Your email has been received by the Freedom of Information and Privacy
Section of the Attorney-General's Department. Please note that we will
only action and respond to FOI requests and other matters relating to the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). For information on how to
make an FOI request please refer to the FOI page on the department's
website at:
[1]https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protect....

If your email relates to the FOI Act, we will contact you shortly to
acknowledge and/or respond to your request. Please do not send duplicate
emails as this may cause delays in response time-frames.

For matters not relating to the Freedom of Information Act 1982, please
refer to the ‘Contact us' page on the department's website at:
[2]https://www.ag.gov.au/about-us/connect-u....

If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
immediately by return e-mail and delete all copies. If this e-mail or any
attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute
waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of
information in the e-mail or attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protect...
2. https://www.ag.gov.au/about-us/connect-u...

OFFICIAL
Good afternoon Mr Pentland

Freedom of Information Request FOI23/179 - Acknowledgment and request for 15AA Extension of Time

I refer to your request to the Attorney-General's Department (the department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) for access to documents.

Your request is for:
a) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either the Attorney-General and/or his office and/or the Attorney General's Department, as well as any correspondence between the Attorney-General and/or his office and the Attorney General's Department, in relation to the proposed wording for the Voice referendum;
b) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either the Attorney-General and/or his office and/or the Attorney General's Department, as well as any correspondence between the Attorney-General and/or his office and the Solicitor-General and/or any correspondence between the Attorney-General's Department and the Solicitor-General in relation to the proposed wording for the Voice referendum;
c) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either the Attorney-General and/or his office and/or the Australian Government Solicitor, as well as any correspondence between the Attorney-General and/or his office and/or any correspondence between the Attorney-General's Department and the Australian Government Solicitor in relation to the proposed wording for the Voice referendum; and
d) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either the Attorney-General and/or his office and/or the Prime Minister and/or his office in relation to the proposed wording for the Voice referendum.

If you disagree with this interpretation of your request, please let me know in writing as soon as possible.

The department's practice is to not disclose personal information of staff of the department and other government authorities, where that information is not publicly known or routinely disclosed (e.g. names of junior officers and contact information). The names of senior officers will generally be disclosed. In addition, duplicates and incomplete email chains within the scope of the FOI request, internal administrative email addresses and metadata will be excluded.

Please note that, with some exceptions (such as personal information), documents released under the FOI Act may later be published online on the department's disclosure log http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtection....

Extension of Time Request
Under s 15AA of the FOI Act, an agency may extend the initial processing period for dealing with a request by a further period of no more than 30 days if the applicant agrees in writing to the extension and the agency gives written notice of the extension to the Information Commissioner as soon as practicable after the agreement is made.

I would like to request your agreement to extend the processing period for your request by 30 days. I am requesting this extension of time from you to ensure the department has sufficient time to process and finalise your request in accordance with the FOI Act, noting delays due to the Easter break and ANZAC holiday and resourcing constraints in the relevant teams. Please be assured that your request is at an advanced stage of the process and we are working to process your request as quickly as possible.

If you agree to this extension of time, the due date for your request will be 22 May 2023. I would be grateful if you could let me know whether you agree to this extension of time as soon as possible or by COB 6 April 2023.

More information is available on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's Website: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

If you have any questions, please contact me by telephone on (02) 6141 6666 or by email to [AGD request email].
Joanna

Freedom of Information and Privacy
Attorney-General’s Department
T: (02) 6141 6666 | E: [AGD request email]

For information on how to make an FOI Request see https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protect...

OFFICIAL

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Petland,
Subject: Partial Transfer of FOI Request: FOI23/179 - Attorney-General's Department to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

I refer to your request to the Attorney-General's Department (the department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) for access to documents.

The purpose of this email is to advise you that part of your request has been transferred to another agency.
Under section 16(1) of the FOI Act, the department, with the agreement of the other agency, may transfer part of the request to the other agency if the requested document is not in the possession of the department but is in the possession of the other agency or if the subject matter of the document is more closely connected with the functions of the other agency.

