Dear Australian Communications and Media Authority,

This is a Freedom of Information Request for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

For context, on 21 December 2022, the ACMA published the results of an investigation into In-play betting rules, finding they were found not to apply to Brownlow medal tally count. I refer to a media release here: https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2022-12...

I request access to the following:

a. all previous drafts or preparatory (,or words to such effect) reports into the Brownlow broadcast incident, arrived at prior to the final 21 December final report publication.
b. all internal and external correspondence held by the ACMA in relation to the Brownlow broadcasting incident

Please exclude duplicates and documents already publicly released, including media releases, reports, articles and statements to the media.
Please limit emails to the final message in the chain as long as previous messages are captured.
I agree to having the names and direct contact details of non-senior staff removed, however I request that redactions do not include non-personally identifying information. For example, please leave the domain and job titles when redacting email addresses or signature blocks on emails.
I preemptively agree to requests for third party consultation if necessary, but would prefer that my information about my identity is not shared with those consulted.’

Yours faithfully,

Glenn Hamiltonshire

Dear IG Taskforce,

Thank you for your acknowledgement letter.

For the assistance of this request, I provide full consent to the third party consultation process.

For the assistance of the interpretation of the request, I respond to the stated dotpoints as follows:

* I agree to exclude parts of any document that would involve the disclosure of the personal information of any person, including the names and contact details of individuals whose details are not in the public domain and ACMA staff;

* I agree to exclude any duplicates of a document

* I DO NOT agree exclude any internal emails between ACMA staff relating to media enquiries relating
to the Brownlow Medal investigation, except for the initial media request and the
ACMA’s final response to the enquiry; (It is my firm view that, given the ongoing public debate and community concern regarding the treatment of, response to, and regulation of gambling advertisements and the like in society, that these documents are in the public interest and are pertinent to my request)

* I DO NOT agree to exclude any internal emails between ACMA staff relating to the preparation of the
news article that accompanied the publication of the outcome of the investigation (As observed in similar FOI requests for other agencies on media releases, the process of drafting, detailing, and refining of media releases with respect to issues of debate, it is my view that is relevant to the matter at hand.)

* I agree to exclude any and all internal and external correspondence following the publication of
the outcome of the investigation, which do not materially relate to this incident and the investigation.

Finally, I make the point that we are getting dangerously close to the Christmas Break (Merry Christmas to you, dear Public Servant reading this!), so I preemptively provide consent to a 30 day extension should this process stretch into the Christmas Break period.

Yours sincerely,

Glenn Hamiltonshire