DIBP Correspondence regarding "divestment" and "boycott"

CD made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Home Affairs

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 Department of Immigration and Border Protection,

I write to you today under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 seeking;

"any correspondence held by the Department, including correspondence created by the Department's contractors, regarding the "divestment" and "boycott" of companies contracted by the Department to supply services".

I look forward to liaising with the Department on the scope of this FOI request.

Yours faithfully,

CD

Dear CD

 

I refer to your request to access documents held by Departmental
contractors.

 

The purpose of this email is to seek clarification from you on the
contractors you are interested in with respect to your request. The
Department engages a large number of contractors for various reasons and
currently your request is too broad and insufficient to identify the
specific documents it is you wish to access.

 

Please consider if you could identify the specific contractors for which
you are interested in and/or you could revise the scope of your request to
contractors providing a specific type of service. For example: those
contractors providing immigration detention services. You may wish to
review AUSTENDER to pursue the contracts the Department has engaged in.

 

Please provide advice on the extent to which the Department should
interpret the scope of your request, by identifying the contractors you
are interested in, by close of business Friday 9 October 2015.

 

Following your advice the Department will issue you a formal
acknowledgement letter.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Janelle Raineri

A/g Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Section

Access to Information | Information Management Task Force

Corporate Group

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

P: 02 6264 1580 

E: [email address]

 

Please note I am out of the office from 2:30 PM

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

Thank you for your reply to my FOI request.

I am specifically interested in the Department's contractor "Transfield Services".

Could you please advise on a re-wording of the original FOI scope?

Regards,

CD

Dear CD

 

Thank you for your email and your clarification.

 

I have now understood that you are seeking access to:

 

I write to you today under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 seeking;

 

Correspondence held by the Department, including correspondence created by
Transfield Services, regarding the "divestment" and "boycott" of
Transfield Services and/or their subcontractors to supply services to the
Department.

 

Please advise if I have accurately understood the scope of your request.
It would also be of assistance if you could confirm a timeframe to assist
the Department in locating all documents and conducting reasonable
searches. Please respond by close of business Friday 9 October 2015.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Janelle Raineri

A/g Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Section

Access to Information | Information Management Task Force

Corporate Group

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

P: 02 6264 1580 

E: [email address]

 

Please note I am out of the office from 2:30 PM

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

thanks for your prompt reply to this FOI request.

The scope reads fine to me. However could you change the scope to read:

"Correspondence held by the Department, including correspondence created by
Transfield Services, regarding the "divestment" and "boycott" of
Transfield Services and/or their subcontractors THAT supply services to the
Department."

I wish to nominate a timeframe of the previous 12 months to original date of this FOI request. So the timeframe I nominate is 3/10/14 - 3/10/15.

After the department advises of the number of documents discovered within this scope I understand the timeframe scope may need to be adjusted.

Yours sincerely,

CD

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 15/10/00321; ADF2015/51692

 

Dear CD

 

Please find attached the acknowledgement of receipt for your recent FOI
Request. 

 

Exclusion of non-SES staff personal details and SES telephone contact
details

The Department’s policy is to exclude the personal details of officers not
in the Senior Executive Service (SES), as well as the mobile and work
telephone numbers of SES staff, contained in documents that fall within
scope of an FOI request. If you require names and contact details of
non-SES officers, or direct telephone numbers of SES staff, please inform
us so the decision maker may consider your request. Otherwise we will take
it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope of
your request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Ayesha Stephenson

Freedom of Information Section

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

[email address]

 

UNCLASSIFIED

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately.  This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
 

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. 
DIBP respects your privacy and has obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.
 

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.

Our references: FA 15/10/00321; ADF2015/51692

 

Dear CD

 

I refer to your request for access to documents relating to:

 

"Correspondence held by the Department, including correspondence created
by Transfield Services, regarding the "divestment" and "boycott" of
Transfield Services and/or their subcontractors THAT supply services to
the Department."

 

I wish to nominate a timeframe of the previous 12 months to original date
of this FOI request. So the timeframe I nominate is 3/10/14 - 3/10/15.

