Request for mobile communications via mobile applications

Ben Fairless made this Freedom of Information request to Prime Minister as part of a batch sent to 10 authorities

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Prime Minister should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Prime Minister,

Can you please provide a copy of all inbound and outbound chats in the 7 days prior to this request that was sent or received from the minister using any of the below applications:
- WhatsApp
- Facebook Messneger
- Signal
- Telegram
- Grindr
- Scruff
- Tinder
- Email Accounts without a .gov.au email address?

Please initially process these requests informally. I understand the AG advised the senate that the communications were "trivial" so I don't anticipate any exemptions being applied. If the request can't be processed informally, please treat it as a formal FOI request.

Yours faithfully,

Ben Fairless

FOI, Prime Minister

UNCLASSIFIED

FOI/PMO/2016/046

 

Dear Mr Fairless

 

Thank you for your email dated 19 October 2016, in which you made a
request to the Prime Minister under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(the FOI Act) in the following terms:

 

‘Can you please provide a copy of all inbound and outbound chats in the 7
days prior to this request that was sent or received from the minister
using any of the below applications:

- WhatsApp

- Facebook Messneger

- Signal

- Telegram

- Grindr

- Scruff

- Tinder

- Email Accounts without a .gov.au email address’.

 

Handling of request

 

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) provides
administrative support to the Prime Minister in relation to Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests made to him. I am writing to advise you of
further information on the processing of your request to the Prime
Minister, set out below.

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

Your request was received on 19 October 2016 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
You should therefore expect a decision from us by Friday 18 November 2016.
The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will
advise you if there is any extension of time.

 

Charges

 

Agencies and Ministers may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a
charge in respect of a request for access to documents. If the
decision-maker in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) 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]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...,
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][Prime Minister 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

 

It is the Department’s policy to withhold any person’s signature, the
names and contact details of officers not in the Senior Executive Service
(SES) as well as the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers within the
Department and other agencies contained within documents that fall within
scope of the request. Similarly, it is the PMO’s policy to withhold
signatures, the names and contact details of PMO staff at a level below
Chief of Staff. If you require this information please let us know at
[3][Prime Minister request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will
take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope
of your request.

 

We will write again when the Department has more information.  Further
information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner at
[4]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

FOI Administration Officer/Adviser

Access and Administrative Review | Honours, Symbols and Legal Policy
Branch

Government Division

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. +61 2 6271 5849

e. [5][Prime Minister request email] |

[6]www.dpmc.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
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______________________________________________________________________

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...
2. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
3. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
5. mailto:[Prime Minister request email]
6. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/

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Dear FOI,

Happy to exclude signatures. Can you please remove all but the last 3-4 numbers of telephone numbers? I do not consent to the removal of public servant names.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fairless

FOI, Prime Minister

UNCLASSIFIED

Good Afternoon Mr Fairless

 

I’m writing in relating to your FOI request to the Office of the Prime
Minister—reference FOI/PMO/2016/046

 

The due date for a decision on the FOI request is 18 November 2016.
Regrettably, the office is not currently in a position to finalise the
decision on the FOI request. Accordingly, we are seeking your consent to a
21-day extension of time to the processing period, in accordance with
section 15AA of the FOI Act. We will endeavour to notify you of the
decision prior to this extended date but have requested this amount of
time finalise this decision.

 

We kindly request you confirm your consent to the extension by way of
return email. If you are not inclined to agree to an extension of time, we
ask that you let us know as soon as possible so the decision-maker may
consider seeking an extension of time from the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner, in accordance with section 15AB of the FOI Act.

 

Kind regards, Debbie

 

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours, Symbols and Legal
Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. 02 6271 5849 |e. [1][email address]

[2]www.dpmc.gov.au | [3]www.indigenous.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA  ACT  2600

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

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. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/
3. http://www.indigenous.gov.au/

hide quoted sections

Dear FOI,

Could you advise the reason for the delay? That would help me to decide if an extension should be approved?

If you make a submission to the OAIC, I respectfully request you advise them I wish to make a submission before they make their decision.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fairless

Campbell, Alistair,

UNCLASSIFIED
We simply require extra time to finalise our response in accordance with the FOI Act.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Fairless [mailto:[FOI #2361 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 17 November 2016 10:43 PM
To: FOI
Subject: Re: PMO FOI Request (ref: FOI/PMO/2016/046) [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Dear FOI,

Could you advise the reason for the delay? That would help me to decide if an extension should be approved?

If you make a submission to the OAIC, I respectfully request you advise them I wish to make a submission before they make their decision.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fairless

-----Original Message-----

UNCLASSIFIED

Good Afternoon Mr Fairless

 

I’m writing in relating to your FOI request to the Office of the Prime Minister—reference FOI/PMO/2016/046

 

The due date for a decision on the FOI request is 18 November 2016.
Regrettably, the office is not currently in a position to finalise the decision on the FOI request. Accordingly, we are seeking your consent to a 21-day extension of time to the processing period, in accordance with section 15AA of the FOI Act. We will endeavour to notify you of the decision prior to this extended date but have requested this amount of time finalise this decision.

 

We kindly request you confirm your consent to the extension by way of return email. If you are not inclined to agree to an extension of time, we ask that you let us know as soon as possible so the decision-maker may consider seeking an extension of time from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, in accordance with section 15AB of the FOI Act.

 

Kind regards, Debbie

 

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours, Symbols and Legal Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. 02 6271 5849 |e. [1][email address]

[2]www.dpmc.gov.au | [3]www.indigenous.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA  ACT  2600

 

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/
3. http://www.indigenous.gov.au/

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #2361 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

______________________________________________________________________

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.
______________________________________________________________________

hide quoted sections

Campbell, Alistair,

Campbell, Alistair would like to recall the message, "PMO FOI Request (ref: FOI/PMO/2016/046) [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]".
______________________________________________________________________

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.
______________________________________________________________________

hide quoted sections

Dear Campbell, Alistair,

Your 21 day extension request is approved.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fairless

FOI, Prime Minister

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mr Fairless

 

Please find attached a decision in relation to your FOI request with the
Prime Minister – reference : FOI/PMO/2016/046. 

 

Kind regards

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review | Honours, Symbols and Legal Policy
Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. +61 2 6271 5849

e. | [1][Prime Minister request email] | [2]www.dpmc.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

 

Please note that the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet will be
closed during its annual shutdown period from close of business 23
December 2016 through to 2 January 2017—the Department will re-open for
normal business from 3 January 2017.

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

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:[Prime Minister request email]
2. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/

hide quoted sections

Dear Campbell, Alistair,

Before I seek IC review of this decision, can you confirm if the Prime Minister's personal mobile devices were searched as part of your searches?

Yours sincerely,

Ben Fairless