DTA blog posts (no longer published)
Dear Digital Transformation Agency,
I request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982:
(1). The content of all DTA blog posts that were previously published under the https://www.dta.gov.au/blogs/ URL prefix.
(2). Documents stating the reasons for no longer publishing those articles ("the blog").
Yours faithfully,
Fraser Tweedale
OFFICIAL
Dear Fraser,
Thank you for your request. We+IBk-d just like to clarify a couple of points before proceeding.
The +IBw-blogs+IB0- have not been removed, as there is no intention on ceasing publishing them. Instead, the DTA has decided to rename them +IBw-articles+IB0-. This was done to apply a more professional term to these pieces. As with the +IBw-blogs+IB0- they replace, +IBw-articles+IB0- will cover major updates to existing work, as well as thought leadership pieces, outlines of major progress on important and ongoing work, as well as other types of long-form content.
Our updated News page allows users to filter through +IBw-Articles+IB0-, as well as +IBw-Media releases+IB0- and +IBw-Updates+IB0-. You should be able to find all of our previously titled +IBw-Blogs+IB0- using the +IBw-Articles+IB0- filter.
Could you please confirm if this addresses your original request? Or if you would like to amend or clarify your FOI request according to this information?
Please let me know how you would like to proceed
Thanks
Suzie Sazdanovic
Privacy and FOI Manager
Digital Transformation Agency
suzie.sazdanovic+AEA-dta.gov.au +AHw- dta.gov.au
Ngunnawal Country +AHw- 11 Moore Street, Canberra, ACT 2600
+-61 2 6120 8595
OFFICIAL
Dear Ms Sazdanovic,
Thank you for calling my attention to the "Articles" section. However,
the oldest article that is accessible via this part of the site is from 6
June 2021. There were posts on the former DTA blog older than that.
For example, there was a post entitled "Making source code open" on the
former "blog", written by Alastair Parker and published on 20 February 2017
(I had made a screenshot of it). Its URL was
https://www.dta.gov.au/blogs/making-sour....
The intended scope of my request is for articles from the "blogs" section
of the site which are no longer published, as well as documents that
state the reason(s) for the decision to no longer publish those articles.
I hereby refine my request to exclude any articles that were merely
moved from the "blogs" section to the "articles" section. It is the articles
that are no longer published that I seek. Hopefully the information I
provided above, about one such article, will assist you in processing my
request.
Yours sincerely,
Fraser Tweedale
OFFICIAL
Good afternoon, Fraser Tweedale
Freedom of Information Request +IBM- DTA reference FOI011/2025
I acknowledge receipt of your request dated 4 November 2025 in which you requested under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) access to:
SCOPE
(1). The content of all DTA blog posts that were previously published under the https://www.dta.gov.au/blogs/ URL prefix.
(2). Documents stating the reasons for no longer publishing those articles (+ACI-the blog+ACI-).
On the 11 November 2025 you refined the scope of your request to:
'for articles from the +ACI-blogs+ACI- section of the site which are no longer published, as well as documents that state the reason(s) for the decision to no longer publish those articles.'
We wish to advice that DTA has commenced a search for your requested documents.
Publication
As required by the FOI Act, information released under the FOI Act may later be published online unless an exemption applies. For example, personal information will not be published where this would be unreasonable. Any documents provided to you under the FOI Act will be published on our disclosure log (www.dta.gov.au) as soon as practicable after they are released to you.
Seeking your consent to exclude junior departmental officer contact details The DTA will include the names of SES officers in any document released under FOI. However, the DTA would like to seek your consent to exclude the names and contact details of junior staff (non-SES officers) from any FOI documents. As well as personal contact detail for SES officers that are not in the public domain. Where consent is received, the names and contact details of junior officers and personal contact detail for SES officers are redacted under section 22 of the FOI Act, on the basis that these details are irrelevant to the request.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions
Regards,
Suzie Sazdanovic
Privacy and FOI Manager
Digital Transformation Agency
suzie.sazdanovic+AEA-dta.gov.au +AHw- dta.gov.au Ngunnawal Country +AHw- 11 Moore Street, Canberra, ACT 2600
+-61 2 6120 8595
OFFICIAL
OFFICIAL
Good morning, Fraser,
I hope this message finds you well.
