OFFICIAL

Dear Richard Smith

Thank you for your email.  This request was not received in the Department
of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (department) FOI
Mailbox ([1][Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development request email]).  Following your email dated 30 April 2025
(below), the department’s IT Team checked if the email was received and
have confirmed there is no record of the request ever being received by
the department.

Further, in relation to the request below, please note, an agency is
defined under section 4 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI
Act) as ‘a department, a prescribed authority or a Norfolk Island
authority’.

A  ‘prescribed authority’ includes:

  A prescribed authority is defined in s 4(1) of the FOI Act to mean:

·       a body corporate, or an unincorporated body, established for a
public purpose by, or in accordance with the provisions of, an enactment
or an Order-in-Council

·       any other body, incorporated or unincorporated, that has been
declared by the FOI Regulations to be a prescribed authority for the
purposes of the FOI Act[2]^[1]

·       a person holding an office or appointment under an enactment or
Order in Council or that is prescribed in the regulations

·       NBN Co.

Some bodies, offices and appointments are expressly excluded from the
definition of prescribed authority and therefore are not covered by the
FOI Act (ss 4(1) and 4(3)). These include:

·       an incorporated company or association

·       Territory Legislatures, and the officers and members of the
Territory legislature

·       Royal Commissions or a Commission of inquiry as defined in s
4(1).[3]^[2]

Unincorporated bodies such as boards, councils and committees that have
been established to assist or perform functions connected with a
prescribed authority are deemed to be within that prescribed authority (s
4(2)). Similarly, an office that has been established by an enactment to
perform duties as an employee of a department, a member of a body or for
the purposes of a prescribed authority, is not separately treated as a
prescribed authority (s 4(3)).

The Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Unconventional Gas
Development and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC) is not considered a
‘prescribed authority’ under the FOI Act and requests for documents in its
possession cannot be made.  However, you may wish to consider seeking
documents in the possession of the department.

If you would like to submit a new FOI request for the department, please
send the request to: [4][Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development request email] or complete the online request
form at:
[5]https://www.dcceew.gov.au/about/reportin....

Kind regards

FOI Contact Officer

Legal Division | Corporate, Climate and Energy Branch | Information Law
Team

Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country, John Gorton Building, King Edward Terrace,
Parkes ACT 2600

GPO Box 3090 ACT 2601

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

E [6][Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development request email]

 [ ]

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This email and any attachments may contain information subject to legal
professional privilege or information that is otherwise sensitive or
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are
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received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately
and permanently delete this email.

OFFICIAL

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