Australia Day
Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Under the FOI Act 1982, I am seeking all communication between His Excellency The Honourable Stephen Francis Smith Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and his office and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in relation to the treatment of Australia Day while Mr Smith is High Commissioner.
This covers the period 26, January 2023 to present.
Yours faithfully,
Oliver Smith
OFFICIAL
FOI Request: LEX 9736
Dear Mr Smith,
Thank you for your email dated 12 December 2023 seeking access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
This email sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Scope of request:
You have sought access to:
‘…all communication between His Excellency The Honourable Stephen Francis
Smith Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and his office
and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in relation to the
treatment of Australia Day while Mr Smith is High Commissioner.
This covers the period 26, January 2023 to present.’
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.
Timeframe for receiving our decision:
We received your request on 12 December 2023 and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
You should therefore expect a decision by 11 January 2024. The period of
30 days may be extended in certain circumstances.
Due to the upcoming holiday and shutdown period over Christmas and New
Year, we are seeking your agreement to an extension of 30 days to process
your request (under section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982).
We will endeavour to finalise your matter as soon as possible.
We would be grateful if you could please confirm your agreement by return
email. Should you agree to this extension, we will inform the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
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 disclosure log:
[1]https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/corpora....
Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:
It is the Department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names and contact details of government
officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent. If you
require the mobile numbers of all government officials, or the names and
contact details of non-SES officials, please let us know at
[2][DFAT request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will
take it that you agree to that information 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. The Department’s privacy policy is available
at dfat.gov.au/privacy.html.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by return e-mail at [3][DFAT request email]
Kind regards
DFAT FOI Team
_______________________________
FOI Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[4]dfat.gov.au | [5]Twitter | [6]Facebook | [7]Instagram | [8]LinkedIn
© Kim Hill, Among Women (2011)
[9]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.
Dear FOI,
Thanks for your email. I am happy to grant the extension as requested and to provide further clarity on the FOI request.
My request
all communication between His Excellency The Honourable Stephen Francis
Smith Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and his office
and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in relation to the
treatment of Australia Day while Mr Smith is High Commissioner.
Can be further refined to "all correspondence in relation to ow the Australian High Commission will treat any events, messaging, promotion, and communication in relation to Australia Day (January 26).
Yours sincerely,
Oliver Smith
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Smith
Thank you for consenting to an extension of time to process your request. We are now required to notify the Office of the Australian Information Commission (OAIC) of the extension.
Wording of your request
In your previous email you provided further information regarding the documents that you are seeking.
For clarity, can you please confirm whether the below reformulated wording accurate describes the documents that you are seeking:
For the period 26 January to 12 December 2023, all internal DFAT correspondence, sent or received, by His Excellency The Honourable Stephen Francis Smith Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (London Post) in relation to the treatment of an Australia Day event hosted by Mr Smith at London Post, for example documents relating to hosting an event, or messaging and promotions in relation to any event.
We note that the above wording is a suggestion only, and you are welcome to reformulate the request however best describes the documents that you are seeking.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter.
Kind regards
Jonathan | DFAT FOI Team
_______________________________
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
dfat.gov.au | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
© Kim Hill, Among Women (2011)
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.
OFFICIAL
FOI Request: LEX 9736
Dear Mr Smith
Please find attached a letter notifying you of the department’s decision
on your FOI request, together with the documents released to you.
Kind regards
Jonathan | DFAT FOI Team
_______________________________
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[1]dfat.gov.au | [2]Twitter | [3]Facebook | [4]Instagram | [5]LinkedIn
© Kim Hill, Among Women (2011)
[6]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.
References
Visible links
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