To the Freedom of Information Officer, Tasmania Police,

This is a formal request for access to documents under the Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas).

I request access to all records capable of confirming the operational status, deployment, and duties of the Tasmania Police officer Donna Adams in connection with the Port Arthur incident of April 1996.

For the avoidance of doubt, all references in this request to “the officer” or “the relevant officer” refer specifically to Donna Adams (Tasmania Police).

This request relates to records capable of confirming the operational involvement of this specific officer, and searches may be limited to files reasonably expected to record her personnel deployment.

This request includes all primary-source documentation sufficient to establish:

• the officer’s rank, posting, and unit assignment in April 1996
• whether the officer was deployed to Port Arthur in any operational or investigative capacity
• the timing of any such deployment
• the operational function performed (including investigative, perimeter, witness, intelligence, control-room, or follow-up roles)
• the documentary basis for any commendation, citation, or formal recognition linked to Port Arthur service

To avoid incomplete searches, this request expressly includes (without limitation) the following record classes wherever held:

OPERATIONAL COMMAND / INCIDENT RECORDS
• Incident Control Room logs
• Situation Reports (SITREPs)
• operational running sheets
• tasking registers
• deployment authorisation records
• radio dispatch logs
• call-out lists
• staging-area personnel lists

PERSONNEL & DUTY DOCUMENTATION
• duty rosters for Hobart District and CIB units
• shift allocation sheets
• overtime authorisations tied to the incident
• secondment or temporary deployment records
• transport allocation sheets or convoy records

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION / CIB RECORDS
• Glenorchy CIB files
• Hobart CIB assignment sheets
• Bellerive CIB personnel applications or transfer documentation relevant to 1995–1997
• investigative task allocations
• witness coordination assignments
• scene examination personnel listings

COMMENDATION / HONOURS FILES
• commendation recommendations
• citation drafts
• supervisory justification memoranda
• award approval correspondence
• internal review documents supporting recognition of Port Arthur service

ARCHIVAL / LEGACY STORAGE (EXPRESSLY INCLUDED)

This request requires searches of:
• active electronic records
• historical internal police databases
• archived paper operational files
• off-site government archive storage
• commendation series files
• historical personnel service jackets
• legacy microfilm or scanned archive repositories

If any historical operational files were transferred to the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO) or any successor repository, this request includes any copies, indexes, transfer lists, or retrieval references retained by Tasmania Police.

PUBLIC-INTEREST TEST (STATUTORY CONSIDERATION)

The Port Arthur massacre remains one of the most historically significant criminal incidents in Australian history. The accurate identification of responding personnel and their operational roles forms part of the enduring public historical record.

Disclosure of nearly 30-year-old deployment records:
• promotes transparency in public administration
• ensures historical accuracy of official accounts
• supports accountability regarding official commendations
• involves events sufficiently historical that operational sensitivity is substantially diminished

Any exemption relied upon must therefore be interpreted narrowly and balanced against the substantial public interest in preserving an accurate and document-supported historical record.

REASONABLE SEARCH OBLIGATION

For clarity, a lawful response requires Tasmania Police to conduct reasonable and properly scoped searches across all relevant repositories, not solely current electronic systems.

If no documents are located, the decision notice must:

• identify the repositories searched
• describe the search methods used
• specify the archival locations checked
• confirm whether personnel service files and commendation files were examined

A bare statement that “no documents were found” without describing the searches undertaken will not constitute a meaningful decision under the Act.

PARTIAL ACCESS / REDACTIONS

If any document is considered exempt in whole or part:

• I request release of all reasonably severable material
• I request that redactions be applied only where strictly necessary
• I request identification of the precise statutory exemption relied upon for each redaction
• I request a description of each withheld document sufficient to permit external review

ASSISTANCE TO REFINE (IF REQUIRED)

If Tasmania Police considers any portion of this request unclear or overly broad, the Act requires reasonable assistance to refine the request rather than immediate refusal. I am willing to cooperate in narrowing scope where genuinely necessary, but I expect this request to be processed in good faith with the presumption in favour of disclosure.

FORM OF ACCESS

Electronic copies of documents are preferred where available.

Please confirm receipt of this request and advise the statutory decision timeframe.

Yours faithfully,
Katarina Liptakova