OFFICIAL

 

Dear Thu Phuong

 

Thank you for your email dated 31 January 2026 seeking access to documents
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). 

 

This email sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the
department). 

 

Scope of request: 

You have sought access to:

 

…documents held by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In
particular, I request access to all documents, including emails, and its
attachments, and its forwarding details sent to or from the email address
[email address] (remove space) ([email address]) during the
period from 1 December 2025 to 31 December 2025 inclusive.

 

Your identity and your relationship to Nhu Phan

As you are seeking access to the personal information of Nhu Phan,
we request that you

 

 1. provide a document or letter of authorisation, in your favour, signed
and dated by Nhu Phan and
 2. verify your identity by providing a copy of your driver’s licences or
other photographic form of identification. 

 

If we have not received a copy of this authority by 17:00 16 February
2026, the department’s decision-maker will proceed on the basis that you
are seeking someone else’s personal information. 

 

Timeframe for receiving our decision: 

We received your request on 31 January 2026 and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
A decision is currently due to you by 2 March 2026.

   

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 [1]disclosure log.  

 

Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details: 

It is the department’s policy to withhold the personal information of
junior staff from ministerial offices and government officials not in the
Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent, including their email
addresses and contact numbers, together with all signatures, mobile phone
numbers, departmental inboxes and technical transmission details including
reference numbers. 

  

Duplicate documents and incomplete email chains: 

Your request will be processed on the basis that you did not intend to
capture duplicate documents or duplicate emails within email chains. 

 

If you require the excluded information or documents, please let us know
at [2][DFAT request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise, we
will take it that you agree to the information and documents 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. Further information on the way the department
handles personal information is accessible via our [3]privacy policy. 

 

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by reply email. 

 

Kind regards 

 

DFAT FOI Team

_______________________________
Freedom of Information 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

© Brooke Rigney-Lively (2024)

[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.

 

 

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