Documents regarding Mahmood Fazal and Friendlyjordies (revised)
Hi ABC FOI team,
I hereby request, under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the following documents:
1. All documents, in any format (including but not limited to text messages, WhatsApp, Signal, emails, PDF files, etc.) held within the News Division or the ABC's HR Department, within and matching the following date ranges and keywords.
a) From 1 January 2024 to 4 November 2025, inclusive:
i) "Mahmood Fazal" and "Friendlyjordies"
ii) "Mahmood Fazal" and "Jordan Shanks"
iii) "Mahmood Fazal" and "Jordies"
iv) "Mahmood Fazal" and "Alameddine"
b) From 27 October 2025 to 4 November 2025, inclusive:
i) "RZBQe4RLdZ8" (this being the video ID for the Friendlyjordies YouTube video covering the subject - note that this would be included as part of a URL, e.g. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZBQe4RLdZ8)
To assist the ABC in more promptly processing the request, I preemptively agree to the exclusion of:
• duplicates of documents;
• duplicate email chains;
• draft versions of a document where a later version exists;
• publicly available documents;
• personal information (including names and contact details) of ABC staff (although job titles are to remain), EXCEPT FOR where the name "Mahmood Fazal" is mentioned, which is to still be included.
Given the details I am requesting, the ABC will likely require a 30 day extension to consult a third party. As a show of good faith, I also proactively agree to a further extension of up to 30 days under s. 15AA of the FOI Act if one is required.
This request follows from my previous FOI request 202526-057 which I have withdrawn. I have clarified where the searches should be conducted, added point 1(b), and revised the date range down to a shorter period to assist in processing. I hope this is of help to process the request.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel M
ABC FOI 202526-062
Daniel M
The ABC acknowledges receipt of your freedom of information request below, sent on Tuesday 4 November 2025, seeking access to:
--
1. All documents, in any format (including but not limited to text messages, WhatsApp, Signal, emails, PDF files, etc.) held within the News Division or the ABC's HR Department, within and matching the following date ranges and keywords.
a) From 1 January 2024 to 4 November 2025, inclusive:
i) "Mahmood Fazal" and "Friendlyjordies"
ii) "Mahmood Fazal" and "Jordan Shanks"
iii) "Mahmood Fazal" and "Jordies"
iv) "Mahmood Fazal" and "Alameddine"
b) From 27 October 2025 to 4 November 2025, inclusive:
i) "RZBQe4RLdZ8" (this being the video ID for the Friendlyjordies YouTube video covering the subject - note that this would be included as part of a URL, e.g. https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.y... )
To assist the ABC in more promptly processing the request, I preemptively agree to the exclusion of:
• duplicates of documents [and] ... email chains;
• draft versions of a document where a later version exists; • publicly available documents; • personal information (including names and contact details) of ABC staff (although job titles are to remain), EXCEPT FOR where the name "Mahmood Fazal" is mentioned, which is to still be included.
--
We note that you consented to an extension of time under s 15AA below in your email of 4 November 2025. We are grateful for this extra time, a decision on the request is due by Monday 5 January 2026, factoring in the agreed further 30 days under s 15AA. The ABC will notify you if any processing charges or third party consultation applies.
The ABC will let you know if the request may be an unreasonable diversion of resources, particulary part 1a) as this captures thousands of staff from 2 team/s over almost a 2 year period. It would help to narrow this further including particular reporters, staff names or pieces of content it may relate to.
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 https://help.abc.net.au/hc/en-us/article.... Personal information may be disclosed in the course of processing this request, such as for the purposes of consultation or internal reporting.
Many thanks
ABC FOI team
13 9994
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ABC FOI 202526-062
Good evening Daniel
The FOI team has conferred internally with the 2 teams mentioned in the
scope of your 4 November 2025 FOI request.
The News team is the largest division within the ABC, it would help to
focus this to a smaller team within News or particular management within
News.
In the past we have been able to chat by phone about your request. If you
are happy to call our team, please reach out on Wednesday or Thursday if
you can as we do not have a number to call you.
We understand exemptions apply to certain documents for legal privilege.
Would you agree to exclude documents that are subject to legal
professional privilege and or that are the ABC’s program material (the
latter not being subject to the FOI regime)?
As both of these categories of documents are not subject to a public
interest test, we would be grateful if you would consider narrowing the
request as documents in both categories would be refused in full.
If we don’t hear from you, we will commence a formal request consultation
process under the FOI Act.
We thought it may help to discuss informally first, however this is
optional. We look forward to hearing from you should you be available.
Many thanks
ABC FOI team
13 9994
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Good morning,
Thanks for your email. I tried to call, however the number in your signature seems to only be for the switchboard. Strangely enough, the switchboard staff don't seem to have the FOI team's contact number!
Could you please provide your team's direct contact number?
Yours sincerely,
Daniel
That is strange as they did call us before working hours! The FOI team is not available for calls before 9am when the switch tried our number today
Our contact details are here: https://www.abc.net.au/about/freedom-of-...
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians
and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
Hi,
Thanks for taking my call earlier.
To confirm, I agree to revise my scope as below:
- Documents held within the Four Corners team, rather than the News Division as a whole (ABC HR Dept. still to be included)
- Exclusion of documents subject to legal professional privilege or which are related directly to program material.
I do wish to respectfully note the following:
- My revisions are made on the basis that as per our discussion, I understand if the scope isn't revised, my FOI request will likely be refused due to a practical refusal reason as per s24AA.
- My preference would've been to not revise the scope, and instead either have the legal privilege/program material exemptions formally applied, or have the documents edited as to allow access under s22
- However, in the interest of having my request processed, and given the time of year & resources available to the ABC's FOI team, I am agreeing to the revision as outlined above.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel
Good evening Mr M
Attached is the ABC’s decision about your freedom of information request.
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 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.
Hi,
Me stating that I would prefer not to revise the scope, but agreeing to it anyways, is not a conflicting statement (see https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictio...).
I believe I have been more than respectful, reasonable and cooperative in all FOI requests I've submitted to date. I regret that the ABC's response gives the impression that it intends to be obstructionist in this case. I made concessions that the ABC indicated I should make, then the following day it issues a notice of intention to refuse my request on the basis of the *original scope* rather than the scope amended by the concessions that the ABC itself informally suggested.
For the avoidance of doubt, and so that my response is not distorted, I will state unconditionally that I agree to amend the scope of my request as follows:
- Documents held within the Four Corners team by management and Mahmood Fazal, rather than the News Division as a whole, as well as documents held by ABC P&C
- Exclusion of documents subject to legal professional privilege or which are related *directly* to program material
- Exclusion of documents regarding external media enquiries from external journalists
If this is not sufficient to remove the practical refusal reason, I would appreciate an explanation as to why and on what basis the practical refusal reason still exists.
Thanks
Daniel
Daniel left an annotation ()
I'm seriously bashing my head against the wall atp