National Cabinet
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
I request a copy of the agenda and any papers for the National Cabinet meetings held on 16 July 2022 and 4 August 2022.
Yours faithfully,
H
OFFICIAL
Reference: FOI/2022/257
Dear H
Thank you for your email of 30 August 2022, in which you made a request
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department).
You set out the terms of the request as follows:
I request a copy of the agenda and any papers for the National Cabinet
meetings held on 16 July 2022 and 4 August 2022.
Timeframe for receiving your decision
The 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the
day after the Department received your request, you should therefore
expect a decision from us by 29 September 2022. The processing period of
30 days may be extended in certain circumstances and we will write to you
separately regarding any extension of time.
Charges
Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you
are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of
the charge as soon as possible.
Publication of documents
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[1]https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...,
subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any
objections to the publication of any of the information which may be
released to you please contact us by email at [2][DPMC request email]. If you
do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to
provide supporting reasons.
Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details
For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:
· any person’s signature;
· the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
· the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;
· the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.
If you consider that the information categorised above is relevant to the
terms of your request please let us know at [3][DPMC request email], otherwise
we will take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the
scope of your request (that is, the information will be treated as
irrelevant and deleted from any documents for release). The names and
other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless there is some
reason for that information to be exempt from release.
Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....
Yours sincerely
Sophie
Adviser | FOI Section[]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. (02) 6271 5849
Ngunnawal Country, One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box
6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
e. [5][email address] w. [6]pmc.gov.au
[7]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[8]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0
[9]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
7. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
8. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
OFFICIAL
FOI/2022/257
Dear H
We write in relation to your request made under the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
(the Department) in the following terms:
I request a copy of the agenda and any papers for the National Cabinet
meetings held on 16 July 2022 and 4 August 2022.
The purpose of this email is to advise that the request covers documents
which contain information received from a State or Territory. As such, the
Department will consult with those States under section 26A of the FOI Act
.
Section 15(6) of the FOI Act provides for the extension of the processing
time by a further 30 days in order to allow the Department time to consult
with the relevant State. Accordingly, the period for processing the
request has been extended by 30 days to 31 October 2022.
Yours sincerely
Robyn
Adviser – Freedom of Information
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
e. [1][DPMC request email] | [2]www.pmc.gov.au
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[3]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DPMC request email]
2. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
OFFICIAL
Dear H
I refer to your email of 30 August 2022 seeking access under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 to the following:
I request a copy of the agenda and any papers for the National Cabinet
meetings held on 16 July 2022 and 4 August 2022.
Request for extension of time to process
I am writing to seek your agreement to a 14-day extension of time under
section 15AA of the FOI Act. Regrettably, the Department is not currently
in a position to finalise the decision by the statutory due date owing to
staff movements. A short extension of time will allow us to brief the new
decision maker and finalise the decision on access.
The current due date for a decision on this request is 31 October 2022. If
you agree to this extension of time the revised due date for your request
will be 14 November 2022. We will endeavour to notify you of the decision
prior to this extended date if possible, and will contact you again if any
other issues arise.
Can you please confirm your agreement via return email by midday Monday 31
October 2022.
Kind regards Robyn
Adviser – Freedom of Information
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
e. [1][DPMC request email] | [2]www.pmc.gov.au
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[3]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DPMC request email]
2. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
OFFICIAL
Dear H
Please see the attached correspondence regarding your Freedom of
Information request.
Regards Robyn
Adviser – Freedom of Information
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
e. [1][DPMC request email] | [2]www.pmc.gov.au
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[3]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DPMC request email]
2. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
Peter Timmins left an annotation ()
H,
In Senate Estimates for PMC on Monday 22 May the following exchanges took place.
Peter Timmins
Senator BIRMINGHAM: Perhaps on notice you can provide details of those, albeit I realise I can probably find them through other legal processes. Can I ask about an FOI that is publicly available on the Right to Know website—PM&C reference number FOI/2022/257, by applicant H, which was a request for a copy of the agenda and any papers for the National Cabinet meetings held on 16 July 2022 and 4 August 2022. So these would be Albanese government National Cabinet meetings.
Mr Williamson : I think we don't have the detail of that. Sorry; our records don't quite go back that far. But, if you carry on, we'll try and assist you.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: I may even have a copy that I can share with you or get copied, if that's going to be helpful. I'm happy to table this for the benefit of the department. It is your notice of decision. Before I table it and hand it over to the committee, I'll say the request was for a copy of the agenda and any papers for the National Cabinet meetings held on 16 July 2022 and 4 August 2022. The department identified two documents that fall within the scope of your request. The documents identified are the agendas for the National Cabinet meetings of 16 July 2022 and 4 August 2022. Given the discussion we've just had it, how is it possible that for two National Cabinet meetings the government has only been able to identify two documents—namely, the agendas for those two meetings.