The department, with agreement, transferred the below part of your request to PMC on 27 April 2023 as the subject matter is more closely aligned with that agency.

d) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by the Prime Minister and/or his office in relation to the proposed wording for the Voice referendum.

We received your request on 23 March 2023 and the due date for your request is 22 May 2023. This includes the extension of time you granted under 15AA of the FOI Act.

The transfer of your request does not affect the due date for completion of your request. You should therefore expect a decision from PMC by 22 May 2023. However, the statutory period may be extended if PMC needs to consult third parties or for other reasons. PMC will advise you if this happens.

This department will continue to process the remaining part of your request.

If you have any questions, please contact me by telephone on (02) 6141 6666 or by email to [AGD request email].

The contact for PMC is [email address]

Kind regards
Joanna

Freedom of Information and Privacy
Attorney-General’s Department
T: (02) 6141 6666 | E: [AGD request email]

For information on how to make an FOI Request see https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protect...

OFFICIAL

The Attorney-General’s Department may collect your personal information where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our functions, including those under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and the Privacy Act 1988. We may collect your name, email address and telephone number so that we can contact you about your request or privacy complaint. If your request concerns accessing or correcting your personal information, we will collect the minimum amount of evidence necessary to verify your identity. We hold personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act and our privacy policy. If you have an enquiry or complaint about your privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on 02 6141 6666 or via e-mail [email address]. 
If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the email or attachments.

OFFICIAL

Reference: FOI/2023/119

Dear Mr Pentland

With reference to your correspondence to The Attorney-General’s Department
(AGD) dated 23 March 2023, in which you made a request under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) have agreed to AGD’s request to a partial
transfer regarding part (d) of your request, set out in the following
terms:

I seek access to the following:

(a.) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either the
Attorney-General and/or his office and/or the Attorney General's
Department, as well as any correspondence between the Attorney-General
and/or his office and the Attorney General's Department, in relation to
the proposed wording for the Voice referendum;

(b) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either the
Attorney-General and/or his office and/or the Attorney General's
Department, as well as any correspondence between the Attorney-General
and/or his office and the Solicitor-General and/or any correspondence
between the Attorney-General's Department and the Solicitor-General in
relation to the proposed wording for the Voice referendum;

(c) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either the
Attorney-General and/or his office and/or the Australian Government
Solicitor, as well as any correspondence between the Attorney-General
and/or his office and/or any correspondence between the Attorney-General's
Department and the Australian Government Solicitor in relation to the
proposed wording for the Voice referendum; and

(d) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either the
Attorney-General and/or his office  and/or the Prime Minister and/or his
office in relation to the proposed wording for the Voice referendum.

Timeframe for receiving your decision

The 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the
day after the initial Department received your request.  As you kindly
agreed to an extension of time you should therefore expect a decision from
us, in relation to part (d) of your request by 22 May 2023.  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][email address].  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][email address], 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....

Kind regards

Leisha

Coordinator | 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: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:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://www.pmc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Departmental reference: FOI/2023/119

Dear Mr Pentland

I refer your request of 23 March 2023 under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 to the Attorney General’s Department. The Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet (the Department) accepted partial transfer of the
request in which you sought:

… (d) briefing notes, legal advice and file notes held by either … the
Prime Minister and/or his office in relation to the proposed wording for
the Voice referendum.

The current due date for a decision on the requests is today 22 May 2023.
Documents within scope of the partial transfer to the Department have been
identified, and are under assessment in accordance with to the FOI Act.
However, the Department is not in a position to issue you with a decision
today.

Further work is required to:

·         Ensure that the Department has identified and retrieved all the
documents covered by the scope of the transferred request.

·         Complete the assessment and finalise the documents

·         Make a decision under the FOI Act.