 

The current due date for your request is 2 November 2015. Due to the
number of requests currently being processed by our office, we will not be
able to finalise your request by the original due date. 

 

The Department seeks your agreement (under s.15AA of the FOI Act) to
extend the timeframe for the processing of your request by 30 days. This
would extend the due date for your request to 2 December 2015.

 

It would assist the Department in managing its FOI caseload if you could
provide a response to this request by close of business, Monday 2 November
2015.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Janelle Raineri

A/g Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Section

Access to Information | Information Management Task Force

Corporate Group

Department of Immigration and Border Protection
P: 02 6264 1580 

E: [1][email address]

 

Please note I am out of the office from 2:30 PM

 

From: Ayesha STEPHENSON On Behalf Of FOI
Sent: Wednesday, 7 October 2015 5:17 PM
To: [FOI #1280 email]
Subject: Acknowledgement of FOI Request - FA 15/10/00321
[SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

 

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 15/10/00321; ADF2015/51692

 

Dear CD

 

Please find attached the acknowledgement of receipt for your recent FOI
Request. 

 

Exclusion of non-SES staff personal details and SES telephone contact
details

The Department’s policy is to exclude the personal details of officers not
in the Senior Executive Service (SES), as well as the mobile and work
telephone numbers of SES staff, contained in documents that fall within
scope of an FOI request. If you require names and contact details of
non-SES officers, or direct telephone numbers of SES staff, please inform
us so the decision maker may consider your request. Otherwise we will take
it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope of
your request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Ayesha Stephenson

Freedom of Information Section

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

[2][email address]

 

UNCLASSIFIED

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately.  This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
 

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. 
DIBP respects your privacy and has obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.
 

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.

References

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

Dear FOI,

I write to you today in relation to the Department's recent correspondence that stated:

"Due to the number of requests currently being processed by our office, we will not be
able to finalise your request by the original due date."

I wish to advise the Department that under under s.15AA of the FOI Act I do not agree to the Department's request for an extension of 30 days.

I am however willing to grant an extension of 7 days to help the Department finalise this request.

This would make the date for this request to be finalised 10/11/2015.

Yours sincerely,

CD

Dear FOI,

I am writing to you today under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
seeking an update on the status of this FOI request.

I note that your office wrote to me on October 29, 2015 seeking an
extension of time under s.15AA of the FOI Act of 30 days.

I did not consent to this 30 day extension as your office did not
specify what work had already been done on processing this request
and what work was needed to be completed to finalise a decision on
this request.

I instead, in good faith, I consented to a 7 day extension beyond
the statutory processing period of 30 days. I note that yesterday
this 7 day extension had passed with no further communication from
your office.

As the status of this FOI request is unknown to me I ask:

Has your office given "written notice of the extension to the
Information Commissioner" as specified under s. 15AA(b)?

If so, what date was this given?

Does the lack of an Information Commissioner in the OAIC change the
way this extension may be granted?

What work has been done on this particular FOI request thus far?
Has a search within the scope of this particular FOI request been
undertaken yet?

Although I can appreciate that the FOI office within the Department
is a busy one processing many FOI requests it is in the spirit of
the act that the FOI office maintain a dialogue with the FOI
applicant regarding any delays and issues arising from this FOI
request.

Yours sincerely,

CD

Our references: FA 15/10/00321; ADF2015/51692

 

Dear CD

 

I refer to your enquiry below.

 

I apologise for the delay in the processing of your FOI request. The
Department has seen a significant increase in the number of requests
received. While I note that the request is outside the processing
timeframes of the FOI Act the Department will continue to process the
request.

 

To update you on the progress of the request I can advise that a search
and retrieval is complete. The request is awaiting an available contact
officer and FOI decision maker to assess the request.

 

If at any time you wish to seek an update on this request you may contact
me at [1][email address].

