Documents related to the revocation of Matthew Gruter's visa

Ben Fairless made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Home Affairs

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Currently waiting for a response from Department of Home Affairs, they should respond promptly and normally no later than January 16, 2026 (details).

Dear Department of Home Affairs,

Background:
Reporting by the ABC (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-04/n...) says that "South African national Matthew Gruter had his visa revoked last month after he was photographed at the front of a rally organised by the National Socialist Network (NSN)."

Request:
I request the following documents under the FOI Act:
1. Any documents held by the Department related to the decision to revoke the visa held by Matthew Gruter.

To assist the Department in more promptly processing the request, I agree to the exclusion of:
a) duplicates of documents;
b) duplicate email chains;
c) draft versions of a document where a later version exists;
d) publicly available documents;
e) personal information (including names and contact details) of APS staff at a non-SES level by redaction (although job titles are to remain);
f) telephone numbers of SES officers.

I also agree to:
g) administrative release of the requested information if this would assist the Department in processing the request;
h) referral of this request (in whole or in part) to another Commonwealth agency if required.

I note that a similar request has been previously made (https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/d...) in relation to another individual.

Given the time of year I am happy to consent to a 30 day extension of the processing time for this request.

Yours faithfully,

Ben Fairless

PS: While I am an employee of OpenAustralia Foundation (the charity that operates "Right to Know") I am making this request in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the Foundation.

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References

OFFICIAL: Sensitive
Personal-Privacy

In reply please quote:

FOI Request: FA 25/12/01193

File Number: FA25/12/01193

Dear Ben Fairless,

Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information Access request

This letter acknowledges that on 16 December 2025 the Department of Home
Affairs (the Department) received your request to access documents held
by the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI
Act). This letter also provides important information about your request.

Scope of request

You have requested access to the following:

Background:
Reporting by the ABC
(https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-04/n...)
says that "South African national Matthew Gruter had his visa revoked last
month after he was photographed at the front of a rally organised by the
National Socialist Network (NSN).

Request:

I request the following documents under the FOI Act:

1. Any documents held by the Department related to the decision to revoke
the visa held by Matthew Gruter.

To assist the Department in more promptly processing the request, I agree
to the exclusion of:

a) duplicates of documents;

b) duplicate email chains;

c) draft versions of a document where a later version exists;

d) publicly available documents;

e) personal information (including names and contact details) of APS staff
at a non-SES level by redaction (although job titles are to remain);

f) telephone numbers of SES officers.

I also agree to:

g) administrative release of the requested information if this would
assist the Department in processing the request;

h) referral of this request (in whole or in part) to another Commonwealth
agency if required.

I note that a similar request has been previously made
(https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/d...)
in relation to another individual.

Your request has been allocated FOI request number FA 25/12/01193. Please
include your FOI request number in all correspondence with the Freedom of
Information Section.

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your request, as set out in the FOI Act.

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Kind Regards,

Tahra

Position number: 60181896

Authorised FOI Officer | Freedom of Information Section
Privacy, FOI & Records Management Branch | Legal Group
Department of Home Affairs

E: [5][Department of Home Affairs request email]

Personal-Privacy
OFFICIAL: Sensitive

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

References

Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
2. https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/access-an...
3. mailto:[Department of Home Affairs request email]
4. mailto:[Department of Home Affairs request email]
5. mailto:[Department of Home Affairs request email]

OFFICIAL: Sensitive
Personal-Privacy

Dear Ben Fairless,

Thank you for your access request FA 25/12/01193 which was received on 16
December 2025.

Third party consent

As you have requested access to documents containing personal information
of someone else, please provide their photographic identification (e.g.
passport; Immi Card or current Driver’s Licence) and written consent for
release of their documents to you.

If you anticipate any problems or cannot obtain their photographic
identification or consent for release, you should write to this office
setting out the reasons why you believe the release would not be
unreasonable or contrary to the public interest.

Timeframe to provide additional documents

Please forward these documents within 14 days of the date of this email.

If the documents have not been received within 14 days, a decision will be
made on your request on the basis of the information held.

