MATES program - correspondence to/from the Minister
Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
With the introduction of the MATES program two decades ago, I require ALL Ministerial Correspondence both to and from DVA to the respective Veterans Affairs Ministers regarding this program for the following period.
: Prior to the introduction of this program up to and including 31 January 2024.
Yours faithfully,
ALAN ASHMORE
Dear Pettitt, Liane,
Thank you for your response. I note for some reason your response to my request for the handover brief from the past to the new Secretary, lodged over one year ago has for some reason come up in righttoknow as a response to a different FOI request, "MATES your response to program - correspondence to/from the Minister."
I look forward to receiving a response to the handover brief being sent to my email address. As DVA would have a record of my email address, commencing with "aa," I look forward to receiving the first release batch. DVA also have a record of my mobile number.
I thank you for your personal intervention and look forward to belatedly receiving the requested information.
Yours sincerely,
Alan ASHMORE
Dear Mr Ashmore,
The Department of Veterans' Affairs (the department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:
'...With the introduction of the MATES program two decades ago, I require
ALL Ministerial Correspondence both to and from DVA to the respective
Veterans Affairs Ministers regarding this program for the following
period.
: Prior to the introduction of this program up to and including 31 January
2024...'
Your request was received by the department on 2 February 2024 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.
If we are in a position to make a decision on your request earlier than
this date, we will endeavour to do so.
The statutory period may also be extended if we need to consult third
parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act. We will advise
you if this happens.
Charges
If the Department considers that a charge will apply to your request, you
will be notified within 14 days of an estimate of the charges that will
apply to your request for non-personal information before we process any
requested documents or impose a final charge.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your contact address is
[1][FOI #11069 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Disclosure log
Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.
Further assistance
If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]
Yours sincerely
Kevin| Information Access Officer
Position 62373493
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[3][DVA request email]
[4]www.dva.gov.au
[5]cid:image008.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
[6]cid:image009.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #11069 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[DVA request email]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/
Dear Mr Ashmore,
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act), received by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (the Department)
on 2 February 2024. The scope of your request is a follows:
‘…With the introduction of the MATES program two decades ago, I require
ALL Ministerial Correspondence both to and from DVA to the respective
Veterans Affairs Ministers regarding this program for the following
period.
: Prior to the introduction of this program up to and including 31 January
2024 ….’
The purpose of this correspondence is to notify you that a practical
refusal reason exists, with regards to your request, on that grounds that
processing your request is likely to result in a substantial and
unreasonable diversion of the Department’s resources from its other
operations (section 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the FOI Act).
As explained in the attached document, please consider revising your
request to make it more manageable, for example, by providing more
specific information about exactly what documents you are interested in.
Please provide your response via return email to
[1][email address] by COB 19 March 2024 (14 days from the
date of this notification) in order for us to continue processing your
request.
Please be aware that if you decline to refine the scope of your request,
your request may result in a practical refusal decision.
Please get in touch if you have any questions regarding this process.
Kind regards,
Charmaine | Senior Information Access Officer
Position Number 62249379
Information Access Unit
Ministerial, International & Stakeholder Relations Branch
Ministerial, Communication & Engagement Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Tel 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[2][email address]
[3]www.dva.gov.au
[4]cid:image001.png@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0[5]cid:image002.png@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0[6]cid:image003.png@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0[7]cid:image004.png@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0
[8]cid:image005.jpg@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0
[9]cid:image006.jpg@01D9CD54.76C0BCF0
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.dva.gov.au/
4. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
5. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
6. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
7. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus
Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
I write in response to your 5 March 2024 practical refusal and I am prepared to narrow the request to:
With the introduction of the MATES program two decades ago, I require ALL Ministerial Correspondence both to and from DVA to the respective Veterans Affairs Ministers regarding this program for the following period.
: Prior to the introduction of this program up to and including 31 December 2010.
Yours sincerely,
Alan ASHMORE
Dear Mr Ashmore,
Please find attached a letter regarding IC Review MR23/00929 - s 55G
decision to release documents.
Kind regards, Liane
Liane Pettitt | A/g First Assistant Secretary
Ministerial, Engagement and Communications
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
[1][email address]
[2]www.dva.gov.au
[3]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[4]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[5]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[6]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590
[7]cid:image005.jpg@01D8E9E2.714BBFA0
[8]cid:image006.jpg@01D8E9E2.714BBFA0
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.dva.gov.au/
3. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
4. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
5. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
6. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus
Jenny left an annotation ()
Might be useful to also make a separate FOI asking for copy of any Executive Management Board (EMB) minutes that are about the MATES program, given this has been a high profile matter for a year now. The Department most likely told itself more than it did its Minister.