions use the
Department’s Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) portal which can
be accessed [5]here

·       If you are experiencing technical difficulties in lodging your
visa application through ImmiAccount, submit your concerns through the
ImmiAccount Technical Support Form, which is accessible [6]here.

·       For evidence of your Australian Citizenship please refer [7]here.
The FOI Section does not process these requests.

·       For movement records or travel history complete the online
International Movement Records form [8]here. The FOI Section does not
process these requests.

·       To update your details, including your Passport details, you can
notify the Department [9]here. The FOI Section does not process these
requests.

 

 

We appreciate your feedback         

We appreciate your feedback to help improve our services.

 

If you would like to provide feedback to us please use our Compliments,
complaints and suggestions form.
[10]https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-and-...

 

 

Thank you

Information updated 11 January 2022

 

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References

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5. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/al...
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OFFICIAL: Sensitive
Personal-Privacy

8 September 2022

J Smith

BY EMAIL:  [FOI #9354 email]

In reply please quote:

FOI Request:       FA 22/09/00461

File Number:        OBJ2022/24002 

Dear Smith

I refer to your email dated 6 September 2022, in which you requested
access to documents held by the Department of Home Affairs (the Freedom of
Information & Records Management Branch ) under the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

You have requested access to the following:

I request the following information:
- The titles and delivery dates of all final reports and documents
delivered to, produced within or made available to the Department, since 1
January 2015, in relation to 'anarchism', or 'anarchists'.

To be clear, I am not requesting the title page, I am instead am instead
requesting the title/names of reports. This should be no more than a few
words for each relevant document.

Please exclude duplicates from this FOI request.

I request that any FOI fees be waived in this instance.

Intention to refuse request

I am writing to tell you that I intend to refuse your request on the basis
that a practical refusal reason exists. However, before I make a final
decision to do this, you have an opportunity to revise your request to
remove the practical refusal reason. This is called a ‘request
consultation process’. You have 14 days to respond to this notice in one
of the ways set out below.

Power to refuse request

Section 24 of the FOI Act provides that if the Department is satisfied
that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request, the
Department must undertake a consultation process with you, and if, after
that consultation process, the Department remains satisfied that the
practical refusal reason still exists, the Department may refuse to give
you access to the documents subject to the request.

Practical refusal

A practical refusal reason exists under section 24AA of the FOI Act if
either (or both) of the following applies:

(1)(a)(i) the work involved in the processing of the request would
substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the Department from
its other operations

(1)(b)     the request does not satisfy the requirement in section
15(2)(b) of the FOI Act, which requires you to provide such information
concerning the document you are seeking access to, to enable the
Department to be able to identify it.

I consider that the request does not satisfy the requirements of section
15(2)(b) of the FOI Act, and accordingly that practical refusal reasons
exist under section 24AA(1)(b) of the FOI Act.

Reasons for practical refusal

 

The Department has considered the scope of this request and its capacity
to conduct searches of relevance based on the current scope. The Freedom
of Information Act 1982 provides a right to obtain access to “a document
of an agency”. It is my preliminary view that your request, in its current
form, does not satisfy the requirement in section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act
and is therefore not valid.

 

Your request for “titles and delivery dates for all final reports and
documents delivered to, produced within or made available to the
Department” is too broad to identify relevant business areas of the
Department and/or conduct effective searches. “All final reports and
documents” will encompass communications on any and every matter in any
format, including all-staff messages, routine matters relating to the work
and business area, and so on.

 

In addition, the search terms specified in your request, in particular
“anarchism”, “anarchists”, are extremely broad in application and would in
all likelihood capture a large number of documents on a wide variety of
topics held in multiple systems.

 

In consideration of the above, I am satisfied that the Department is
currently unable to identify documents of relevance based on the
information provided in scope. I consider that this would result in the
decision maker being unable to certify that all relevant documents have
been provided and considered in the assessment of this request and that a
practical refusal reason exists in relation to this request. Moreover, any
attempt to do so would in all likelihood encompass such a quantity of
documents that it would not be practical to process your request.

 

As such, I am satisfied that your request is not valid and a practical
refusal reason exists in this request.

Request Consultation Process

 

To enable the Department to consider your request for access under the FOI
Act, the Department will require sufficient information concerning the
specific existing documents you are seeking access to, so as to enable the
Department to identify those documents. 

 

You now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to
proceed.

 

Please clarify and provide a revised scope to identify exactly what
specific documents you require.

 

Your request is currently not a valid request for the purposes of section
15(2)(b) of the FOI Act. As part of this practical refusal consultation,
you have 14 days to do one of the following:

 

·        withdraw your request;

·        make a revised request;

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

 

If you do not do one of the three things listed above during the
consultation period (14 days) or you do not consult the contact person
listed below during this period, the Department will take no further
action with your request.

You now have an opportunity to revise your request to ensure it is a valid
request under section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act and to enable it to proceed.

Contact

 

Should you wish to revise your request or have any questions in relation
to this process, please do not hesitate to contact us at
[1][Department of Home Affairs request email]

 

Regards

 

 

Derek

Position number: 60007884

Authorised FOI Officer

FOI and Records Management Branch | Data Division

Strategy and National Resilience Group

Department Of Home Affairs

E: [2][Department of Home Affairs request email]

 

Personal-Privacy
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 and ABF 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:[Department of Home Affairs request email]
2. mailto:[Department of Home Affairs request email]