Letters from Legal to Departing Council Members in 2025
Dear Australian National University,
In response FOI 202500185, ANU released letters from Philip Harrison to Liz Allen on the subject “Reminder of obligations and confidentiality”. In the letter, Philip Harrison implied that he routinely sends similar letters to all departing members of Council. I would like to request copies of all of such letters/emails sent to Council members who departed ANU council in 2025.
To help you with your search, here is a list of people who left ANU council in 2025, along with the dates on which they departed Council:
Anne-Marie Schwirtlich (30 June 2025)
Francis Markham (11 August 2025)
Genevieve Bell (11 September 2025)
Yours faithfully,
Matt Rivers
Good afternoon
On 20 October 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:
”In response FOI 202500185, ANU released letters from Philip Harrison to Liz Allen on the subject “Reminder of obligations and confidentiality”. In the letter, Philip Harrison implied that he routinely sends similar letters to all departing members of Council. I would like to request copies of all of such letters/emails sent to Council members who departed ANU council in 2025.
To help you with your search, here is a list of people who left ANU council in 2025, along with the dates on which they departed Council:
Anne-Marie Schwirtlich (30 June 2025)
Francis Markham (11 August 2025)
Genevieve Bell (11 September 2025)
Your request has been assigned the case number 202500272.
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 20 November 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 [ANU request email].
The FOI Team’s workload is currently at very high levels due the unprecedented volume of FOI requests.
We are using our best endeavours 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: [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 Freedom of Information,
I was told to expect a response from you by yesterday. Can you please provide an update on the status of this request?
Yours sincerely,
Matt Rivers