OFFICIAL

Dear Francis

 

Acknowledgement

I refer to your correspondence of 30 September 2025, seeking access to
documents held by the Department of Defence (Defence) under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). This email is to advise you that your
request has been received and allocated for Case Management.

 

The scope of your request is:

 

All documents, correspondence, emails, file notes, memoranda, and records
held by Department of Defence that relate to any contact, communication,
or request for information from the Honours and Awards Secretariat and/or
the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (or any officer acting on
behalf of either) concerning

 

The attack on the Serena Hotel, Kabul, Afghanistan on 14 January 2008;
and/or The actions of Australian civilians and/or Australian embassy staff
present at the Serena Hotel during the attack on 14 January 2008; and/or
Any inquiry, investigation, or information gathering related to the
conduct or actions of individuals at the Serena Hotel on 14 January 2008.

 

Time period: 1 January 2008 to present date.

This includes but is not limited to: requests for witness statements,
incident reports, security assessments, personnel records, commendations,
citations, or any other documentation related to the above incident.

 

Disclaimer

Where staff details are captured in documents within the scope of your FOI
request, this information will be redacted; this includes private email
addresses, signatures, personnel (PMKeyS) numbers and mobile telephone
numbers, unless you specifically request such details. Defence excludes
duplicates of documents and any documents sent to or from you.
Furthermore, Defence only considers final versions of documents.

 

Charges

Defence may impose a charge for the work involved in providing access to
the documents in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Charges)
Regulations 2019. We will notify you if your request attracts a charge.
Please note that there is no charge for documents that contain the
personal information of the applicant.

 

Timeframe

The statutory timeframe to provide you with a decision on your request
ends on 30 October 2025. This period may be extended if we need to consult
with third parties, or for other reasons. We will advise you if this
happens.

 

Please note that where the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public
holiday, the timeframe will expire on the next working day. This is in
accordance with the FOI Guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act.

 

Disclosure Log

Documents released under the FOI Act may be published on Defence’s
disclosure log, located on our website.

 

Contact Details

We will contact you via the email address you have provided. Please advise
if you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.

 

Should you have any questions relating to your request, please do not
hesitate to contact us via email: [1][email address].

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

 

[2]Freedom of information requests | About | Defence

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.

 

 

References

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2. https://www.defence.gov.au/about/accessi...