Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,

I am writing to:

1. Seek a review of a deemed refusal by the Department of Defence to my FOI lodged on 12 October 2022. A full copy of all communication between myself and the Department of Defence is available at
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/q...

2. In addition, I also wish to make a complaint about the Department of Defence's conduct in processing this request. The request is for a very limited number of documents which have been specifically identified. The nature of the documents are such that they are documents which are routinely requested and provided, subject to necessary redactions, by agencies under FOI. There is no reasonable basis for the Department to not have been able to process such a limited request within the statutory timeframe, or indeed within the extended timeframe provided. The Department has refused to provide any update on timing for when a decision will be made in relation to the request or to respond to any requests for confirmation of when documents will be released. The Department has deliberately breached its statutory obligation and has made no attempt to mitigate this. It is of fundamental concern if the Department is unable to process a request like this within the statutory timeframe required - or at the least within 60 days (which would amount to a 30 day extension). Noting the confined nature of the request if the Department is unable to process such a request then it appears that there is a significant issue with resourcing within the department (ie the department has chosen not to provide resourcing to FOI to enable FOIs to be processed).

Yours faithfully,

BE