OFFICIAL: Sensitive
Personal-Privacy

In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA 22/02/01284
File Number: OBJ2022/4653

Dear Dominic de Vries,

Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information Access request
This letter acknowledges we received your request on 19 February 2022 to access documents held by the Department of Home Affairs (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:
The Department of Home Affairs issued a directive demanding Citizens to request permission to leave Australia if they do not state their medical status, which limits their right of free travel. This despite the fact that up to the 31st of January 2022 only 83 people died from Covid-19 and in 2019 812 people died from Influenza (Flu).
Reference: https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/leavi... (08.02.2022) Please provide a copy of the legal document that allows, justifies and orders your department to limit these basic rights for a certain group of Australian Citizens and allows your department to demand healthy citizens that do not want to state their medical status to require a permission to freely leave the country. This includes the confirmation of such a restriction by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, who guarantees free travel in every Australian Passport.

Your request was received by the Department on 19 February 2022 and has been allocated FOI request number FA 22/02/01284. Please include your FOI request number in all correspondence with the Freedom of Information Section.

Timeframe for receiving your decision
The statutory timeframe for processing a request is 30 days from the date upon which your application was received by the Department.

Your review rights in relation to your request are available on the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Fees and Charges
Charges do not apply to requests from individuals seeking access to documents about themselves. However, a charge may apply to all other requests for access to documents.
Charges are based on the amount of time the Department spends on your request. Charges can range from $10 to over $1,000 depending on the complexity and scope of your request. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner reported that across the public service, the average charge notified was $335.50 in 2020-21.
If a charge applies, you will be issued with a Notice of Charge that explains the charge and your options.
Detailed information about FOI charges that may apply to your FOI request is available on the Department’s website.

We do not provide personal details of staff
The Department’s practice is to exclude the personal details of staff not in the Senior Executive Service (SES), as well as the direct contact details of SES staff, contained in documents that fall within scope of an FOI request. If you require personal details of non-SES officers, or direct contact details of SES staff, please inform us so the decision maker may consider your request. Otherwise we will take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope of your request. However names of staff that have previously been released in departmental correspondence may be disclosed.

We do not provide duplicated documents
If the FOI decision-maker deems a document to be a duplicate, they will not assess those pages as part of your FOI request. This means that if a there is a decision to release the document to you, you will receive only one copy, even if multiple copies of that document exist.
Released documents you request may be published to our website

Where documents are released to you in response to your request, the Department may be required to publish these documents on its website within 10 working days in accordance with section 11C of the FOI Act. Publication will not be required where the documents contain personal or business affairs information.

How to refine or withdraw your request

Refining your request can reduce the time and charges associated with processing your FOI request.

To refine or withdraw your request, contact the FOI section at [Department of Home Affairs request email] and include your FOI request number.

Kind regards,

FOI Officer - Geoff
Freedom of Information
Department of Home Affairs

E: [Department of Home Affairs request email]

Personal-Privacy
OFFICIAL: Sensitive

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Dear Dominic de Vries

FOI request FA 22/02/01284

I refer to your FOI request received on 19 February 2022, seeking access
to the following:

The Department of Home Affairs issued a directive demanding Citizens to
request permission to leave Australia if they do not state their medical
status, which limits their right of free travel. This despite the fact
that up to the 31st of January 2022 only 83 people died from Covid-19 and
in 2019 812 people died from Influenza (Flu).
Reference: https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/leavi... (08.02.2022) Please
provide a copy of the legal document that allows, justifies and orders
your department to limit these basic rights for a certain group of
Australian Citizens and allows your department to demand healthy citizens
that do not want to state their medical status to require a permission to
freely leave the country. This includes the confirmation of such a
restriction by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, who
guarantees free travel in every Australian Passport..

The Department has made a decision on this request as per attached.

This request has now been closed.

Kel

Position No: 60100052

Freedom of Information (FOI) Section

FOI and Records Management Branch

Data Division

Strategy & Law Enforcement Group

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

Department of Home Affairs | [2]www.homeaffairs.gov.au

OFFICIAL

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