I wanted to reach out regarding this FOI request which is currently due on 4 December 2025. We would like to request an extension until 19 December 2025, giving us an additional two weeks to process your request.
The primary reason for this extension request is due to the sheer volume of documents we need to review and the significant increase in the number of FOI requests received this quarter. So far, we've identified over 170 documents, and I still have an additional four files to review.
You're understanding and consent to this extension would be greatly appreciated.
On a related note, regarding your other matter, we are hopeful to have the decision out to you today.
I look forward to receiving your response.
Warm regards,
Suzie Sazdanovic
Privacy and FOI Manager
Digital Transformation Agency
suzie.sazdanovic+AEA-dta.gov.au +AHw- dta.gov.au
Ngunnawal Country +AHw- 11 Moore Street, Canberra, ACT 2600
+-61 2 6120 8595
OFFICIAL
Dear Suzie,
Thank you for your correspondence. I agree to extend the time for this
request to 19 December 2025.
Yours sincerely,
Fraser Tweedale
OFFICIAL
Good afternoon, Fraser,
I hope this email finds you well.
I am writing to provide you with the decision in response to your request. Due to the large volume of documents involved, I am unable to send them all in a single email. Therefore, I have prepared a schedule of documents for your convenience.
Please take a look at the schedule, and if you find that any documents are missing, do not hesitate to reach out. I will be more than happy to assist.
Thank you for your understanding. Have a great day+ACE-
Best regards,
Suzie Sazdanovic
Privacy and FOI Manager
Digital Transformation Agency
suzie.sazdanovic+AEA-dta.gov.au +AHw- dta.gov.au
Ngunnawal Country +AHw- 11 Moore Street, Canberra, ACT 2600
+-61 2 6120 8595
OFFICIAL
Dear Digital Transformation Agency and Ms Suzie Sazdanovic,
Re: Decision FOI 11/2025
Thank you for the DTA's access grant decision in relation to my FOI request of
4 November, 2025. I appreciate the efforts of Ms Sazdanovic and other DTA
employees in what turned out to be very voluminous request. Unfortunately,
I believe some documents within the scope of my request have been missed.
Therefore, I am applying for internal review under s 54. Further details follow,
which may be of assistance.
A check of the Internet Archive's "Wayback Machine" turned up several posts
that were not included in the released material. These include:
- https://web.archive.org/web/202003251218...
(a listing page with some articles that were not among the disclosed documents)
- https://web.archive.org/web/202003091622...
("Open and secure", Mark Mckenzie, 14 August 2015)
- https://web.archive.org/web/202003251218...
("Building trust with certificate transparency", Adam Eijdenberg, 25 May 2018)
- https://web.archive.org/web/202003091631...
("Making source code open", Alastair Parker, 20 February 2017 -
the post I mentioned in previous correspondence)
Those are a few that I found (specifically, in the "open source" category).
I did not undertake a comprehensive search. It is possible or even likely
that the Internet Archive's archives are not comprehensive, but hopefully
the information that is there will assist the Agency in locating all the missing
posts.
If the agency is successful in locating further documents within the scope of my
request, only those additional documents need to be disclosed. Documents
included in the first access grant decision do not need to be considered and
conveyed a second time.
Yours sincerely,
Fraser Tweedale
Dear Ms Sazdanovic and DTA FOI team,
I was discussing this FOI matter online and someone pointed out to me
this archived repository on GitHub, which contains the old DTA website,
including the posts I was looking for:
https://github.com/AusDTO/dta-website
This is a welcome find.
Although the information I sought is publicly available, I wish to proceed
with the review for the following reasons:
1) It will provide opportunity for the DTA to improve its records and FOI processes.
2) I would like these documents to be formally disclosed in accordance with
the FOI Act, and logged in the DTA's FOI disclosure log.
If it is convenient for the DTA, rather than disclosing the myriad posts as separate
files, it would be acceptable to provide an archive file (e.g. "tar" or "zip") of the
relevant directories at the latest commit in the repository, or a Git packfile of the
entire repository. (If you don't know what this means, DTA's technical staff will
be able to help). Providing the documents as separate files is also perfectly fine.
Yours sincerely,
Fraser Tweedale