Beneficial Ownership Register

Evelyn Doyle made this Freedom of Information request to Department of the Treasury

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 partially successful.

Dear Treasury FOI Team,

I am following up on the government's early proposal to establish a Beneficial Ownership Register (BOR), which was raised in an article in the Guardian newspaper on Monday 11 February 2019 titled 'Coalition abandons plan for register to help beat tax avoidance'.

I also note the BOR is being considered under the Australian Government Partnership recommendations and as of April 2019 implementation has been marked as delayed (not abandoned).

In the above mentioned article, the response from Treasury was noted as: “The government is considering what action may be needed to increase the transparency of beneficial ownership of companies.”

I would like to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, any documents that relate to the government's plans to increase transparency of beneficial ownership of companies including those that refer to establishment of the BOR.

Please include emails, ministerial correspondence, briefings and any relevant file notes from January 2017 to the present day.

Please exclude the submissions from the consultation which ran from 12 February 2017 - 13 March 2017 and are already publicly available on your website.

Yours faithfully,

Evelyn Doyle

FOI, Department of the Treasury

Dear Ms Doyle

We write to acknowledge receipt of your request, under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

Your request was received by the Treasury on 9 July 2019. The FOI Act
provides that we have 30 days to process the request. This period may be
extended if we need to consult third parties or for other reasons. We will
advise you if this happens.

We will advise you if a charge is payable to process your request and the
amount of any such charge as soon as possible.

We make the following assumptions that affect the scope of the request.
These are set out below.

It is our usual practice:

·         not to disclose the personal information of government employees
or the personal contact details of senior government employees (including
those of the Treasury). The names of senior officers will generally be
released.

·         not to release duplicates of any document captured within the
scope of the request.

·         only the final version of a document will be considered within
scope.

 

Please inform us if you do not agree to the request being processed on the
above assumptions. If we do not hear from you, your request will be
processed on the basis that you do not intend to capture these matters in
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We will contact you using the email you provided. Please advise if you
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If you have any questions in relation to your application, please contact
the FOI Team on 02 6263 2800.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information Officer

The Treasury

Ph: +61 2 6263 2800

e: [1][email address

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Evelyn Doyle <[FOI #5511 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 9 July 2019 7:27 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Beneficial Ownership Register

 

Dear Treasury FOI Team,

 

I am following up on the government's early proposal to establish a
Beneficial Ownership Register (BOR), which was raised in an article in the
Guardian newspaper on Monday 11 February 2019 titled 'Coalition abandons
plan for register to help beat tax avoidance'.

 

I also note the BOR is being considered under the Australian Government
Partnership recommendations and as of April 2019 implementation has been
marked as delayed (not abandoned).

 

In the above mentioned article, the response from Treasury was noted as:
“The government is considering what action may be needed to increase the
transparency of beneficial ownership of companies.”

 

I would like to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, any
documents that relate to the government's plans to increase transparency
of beneficial ownership of companies including those that refer to
establishment of the BOR.

 

Please include emails, ministerial correspondence, briefings and any
relevant file notes from January 2017 to the present day.

 

Please exclude the submissions from the consultation which ran from 12
February 2017 - 13 March 2017 and are already publicly available on your
website.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Evelyn Doyle

 

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FOI, Department of the Treasury

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Doyle

 

Please see the attached correspondence relating to FOI 2528.

 

Regards

 

Freedom of Information Officer

The Treasury

Ph: +61 2 6263 2800

e: [1][email address

 

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Dear FOI team

Thank you for your response advising that the scope of my original request was too broad.

After discussion with one of your team members I would like to revise my FOI request as follows:

I would like to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, all briefings / briefs to the Treasurer from the Department of the Treasury about the establishment of a Beneficial Ownership Register (BOR) including any about the decision not to proceed with the BOR. Please limit your search to between January 2018 to the present day.

Thanks for you assistance in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Evelyn Doyle

FOI, Department of the Treasury

Dear Ms Doyle

I am writing to seek your agreement to a section 15AA extension of time to process your FOI request.

Under section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) you can agree to up to 30 days, noting we are seeking a two week extension of time.

We would be grateful if you could confirm whether you agree to our request. The new due date would be 24 August 2019.

Regards

Freedom of Information Officer
The Treasury
Ph: +61 2 6263 2800
e: [email address]

-----Original Message-----
From: Evelyn Doyle <[FOI #5511 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 24 July 2019 10:33 AM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Re: FOI 2528 correspondence [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Dear FOI team

Thank you for your response advising that the scope of my original request was too broad.

After discussion with one of your team members I would like to revise my FOI request as follows:

I would like to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, all briefings / briefs to the Treasurer from the Department of the Treasury about the establishment of a Beneficial Ownership Register (BOR) including any about the decision not to proceed with the BOR. Please limit your search to between January 2018 to the present day.

Thanks for you assistance in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Evelyn Doyle

-----Original Message-----

Dear Ms Doyle

 

Please see the attached correspondence relating to FOI 2528.

 

Regards

 

Freedom of Information Officer

The Treasury

Ph: +61 2 6263 2800

e: [1][email address

 

References

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1. mailto:[email address]

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #5511 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

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Please Note: The information contained in this e-mail message
and any attached files may be confidential information and
may also be the subject of legal professional privilege. If you are
not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this
e-mail is unauthorised. If you have received this e-mail by error
please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete all
copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
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Dear FOI team,

Thank you for your message requesting more time to process my request. I to agree to extending the time by two weeks.

Yours sincerely,

Evelyn Doyle

FOI, Department of the Treasury

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Doyle

 

Please find attached correspondence regarding your FOI request 2528.

 

Regards

 

FOI Officer

Law Design Office

Revenue Group

The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600

Ph: + 61 2 6263 2800

 

 

 

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Please Note: The information contained in this e-mail message and any
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have received this e-mail by error please notify the sender immediately by
reply e-mail and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
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