Dear MBV

I refer to your freedom of information request received by the Department
of Employment and Workplace Relations (department) on 22 February 2023.

To be a valid request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI
Act), a request must provide enough information as is reasonably necessary
to enable an agency to identify the documents requested.  I have formed
the view that your request, in its current form, does not meet the
requirements of a valid request under section 15(2) of the FOI Act, as the
scope is broad and lacks the required specificity.

Action Required

In order to make a valid FOI request, could you please reply to this email
clarifying the nature of the documents you are requesting? In particular,
please:

•                      clarify which Minister is the subject of your
request (i.e. the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations or the
Minister for Skills and Training);

•                      provide further details on the subject matter of
the Question Time Briefs and Meeting Briefs, including details of the
particular topics or particular meetings attended; and

•                      specify a data range for the documents you are
requesting.

As your current request is not a valid FOI request, the department is
unable to progress your request any further.

When responding to this email with the additional information, or if you
have any queries, please email [1][email address].

Yours sincerely

Information Law Team

Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

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Dear MBV

I refer to your request, received by the Department of Employment and
Workplace Relations (department) on 27 February 2023, for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the following:

“I seek Meeting Briefs prepared for the Minister for Employment and
Workplace Relations from 1 June 2022 to 24/02/2023 which reference the
CFMMEU/CFMEU or MUA.

I seek briefs which were prepared for the Minister to meet with
stakeholders/third parties, including the CFMMEU/CFMEU or MUA and industry
groups.”

Your request was received by the department on 27 February 2023 and the
30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day
after that date. The period of 30 days may be extended if we need to
consult third parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act. We
will advise you if this happens.

Charges

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

Your address

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[1][email address].  Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.

Disclosure log

Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.

Exclusion of employee details

To the extent the department has documents in its possession that fall
within the scope of your request, we will treat the names, signatures,
position titles, staff identification numbers and direct contact details
of Commonwealth employees as irrelevant in accordance with section 22 of
the FOI Act, unless you tell us otherwise by 15 March 2023.

Further assistance

If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][email address].

Yours sincerely

Claudia

Information Law Team

Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Notice:

The information contained in this email 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 email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]

Dear MBV

I refer to your request for access under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).

I am writing to advise you that your request captures documents which
contain business information in respect of an organisation.

The FOI Act requires the department to consult with third parties before
making a decision about the release of documents containing their
information where the third party might reasonably wish to contend that
the document is exempt, and access to the document would be contrary to
the public interest.

For this reason, the department has extended the time period for
processing your request by a further 30 days under section 15(6)(a) of the
FOI Act.

The new decision date for your request is 28 April 2023.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact [1][email address]. 

Yours sincerely

Claudia

Information Law Team

Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Notice:

The information contained in this email 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 email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear MBV

I refer to your FOI request (our reference: LEX 590) submitted to the
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (department). Under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act), the department is
currently due to provide you with a decision on your request by 28 April
2023.

The department is actively progressing your FOI request and is currently
undertaking consultations with a third party under section 27 of the FOI
Act, as well as three Government departments. One of the Government
departments has requested additional time to provide their response.

Given the upcoming Easter public holidays and Anzac Day, the department
seeks your agreement under section 15AA of the FOI Act to a short 7-day
extension of time to process your request. This extension would make the
decision on your request due by 5 May 2023.

Could you please confirm by 4 pm on 11 April 2023 whether you agree to the
extension of time?

If you agree, we will notify the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) of the extension in accordance with subsection 15AA(b)
of the FOI Act, and provide the OAIC your name and email address as part
of this notification.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Yours sincerely

Claudia

Information Law Team

Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Notice:

The information contained in this email 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 email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

Dear MBV

I refer to your freedom of information request.

Please find attached the department’s decision and the documents being
released to you under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

Yours sincerely

Claudia

Information Law Team

Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Notice:

The information contained in this email 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 email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

Dear MBV

I refer to your email of 16 May 2023 to the Department of Employment and
Workplace Relations (department) seeking further information on the
outcome of your FOI request.

Your FOI request was for access to:

“I seek Meeting Briefs prepared for the Minister for Employment and
Workplace Relations from 1 June 2022 to 24/02/2023 which reference the
CFMMEU/CFMEU or MUA.

I seek briefs which were prepared for the Minister to meet with
stakeholders/third parties, including the CFMMEU/CFMEU or MUA and industry
groups.”

The department identified three documents as falling within the scope of
your FOI request. Those documents were provided to you on 5 May 2023.

Yours sincerely

Claudia

Information Law Team

Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

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