Correspondence internally re comments and conduct made by ABC Employee Paul Barry.
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
This is a Freedom of Information Request for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
I seek access to the following:
(a) Any correspondence or record of correspondence exchanged between Managing Director David Anderson and Kate Doak referencing comments and conducts made by ABC Employee Paul Barry;
(b) Any correspondence or record of correspondence exchanged between ABC Pride Activist Manda Hatter and Kate Doak referencing comments and conducts made by ABC Employee Paul Barry
Yours faithfully,
Lizzie Gillanders
Good afternoon Ms Gillanders
ABC FOI 202526-042
The ABC acknowledges receipt of your request, sent on Wednesday 1October
2025, seeking access under the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act
(1982) (FOI Act) to:
(a) Any correspondence or record of correspondence exchanged between
Managing Director David Anderson and Kate Doak referencing comments and
conducts made by ABC Employee Paul Barry;
(b) Any correspondence or record of correspondence exchanged between ABC
Pride Activist Manda Hatter and Kate Doak referencing comments and
conducts made by ABC Employee Paul Barry
A decision on the request is due to be made by Friday 31 October 2025,
subject to any extensions of time for consultation or by agreement. The
ABC will notify you if any processing charges apply after the first 5 free
hours.
By making a FOI request, you are providing personal information to the
ABC. The ABC manages personal information in accordance with its Privacy
Policy - available at [1]ABC Privacy Policy – ABC Help - Australian
Broadcasting Corporation Help Centre. Personal information may be
disclosed in the course of processing this request, such as for the
purposes of consultation or internal reporting.
The FOI team would be grateful of you would agree a brief extension of
time as we are processing a number of requests received before yours that
are due close together. Would you be happy to agree an extension until
Friday 7 November 2025 under s 15AA of the FOI Act? Please let us know by
return email, thank you for your consideration.
Many thanks,
ABC FOI team
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee.
It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not
read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of
the information contained in this email, without authorisation. If you
have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know
by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lizzie Gillanders [2][FOI #13751 email]
Sent: Wednesday, 1 October 2025 8:46 AM
To: FOI ABC [3][ABC request email]
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Correspondence internally re
comments and conduct made by ABC Employee Paul Barry.
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Dear Australian Broadcasting
Corporation,
This is a Freedom of Information Request for the purposes of the Freedom
of Information Act 1982
I seek access to the following:
(a) Any correspondence or record of correspondence exchanged between
Managing Director David Anderson and Kate Doak referencing comments and
conducts made by ABC Employee Paul Barry;
(b) Any correspondence or record of correspondence exchanged between ABC
Pride Activist Manda Hatter and Kate Doak referencing comments and
conducts made by ABC Employee Paul Barry
Yours faithfully,
Lizzie Gillanders
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[4][FOI #13751 email]
Is [5][ABC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Australian Broadcasting Corporation? If so, please contact us
using this form:
[6]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....
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:
[7]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
The information contained in this email and any attachment is confidential
and may contain legally privileged or copyright material. It is intended
only for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended
recipient of this email, you are not permitted to disseminate, distribute
or copy this email or any attachments. If you have received this message
in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email from
your system. The ABC does not represent or warrant that this transmission
is secure or virus free. Before opening any attachment you should check
for viruses. The ABC's liability is limited to resupplying any email and
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. https://help.abc.net.au/hc/en-us/article...
2. mailto:[FOI #13751 email]
3. mailto:[ABC request email]
4. mailto:[FOI #13751 email]
5. mailto:[ABC request email]
6. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.r...
7. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.r...
Dear FOI ABC,
Thankyou for your response. I can wait until you have time to fully review my request.
Yours sincerely,
Lizzie Gillanders
Confirming we understand you have agreed to the extension of time until 7 November
Kindly reply with yes - we will then file this email agreement online with our regulator and work to that deadline.
Thank you
______
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee. It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of the information contained in this email, without authorisation. If you have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lizzie Gillanders <[FOI #13751 email]>
Sent: Friday, 3 October 2025 12:55 AM
To: FOI ABC <[ABC request email]>
Subject: Re: FOI 042 - Acknowledgment of request
Dear FOI ABC,
Thankyou for your response. I can wait until you have time to fully review my request.
Yours sincerely,
Lizzie Gillanders
-----Original Message-----
Good afternoon Ms Gillanders
ABC FOI 202526-042
The ABC acknowledges receipt of your request, sent on Wednesday 1October 2025, seeking access under the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act
(1982) (FOI Act) to:
(a) Any correspondence or record of correspondence exchanged between Managing Director David Anderson and Kate Doak referencing comments and conducts made by ABC Employee Paul Barry;
(b) Any correspondence or record of correspondence exchanged between ABC Pride Activist Manda Hatter and Kate Doak referencing comments and conducts made by ABC Employee Paul Barry
A decision on the request is due to be made by Friday 31 October 2025, subject to any extensions of time for consultation or by agreement. The ABC will notify you if any processing charges apply after the first 5 free hours.
By making a FOI request, you are providing personal information to the ABC. The ABC manages personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy - available at [1]ABC Privacy Policy – ABC Help - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Help Centre. Personal information may be disclosed in the course of processing this request, such as for the purposes of consultation or internal reporting.
The FOI team would be grateful of you would agree a brief extension of time as we are processing a number of requests received before yours that are due close together. Would you be happy to agree an extension until Friday 7 November 2025 under s 15AA of the FOI Act? Please let us know by return email, thank you for your consideration.