Kind Regards,

Tahra

Position number: 60181896

Authorised FOI Officer | Freedom of Information Section
Privacy, FOI & Records Management Branch | Legal Group
Department of Home Affairs

E: [1][Department of Home Affairs request email]

Personal-Privacy
OFFICIAL: Sensitive

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

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Department of Home Affairs request email]

Dear Tahra,

Thank you for both emails received today.

Responding to your first email: I understand you normally exclude various things unless I advise otherwise. Can you review the exclusions I provided in my original request and let me know if there is anything else you suggest I exclude as irrelevant?

Regarding your second email:
I have not attempted to contact Mr. Gruter and I have no intention of doing so. I am seeking access to these documents because I consider there is a public interest in their release.

The Department should make a decision that the release of the substantive decision-making material would not be unreasonable and would be in the public interest. It should do this by applying section 47F (personal privacy), section 11A(5) (public interest), and section 22 (partial access with redaction) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth). I will go into each section below.

This request concerns the exercise of the power of the Minister and/or the Department to cancel a visa and remove a non-citizen from Australia. It is directed to understanding the Department’s decision-making process and reasons, rather than Mr Gruter’s private affairs.

The underlying events are already well established in the public domain. National media outlets, including the ABC, SBS, and the Guardian, have reported that Mr Gruter, a South African national, was photographed at the front of a National Socialist Network (NSN) rally outside NSW Parliament in November 2025, and that following this event, his visa was cancelled by the Commonwealth, he was detained, and he subsequently departed Australia.

As a result, Mr Gruter’s identity, the fact of visa cancellation, and the asserted connection between the cancellation and the NSN rally are already publicly known. The request seeks transparency about how the Department exercised its statutory powers in those circumstances.

== Application of section 47F – unreasonableness ==
As the Department knows, section 47F is a conditional exemption. Whether disclosure would be unreasonable depends on the circumstances.

The FOI Guidelines are clear that relevant considerations include whether the information is already well known, whether the individual is publicly associated with the matters dealt with in the documents, and the nature of the government activity involved. Information relating to regulatory or enforcement action by government is generally less private in character than information concerning purely personal matters.

In this case:
- the core facts are already public;
- the documents relate directly to the minister and/or the Department’s exercise of statutory decision-making power; and
- any genuinely sensitive personal identifiers can be addressed through redaction.

In those circumstances, disclosure of documents explaining or evidencing the visa cancellation decision would not be an unreasonable disclosure of personal information.

== Public interest under section 11A(5) ==
Alternatively, if the Department considers that section 47F applies, access to the documents would nevertheless be required because disclosure would, on balance, be in the public interest.

Public interest factors favouring disclosure include:
- promoting the objects of the FOI Act by revealing the reason for a government decision that attracted significant public and media attention, as well as any background or contextual information that informed this decision;
- informing debate on a significant matter of public importance, namely how the government has responded to an allegation that a non-citizen engaged in alleged extremist activity;
- informing public understanding and debate about how visa cancellation powers were used in response to alleged extremist activity; and
- promoting confidence that decisions to cancel visas and remove individuals from Australia are made lawfully, consistently, and on a proper evidentiary basis.

Any countervailing privacy interest is reduced by the extent of public reporting and can be further mitigated through targeted redactions under section 22.

For the above reasons, the Department should proceed to make a decision on access without third-party consent, release documents in whole or in part as appropriate, and apply targeted redactions where necessary to protect genuinely sensitive personal information while disclosing the substance of the Department’s decision-making.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fairless

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

In reply please quote:

FOI Request: FA 25/12/01193

File Number: FA25/12/01193

Dear Ben Fairless,

I refer to your email received on 16 December 2025 for access to documents
under the FOI Act. Thank you for providing your agreement to an extension
of time for processing your request for an additional 30 days under
section 15AA of the FOI Act.

The new due date for your request is 14 February 2026. However, as this
date falls on a non-working day, section 36(2) of the Acts Interpretation
Act 1901 provides that the latest date the Department may issue a decision
would be the next working day, which is 16 February 2026.

Kind Regards,

Tahra

Position number: 60181896

Authorised FOI Officer | Freedom of Information Section
Privacy, FOI & Records Management Branch | Legal Group
Department of Home Affairs

E: [1][Department of Home Affairs request email]

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

OFFICIAL: Sensitive

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Documents related to the revocation of Matthew Gruter's visa

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