I appreciate that you have agreed to an extension under section 15AA of
the FOI. However, unless further documents are identified, I estimate that
the Department will be in a position to issue a decision on your request
by 9 June 2023. Given this, I will be seeking an extension of time from
the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in order to keep
your request within statutory timeframes.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Ben | 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. [1][email address]  w. [2]pmc.gov.au

I work Monday to Thursday

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[4]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[5]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:[email address]
2. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

OFFICIAL

Dear Alex

I refer to your FOI request, FOI23/179. The purpose of this email is to
advise you that the department is treating your request as withdrawn and
it is now finalised.

We wrote to you on 1 May 2023 advising that a practical refusal reasons
existed due to the volume of correspondence captured by your request.

In our letter we advised you must do one of the 3 things below before the
conclusion of the 14 day consultation period (1 June 2023) to allow the
department to continue with your request:

Before the end of the consultation period, you must do one of the
following, in writing:

o withdraw your request
o make a revised request
o tell us that you do not wish to revise your request.

We advised that if you did not do one of the three things listed above
during the consultation period, or if you did not consult the contact
officer identified in our letter to you during this period, your request
would be taken to have been withdrawn.

According to our records you did not provide the required written notice
during the consultation period identifying you wished to do one of the 3
things listed in respect of FOI23/179 or contact the contact officer. As
such, the department considers your FOI request withdrawn in accordance
with s 24AB(7). Your request was finalised on 2 June 2023.

General advice prepared by the OAIC on the steps in processing an FOI
request is available at:
[1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

Kind regards

Leonie

Freedom of Information and Privacy
Attorney-General’s Department

T: 02 6141 6666 | E: [2][AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

The Attorney-General’s Department may collect your personal information
where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our
functions, including those under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) and the Privacy Act 1988. We may collect your name, email address and
telephone number so that we can contact you about your request or privacy
complaint. If your request concerns accessing or correcting your personal
information, we will collect the minimum amount of evidence necessary to
verify your identity. We hold personal information in accordance with the
Privacy Act and our privacy policy. If you have an enquiry or complaint
about your privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on 02 6141 6666 or
via e-mail [email address]. 
If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by
return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have
been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any
confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the
email or attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
2. mailto:[AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

Dear Alex

Thank you for your email.

The reference to 1 May 2023 below was a typographical error. My apologies
for this.  A copy of the correspondence referred to below was sent to you
at this email address on 18 May, not 1 May. A copy of this correspondence
is attached.

I can confirm that the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet agreed
to the partial transfer of your request on 27 April 2023. The part of your
request that was transferred to the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet was:

                d)            briefing notes, legal advice and file notes
held by the Prime Minister and/or his office in relation to the proposed
wording for the Voice referendum.

The reference number provided by the Department of Prime Minister and
Cabinet for the partial transfer is 23/119. Th email address for the
Department of the  Prime Minister and Cabinet is [1][email address] if you
wish to enquire about the partial transfer of your request.

Kind regards

Leonie

Freedom of Information and Privacy
Attorney-General’s Department

T: 02 6141 6666 | E: [2][AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Dear Alex

Freedom of Information Request FOI23/179 - Request consultation process

Further to your email correspondence of earlier today I apologies that you
did not receive the correspondence of 18 May 2023. Attached is an updated
notice of intention to practically refuse in respect of your Freedom of
Information request made to the Attorney-General's Department (the
department).

Before the department makes a decision, 24AB of the FOI Act provides for a
‘request consultation process'. This means you have 14 days in which to
respond to this notice revising your request in one of the ways described
in the attached letter. We expect to hear from you by 16 June 2023 if you
wish to revise your request.

If you have any questions, please contact me by telephone on (02) 6141
6666 or by email to [1][AGD request email].