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Janelle Raineri

A/g Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Section

Access to Information | Information Management Task Force

Corporate Group

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

P: 02 6264 1580 

E: [email address]

 

Please note I am out of the office from 2:30 PM

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

This FOI request is far beyond the statutory timeframe required under the act.

Can you please advise on the status of this FOI request.

Yours sincerely,

CD

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 15/10/00321; ADF2015/51692

 

Dear CD

 

I refer to your enquiry below.

 

While I note that the request is outside the processing timeframes of the
FOI Act the Department will continue to process the request. The request
is awaiting for an available contact officer and FOI decision maker.

 

If at any time you wish to seek an update on this request you may contact 
me at [1][email address]

 

Yours sincerely

 

Janelle Raineri

A/g Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Section

Access to Information | Information Management Task Force

Corporate Group

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

P: 02 6264 1580 

E: [email address]

 

Please note I am out of the office from 2:30 PM

 

show quoted sections

Ben Fairless left an annotation ()

If the request was deemed refused (a decision wasn't made in 30 days and you didn't agree to an extension) I would consider making an application to the OAIC as you'll run out of time to do this if they decide not to process the request. You have 60 days from when the 30 days expired to appeal to OAIC, and it doesn't stop them from processing the request.

CD left an annotation ()

As the delays for this particular FOI request have become unsatisfactory, I have sought a review of this FOI request through the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

If you are having similar difficulties in your FOI request you can access the review process here: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...

Many thanks to the admins of Right To Know, especially Ben Fairless. Thank you!

Dear FOI,

In the interests of transparency I have referred this FOI request to the OAIC for review especially in light of Section 15AC of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

Although it was stated that the "Department would continue to process this request", a literal reading of this section of the Act would suggest that the Principal Officer for the department has "deemed refused" this FOI request by not adhering to the "initial decision period" set out in the Act.

Yours sincerely,

CD

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 15/10/00321; ADF2015/51692

Dear CD

Thank you for your email and providing your advice on the status of the Information Commissioner review.

Your assessment on how the FOI Act works is correct. The request is by operation of the FOI Act a deemed refusal decision. In these cases the Department does still continue to assess the request in the spirit of the FOI Act and will issue a decision on access. Currently we have a significant number of requests that we are processing and we are working towards finalising each matter as soon as possible.

I expect that the OAIC will be in contact with the Department regarding your request and the Department will engage with them. The Department will also keep you informed of its progress and should you wish to receive an update you are welcome to contact me on the details below.

Yours sincerely

Janelle Raineri
A/g Assistant Director | Freedom of Information Section Access to Information | Information Management Task Force Corporate Group Department of Immigration and Border Protection
P: 02 6264 1580
E: [email address]

Please note I am out of the office from 2:30 PM

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

Thank you for your reply regarding the OAIC review of this FOI decision process. I look forward to engaging with the Department and the OAIC in finalising a decision on this FOI request.

Yours sincerely,

CD

2 Attachments

UNCLASSIFIED

Our references: FA 15/10/00321; ADF2015/51692

 

Dear CD

 

I refer to your FOI request received on 3 October 2015 seeking access to
the following:

 

any correspondence held by the Department, including correspondence
created by the Department's contractors, regarding the "divestment" and
"boycott" of companies contracted by the Department to supply services.

 

Following consultation with you, on 7 October 2015 you amended the scope
of the request to:

 

Correspondence held by the Department, including correspondence created by
Transfield Services, regarding the "divestment" and "boycott" of
Transfield Services and/or their subcontractors that supply services to
the Department.

 

I wish to nominate a timeframe of the previous 12 months to original date
of this FOI request. So the timeframe I nominate is 3/10/14 - 3/10/15.

 

The Department has made a decision on this request. Please see attached
the signed decision letter, decision record, schedule of documents and
documents released under the FOI Act.    

 

This request has now been closed.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Ian Campbell
Assistant Director, Freedom of Information Section
Information Management Branch

Corporate Support Division
Department of Immigration and Border Protection
E: [email address]

 

 

UNCLASSIFIED

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately.  This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
 

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. 
DIBP respects your privacy and has obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.
 

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.