Letter of No Confidence from College Deans to Vice Chancellor
Dear ANU FOI,
I refer to recent media articles referring to a majority of academic college deans informing the previous vice-chancellor, Genevieve Bell, that they lacked confidence in her leadership of the ANU.
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 1982, I request the following:
- The letter from the majority of college deans to Professor Bell informing that they lacked confidence in her leadership.
- Any correspondence (emails, Teams messages, text messages, etc) between college deans discussing sending a letter informing of a lack of confidence in Professor Bell.
- Any correspondence (emails, Teams messages, text messages, etc) between the college dean who abstained from the letter informing Professor Bell of a lack of confidence in her leadership and other college deans.
- Any response to the no-confidence letter (either informal or formal) from Professor Bell to college deans.
- Any correspondence from the Chancellor, Julie Bishop, in response to the college deans' letter of no confidence.
To assist in the processing of this request, I agree to the redaction of the personal information of non senior employees of the university.
Yours faithfully,
Ferris Bueller
Good evening,
On 11 September 2025, the Australian National University (the University)
received your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
The University has taken your request to be as follows:
o The letter from the majority of college deans to Professor Bell
informing that they lacked confidence in her leadership.
o Any correspondence (emails, Teams messages, text messages, etc)
between college deans discussing sending a letter informing of a lack
of confidence in Professor Bell.
o Any correspondence (emails, Teams messages, text messages, etc)
between the college dean who abstained from the letter informing
Professor Bell of a lack of confidence in her leadership and other
college deans.
o Any response to the no-confidence letter (either informal or formal)
from Professor Bell to college deans.
o Any correspondence from the Chancellor, Julie Bishop, in response to
the college deans' letter of no confidence.
Your request has been assigned the case number 2025002226.
Processing Timeframe
The statutory time frame for processing your request is 30 calendar days
from day after the date your request was received by the University. You
should therefore expect a decision from us by 13 October 2025.
This period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third
parties, impose a charge or for other reasons. We will advise you in
writing if this happens.
We will contact you using the email address you provided. Please advise if
you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact. If you have
any questions regarding your request, please feel free to contact the FOI
Team via the functional email [1][ANU request email].
The FOI Team’s workload is currently at very high levels due to the
unprecedented volume of FOI requests.
We are using our best endeavors to process all requests expeditiously
however there may be some slippage due to the current workload. We will
keep in touch with you and advise if there are any significant delays, and
will, if necessary, seek extensions as permitted by the Act.
Yours sincerely
FOI Team
University Governance Office
The Australian National University
Email: [2][ANU request email]
Web: [3]https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider
Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906
References
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Good evening,
I refer to your below request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) received by the University on 11 September 2025.
Your request is receiving attention and a decision will be provided to you as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing delays regarding your request and we will be unable to provide you with a response by the current decision date of 13 October 2025.
Delays are being experienced due to the absences of key FOI staff causing delays in the processing of your FOI request – specifically, at least two key staff who are able to conduct and complete searches for the information have been away for a week (returning next week). Beyond their return, any information they may find would still need to be processed and considered.
There also likely to be further delays due to the FOI team dealing with a number of complex FOI requests with minimal staff.
Accordingly, the University is seeking an extension of time of 30 days in accordance with section 15AA of the FOI Act.
If you agree to the extension, the University would be required to provide you with a decision notice by no later than COB 10 November 2025.
Your earliest response would be appreciated as we are required to notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) of any extension agreed.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
University Governance Office
The Australian National University
Email: [ANU request email]
Web: https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906
Dear FOI Team,
I agree to the 30 day extension proposed under s 15AA.
Have a good weekend.
Regards,
Ferris
Much appreciated, and hope you had the same
Will keep in touch,
FOI Team
University Governance Office
The Australian National University
Email: [ANU request email]
Web: https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906
Good evening Ferris,
I refer to your request for access to documents regarding a letter of no confidence from the Australian National University College Deans to the Vice-Chancellor under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) received by the University on 11 September 2025.
Consultation(s) Required
As a result of searches conducted, a number of documents have been identified as relevant to your request. Upon review, it has been determined that those documents contain and refer to the personal information of multiple third parties. Accordingly, the University is required to consult with those third parties (under section 27A of the FOI Act) before making a decision on the release of the documents.
The consultation mechanism under section 27A applies when we believe a third party concerned might reasonably wish to contend that the requested documents are exempt because their release would disclose the personal information of that third party.
Accordingly, the period for processing your request has been extended by a further 30 days in order to allow our agency time to consult with that third party concerned.
The processing period for your request will now end on Wednesday 10 December 2025. Please note that this is a maximum timeframe.
Previous Extension
Thank you for granting the previous extension.
We acknowledge that, in the below thread, you consented to a 30-day extension under section 15AA of the Act, and appreciate your understanding while information is collected and reviewed. We also apologise for any inconvenience this further extension for consultations causes you.
The delays that we advised you of in our below email are still being experienced due to the absences of key FOI staff causing delays in the processing of your FOI request, and the FOI team dealing with a number of complex FOI requests with minimal staff.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we process your request.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
University Governance Office
The Australian National University
Email: [ANU request email]
Web: https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906