Kind regards

Leonie

Freedom of Information and Privacy
Attorney-General’s Department

T: 02 6141 6666 | E: [2][AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

The Attorney-General’s Department may collect your personal information
where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our
functions, including those under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) and the Privacy Act 1988. We may collect your name, email address and
telephone number so that we can contact you about your request or privacy
complaint. If your request concerns accessing or correcting your personal
information, we will collect the minimum amount of evidence necessary to
verify your identity. We hold personal information in accordance with the
Privacy Act and our privacy policy. If you have an enquiry or complaint
about your privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on 02 6141 6666 or
via e-mail [email address]. 
If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by
return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have
been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any
confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the
email or attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[AGD request email]
2. mailto:[AGD request email]

Our reference: RQ23/02557

Agency reference: FOI/2023/119

Alex Pentland

By email: [1][FOI #10093 email]

Cc: [2][email address]

FOI Extension of Time decision

Dear Alex Pentland,

Please find attached an FOI Extension of time decision relating to your
FOI request with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. A copy
of this decision has been provided to the Department today.

Kind regards,

Thomas Hanaee

[3][IMG] Assistant Review Adviser

Freedom of Information Regulatory Group

Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner

GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 |
[4]oaic.gov.au

1300 363 992 | [5][email address]
[6][IMG] | [7][IMG] | [8][IMG] | [9]Subscribe to OAICnet newsletter

Notice:

The information contained in this email message and any attached files may
be confidential information, and may also be the subject of legal
professional privilege. If you are not the intended recipient any use,
disclosure or copying of this email is unauthorised. If you received this
email in error, please notify the sender by contacting the department's
switchboard on 1300 488 064 during business hours (8:30am - 5pm Canberra
time) and delete all copies of this transmission together with any
attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #10093 email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.facebook.com/OAICgov
7. https://www.linkedin.com/company/office-...
8. https://twitter.com/OAICgov
9. https://www.oaic.gov.au/media-and-speech...

OFFICIAL

Departmental reference: FOI/2023/119

Dear Mr Pentland

Please find attached the decision regarding your request under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982.

Kind regards

Ben | 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. [1][email address]  w. [2]pmc.gov.au

I work Monday to Thursday

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[4]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[5]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:[email address]
2. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
3. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

OFFICIAL

Dear Alex

I refer to your FOI request, FOI23/179. The purpose of this email is to
advise you that the department is treating your request as withdrawn and
it is now finalised.

We wrote to you on 2 June 2023 advising that a practical refusal reasons
existed due to the volume of correspondence captured by your request.

In our letter we advised you must do one of the 3 things below before the
conclusion of the 14 day consultation period (16 June 2023) to allow the
department to continue with your request:

Before the end of the consultation period, you must do one of the
following, in writing:

o withdraw your request
o make a revised request
o tell us that you do not wish to revise your request.

We advised that if you did not do one of the three things listed above
during the consultation period, or if you did not consult the contact
officer identified in our letter to you during this period, your request
would be taken to have been withdrawn.

According to our records you did not provide the required written notice
during the consultation period identifying you wished to do one of the 3
things listed in respect of FOI23/179 or contact the contact officer. As
such, the department considers your FOI request withdrawn in accordance
with s 24AB(7). Your request has now been finalised.

General advice prepared by the OAIC on the steps in processing an FOI
request is available at:
[1]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

Kind regards

Leonie

Freedom of Information and Privacy
Attorney-General’s Department

T: 02 6141 6666 | E: [2][AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

The Attorney-General’s Department may collect your personal information
where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our
functions, including those under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) and the Privacy Act 1988. We may collect your name, email address and
telephone number so that we can contact you about your request or privacy
complaint. If your request concerns accessing or correcting your personal
information, we will collect the minimum amount of evidence necessary to
verify your identity. We hold personal information in accordance with the
Privacy Act and our privacy policy. If you have an enquiry or complaint
about your privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on 02 6141 6666 or
via e-mail [email address]. 
If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by
return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have
been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any
confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the
email or attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
2. mailto:[AGD request email]