Many thanks,
ABC FOI team
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee.
It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of the information contained in this email, without authorisation. If you have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #13751 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://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
The information contained in this email and any attachment is confidential and may contain legally privileged or copyright material. It is intended only for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are not permitted to disseminate, distribute or copy this email or any attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email from your system. The ABC does not represent or warrant that this transmission is secure or virus free. Before opening any attachment you should check for viruses. The ABC's liability is limited to resupplying any email and attachments.
Good evening Ms Gillanders
ABC FOI 202526-042
Attached is the ABC’s decision about your freedom of information request.
Many thanks,
ABC FOI team
13 9994
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee.
It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not
read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of
the information contained in this email, without authorisation. If you
have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know
by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
The information contained in this email and any attachment is confidential
and may contain legally privileged or copyright material. It is intended
only for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended
recipient of this email, you are not permitted to disseminate, distribute
or copy this email or any attachments. If you have received this message
in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email from
your system. The ABC does not represent or warrant that this transmission
is secure or virus free. Before opening any attachment you should check
for viruses. The ABC's liability is limited to resupplying any email and
attachments.
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Broadcasting Corporation's handling of my FOI request 'Correspondence internally re comments and conduct made by ABC Employee Paul Barry.'.
Dear FOI Decision-Maker,
Pursuant to section 54 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI Act), I request an internal review of the decision dated 4 November 2025 made by Ali Edwards, Head of Rights Management & FOI Decision Maker, concerning my request for access to correspondence involving the former ABC Managing Director, an ABC staff member, and a third party.
1. Misapplication of section 47F (personal privacy)
The decision refuses both identified documents in full under s 47F on the basis that disclosure would constitute an “unreasonable disclosure of personal information.” I submit that this exemption has been applied too broadly and contrary to OAIC guidance and case law.
1. Nature of the information
• The documents concern work-related communications between current or former senior ABC personnel and external parties.
• Information of this nature is professional rather than personal.
• The FOI Guidelines (para 6.152) state that “the disclosure of a public servant’s name and position title is not unreasonable” and that “generally, work-related information about a public servant is not considered to be unreasonable to disclose.”
• In Re James and Australian National University [2015] AICmr 55, the Commissioner held that correspondence about an employee’s professional conduct within an agency was not inherently private.
2. Unreasonableness analysis
• The decision conflates an expectation of confidentiality with unreasonableness of disclosure. As the Guidelines note (para 6.139), the test is objective and requires balancing all relevant circumstances.
• The reasoning relies heavily on hypothetical risk of “online abuse.” That concern, while understandable, is speculative and has been rejected as insufficient in similar cases (e.g. ‘FG’ and National Archives of Australia [2015] AICmr 26 [49]–[51]).
3. Professional context
• Senior executives of the ABC act in a public-facing capacity within a taxpayer-funded institution. Their professional correspondence about ABC business attracts a reduced expectation of privacy (see Re Stewart and Department of Human Services [2013] AICmr 12 [34]–[38]).
Accordingly, the decision misapplies s 47F to material that is not truly “personal information” or, if it is, would not be unreasonable to disclose.
2. Failure to consider partial access (section 22)
Under s 22(1) of the FOI Act, an agency must grant access to any reasonably separable part of a document that is not exempt.
The decision refuses both documents in full without demonstrating that redaction was considered. The FOI Guidelines (para 3.98) make clear that agencies “should always consider whether it is practicable to release edited copies.”
Given that much of the content appears to relate to workplace or factual matters, the ABC should have considered releasing redacted copies removing only names or genuinely personal identifiers. Failure to consider this constitutes a further error.
3. Insufficient public-interest assessment (section 11A(5))
Even if the information were conditionally exempt, disclosure must still be assessed under s 11A(5) to determine whether release would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.
The decision’s analysis is cursory. It asserts that privacy outweighs transparency but does not weigh the significant public-interest factors favouring disclosure, including:
• promoting accountability and transparency in the operations of the national broadcaster (Guidelines [6.19(a)]);
• informing public debate about the impartiality and governance of a taxpayer-funded institution; and
• ensuring public confidence in how ABC management handles workplace and conduct matters involving senior staff.
OAIC precedent makes clear that agencies must demonstrate how they have balanced competing factors, not merely assert that one outweighs the other (see ‘BA’ and Merit Protection Commissioner [2014] AICmr 32 [20]–[21]).
4. Alternative exemption cited (section 47E(c))
The decision briefly states that s 47E(c) (substantial adverse effect on management or assessment of personnel) “would have applied in the alternative.” That conclusion is unsupported by reasoning or evidence. The OAIC has held that agencies must identify the specific adverse effect anticipated and demonstrate how it could reasonably occur (‘IN’ and Department of Human Services [2015] AICmr 23 [39]–[42]). No such analysis appears here.
5. Requested outcome
I respectfully request that the ABC, on internal review:
1. Re-examine the two identified documents and release any separable portions in accordance with s 22;
2. Reconsider the application of s 47F in light of OAIC authority distinguishing professional from personal information; and
3. Conduct a fresh and transparent public-interest analysis under s 11A(5), explicitly weighing the transparency considerations above.
4. I engage my right under S54C for the review to be conducted by a person other than that who made the original decision, and who is senior to, or at least the same level as the original decision-maker.
6. Procedural matters
This request is made within the 30-day period prescribed by s 54B of the FOI Act. Please confirm receipt of this request by return email and advise the expected timeframe for internal review completion.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/co...
Yours faithfully,
Lizzie Gillanders