FOI request re. Coburg High suspending students for opposing genocide
Dear Victorian Department of Education,
I understand that Coburg High School suspended a year 11 student for asking Peter Khalil on 2025-06-30 why he, and the Albanese regime, support the zionist genocide being carried out against the human population of Palestine.
I am requesting:
1) All records regarding the decision to suspend this boy.
2) All email and other electronic communications regarding Khalil's visit with outside parties, including Khalil and his office, between 2025-06-01 and 2025-07-09.
3) All phone records related to calls between school officials, and Peter Khalil or his office or his co-conspirators in the Victorian and Federal Labor parties, between 2025-06-30 (inclusive) and 2025-07-09.
Yours faithfully,
Christian
OFFICIAL Sensitive - Personal Privacy
ATTN: Christian Otieno
Our ref: 2526-0035
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST - Department of Education
Dear Christian,
Thank you for your recent FOI request.
The Department of Education - FOI Unit has received your request and have allocated the following reference number for your awareness and future use when communicating with our office on this request - FOI: 2526-0035.
If you have not yet paid the application fee or provided evidence for a fee waiver, please see the below:
Application Fee
Section 17(2A) of the Act requires a request to be accompanied by the payment of the application fee, which is currently $33.60.
Payment can be made as follows:
- through the Victorian government FOI portal at the following link: https://online.foi.vic.gov.au/; or
- via EFT using the account details below:
Account name: DET Revenue Account
BSB: 033-222
Account number: 190007
Reference: FOI 2526-0035
If paying by EFT, please note that we will be unable to provide you with a payment receipt and you must provide evidence of payment (i.e. screen shot/receipt), including your FOI reference number, to [Victorian Department of Education request email]
The application fee may be waived or reduced if you can provide the department with evidence that payment of the fee would cause financial hardship. We will accept a current health care card or other documentation that shows government social security benefits are being received. Please provide any evidence of financial hardship by email to [Victorian Department of Education request email] and include the FOI reference number allocated above.
Delays expected
Your request is currently in queue for preassessment, which will identify whether clarifications are required. We will contact you as soon as possible to advise of next steps.
Please note that we are currently experiencing a significant backlog with FOI requests. During this challenging time, in order to focus our resources on processing requests, we are unable to respond to any requests for an update on the status of your application. Should you have an urgent query or additional information about your request, please call our office directly on 70220856 - quoting your reference number.
While the legislated time frame for processing requests is 30 days from the date it is 'valid', we are currently unable to meet this target due to our resourcing challenges. We apologise sincerely for the inconvenience that this may cause and appreciate your patience while we work though the backlog. Should you require documents for an upcoming court date, you may wish to consider the option of a subpoena.
We appreciate that your request is important to you and thank you for your understanding and patience. We will contact you as this matter progresses.
Kind regards,
Gillian
Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Education
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne VIC 3002
T: 03 7022 0856
E: [Victorian Department of Education request email]
W: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/
Dear FOI Unit,
I tried signing into the FOI portal. I was able to login once, but the system there gave me no ability to 'claim' an existing request, as one would do if communicating through RightToKnow to ensure that there is real transparency about the state of how the Department of Education handles FOI requests about the dubious actions of Brent Houghton and Peter Khalil. Nor did the system allow me to set or reset a password, so it is only possible to login once.
Is this the INTENDED functionality of that system?
Yours sincerely,
Christian Otieno
Thank you for your email.
Please note that we are currently experiencing a significant backlog with
FOI requests. We are endeavouring to process requests in order of receipt.
During this challenging time, to focus our resources on processing
requests, we are unable to respond to any requests for an update on the
status of your application. Should you have an urgent query or additional
information about your request, please call our office directly on
70220856 – quoting your FOI reference number.
We apologise sincerely for the inconvenience that this may cause and
appreciate your patience while we work though the backlog. Should you
require documents for an upcoming court date, you may wish to consider the
option of a subpoena.
The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) is aware of
our circumstance. Please note however, you have the right to complain to
OVIC if you are concerned with the delay. OVIC can be contacted by email
at [email address]
We appreciate that your request is important to you and thank you for your
understanding and patience.
We will contact you as your matter progresses.
Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Education
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne VIC 3002
T: 03 7022 0856
E: [1][Victorian Department of Education request email]
W: [2]www.education.vic.gov.au
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References
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1. mailto:[Victorian Department of Education request email]
2. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/
OFFICIAL
Hi Christian,
Thank you for your email. I apologise for the delay in responding.
You should be able to log back in to the portal even after a request is submitted. Please see the webpage linked below for more information on accessing the portal and troubleshooting issues.
https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/freedom-o...
I apologise for the inconvenience caused by any access problems. If you continue to have issues, please note that we can accept amendments via email and payment via EFT.
Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any further questions or concerns.
Kind regards,
Gillian
Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Education
2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne VIC 3002
T: 03 7022 0856
E: [Victorian Department of Education request email]
W: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/