Ms Hefren-Webb : As I understand it—and I wasn't in the department at the time—they were meetings without papers. Those two meetings were in early days of the Albanese government, and so they were still working through what the priorities were. That's my understanding, but I'll ask Ms Steel to add to that.
Ms Steel : There were public statements released after both meetings that go to the content. For example, on 16 July the discussion was about the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures to manage that. They had a briefing from the Chief Medical Officer, so effectively while there weren't papers there was a disclosure of the content of the meeting immediately after in a public press statement and also a press conference. Similarly, on 4 August there was a meeting that was on COVID-19 and mpox, which at that time was an emerging health concern.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: So there were no formal records or minutes of those meeting, other than the public statements made afterwards?
Ms Steel : I would have to check. I think there would have been records of meetings, but they may have very much matched the public statements. These were, I guess, some of our more dynamic meetings that were dealing with emerging situations at the time, and hence there's not the same sort of level of papers as a long-foreshadowed meeting. But we could take on a notice if there were records of the meetings separate to the public statements.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: You're confirming there were no papers for those meetings, other than the agenda.
Ms Steel : Again, I'll double-check that on notice with my team, but I believe these meetings went ahead without papers.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: That would be implied from the FOI determination made by the department, but it seems remarkable, in that sense, that there weren't papers. You're saying that in relation to the 16 July meeting discussing the COVID-19 pandemic, there was just a verbal update provided by AHPPC or by the Chief Medical Officer—sorry, AHPPC can't really provide a verbal update because they're a committee, so there was no written advice from AHPPC; there was just a verbal update by the Chief Medical Officer.
Ms Steel : That's correct. The Chief Medical Officer attended and provided an update.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: With no written advice, and no written feedback from the AHPPC?
Ms Steel : Again, I can confirm that on notice, but the record suggests that it was a verbal update.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: And for the other meeting, you indicated that that meeting discussed COVID-19 pandemic, monkeypox—as it was then being described, now mpox—foot-and-mouth disease and the upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit. Across all of those topics on 4 August there were no written papers for any of those topics, including the emerging and concerning at the time mpox or monkeypox outbreak.
Ms Steel : Again, that's my understanding. I will confirm that that's correct, but my understanding is that they were verbal updates.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: How is this an effective way for National Cabinet to be making decisions, if there's no information provided in advance to first ministers, no pre-reading, no written recommendations, none of the normal things that help to facilitate a proper deliberative discussion?
Ms Hefren-Webb : This is just two meetings that were, as I said, early in the term of the government. It was still settling a number of matters. They were dealing with matters that were urgent by their nature—the COVID-19 issues, particularly. I wasn't in this department, but I understand that throughout the life of National Cabinet it did operate very dynamically, often not with papers and often with verbal updates and then a discussion amongst first ministers to reach a sort of joint decision about a matter. Now that we're out of the pandemic cycle we are going to a more deliberative, traditional use of papers and consideration by principals before they come to the meeting.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: So, more recent National Cabinet meetings have had papers formally distributed in advance associated with the agenda items?
Ms Hefren-Webb : Correct.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: I was starting to wonder whether, given the view that documents didn't enjoy cabinet confidentiality and had to be released, you perhaps were just avoiding providing documents altogether in relation to some of these circumstances. You're telling me that you are now more routinely providing documents?
Ms Hefren-Webb : Yes, for matters that have been put on the agenda and where we've got a month or two to work up a paper, which we do, with our officials in the states. Yes, there are short papers.
Senator HU ME: If I could just jump in there, Senator Birmingham: just to be clear, the outcomes from that National Cabinet—I've got it in front of me, from the website—included, for pandemic leave disaster payments extension, a decision to share those costs fifty-fifty between the Commonwealth and the states, a reinstatement of the crisis payment and a new telehealth item for longer appointments. None of those things had supporting papers? They were just discussions in the room?
Ms Steel : Again, we'll confirm the record that there were no papers, but these were things that were under discussion between officials as well. The AHPPC was meeting regularly on health matters and, again, the Chief Medical Officer, who's involved with the AHPPC, was briefing National Cabinet.
Senator HUME: Sorry, Senator Birmingham.
Senator BIRMINGHAM: No, thanks, Senator Hume. That is useful, and surprising—across those two meetings, with the range of issues considered, not just COVID issues and COVID support at the time but, as I said, monkeypox, the jobs and skills summit, the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. All these matters were just dealt with verbally, in terms of briefings and decisions of the Albanese National Cabinet.
Perhaps on notice you could provide a breakdown of National Cabinet meetings under the Albanese government, the agendas for them—seeing as they're now public items—and whether papers were distributed for each of those agenda items. I think I'll leave it there, in terms of the National Cabinet processes themselves—although the next item is one that's being discussed by National Cabinet, so we might want to go to that.