Roadmap of FOI Initiatives
Dear Australian Federal Police,
I request access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) to the final version of the “Roadmap of FOI Initiatives” referred to in the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Notice of Completion dated 20 August 2025, relating to the investigation into the AFP’s compliance with statutory FOI processing timeframes.
If the roadmap exists under a different title, I request access to the final version of the document or documents that fulfil the same function and were provided to, or relied upon in communications with, the OAIC in response to that investigation.
Yours faithfully,
Ada
OFFICIAL
Good afternoon Ada,
Please note, we have recently updated our Freedom of Information webform
which is our preferred method for FOI request submissions. It would be
greatly appreciated when submitting requests in the future if you could
please lodge them through the FOI [1]webform.
I refer to your request dated 17 February 2026, seeking access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) as follows:
Request
I request access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) to the
final version of the “Roadmap of FOI Initiatives” referred to in the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s Notice of Completion
dated 20 August 2025, relating to the investigation into the AFP’s
compliance with statutory FOI processing timeframes.
If the roadmap exists under a different title, I request access to the
final version of the document or documents that fulfil the same function
and were provided to, or relied upon in communications with, the OAIC in
response to that investigation.
Timeframe – Seeking your agreement to an extension of time
Upon consideration of your request, the AFP is of the view that your
request will take longer than 30 days to process. The delay is
regrettable, however, due to an excessive number of requests that have
come through our office it will not be possible to advise you of a
decision by 20 March 2026.
Accordingly, pursuant to section 15AA of the Act, I seek your agreement to
extend the period by 30 days to notify you of a decision by 20 April 2026.
I would be grateful if you would advise this office in writing of your
agreement to the proposed extension of time by close of business 23
February 2026.
Consents – Please provide your response to each dot point below: YES/NO
Please advise this office whether you consent to exclude the following
information:
• All identifying information of AFP members and Commonwealth employees
below SES level (names, ID numbers, signatures, images) (AFP members
and Commonwealth employees);
• AFP and Commonwealth agency contact details other than the official
public channels (direct telephone numbers and email addresses);
• Job titles of AFP members and Commonwealth employees below SES;
• Draft documents;
• Personal information of any individual other than you from the
documents you are seeking;
• Information provided by third parties to the AFP from the documents
you are seeking;
• All information about any third parties from the documents you are
seeking;
• Duplicate documents; and
• Documents you have already provided to us, or that we have already
sent to you.
Please advise this office of the following: YES/NO
• Do the documents you seek relate to current court proceedings? and
• Are the documents you are seeking older than 20 years old?:
Disclosure of your identity: YES/NO
The AFP may be required to consult with third parties in accordance with
sections 26A, 27 and 27A of the Act. Please advise us if you consent to
being identified as a third party where consultation with a third party is
necessary? If we do not receive your consent, we will not disclose your
identity to third parties.
If you have any queries in relation to this matter, please do not hesitate
to contact our team at [2][AFP request email].
Yours sincerely,
FOI SUPPORT OFFICER (AFP 5158)
Writing to you from the land of the Gadigal peoples of the Eora Nation
AFP RESERVE- ATTACHED TO FOI
CHIEF COUNSEL
[3]Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police acknowledges the Traditional Owners and
Custodians of Country
throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and
community. We pay
our respects to First Nations people, culture and Elders past, present and
emerging.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/governan...
2. mailto:[AFP request email]
3. http://www.afp.gov.au/
Dear FOI,
Thank you for your email of 18 February 2026.
Before confirming whether I agree to the proposed extension under s 15AA of the FOI Act, I wanted to provide some brief context and seek clarification as to whether the extension is necessary in this case.
My request is limited to the final version of a single document that I have identified by name. The nature of the document appears such that it is unlikely to attract extensive exemptions or require consultation with third parties.
Additionally, the document relates to an OAIC investigation into the AFP's compliance with its obligations under the FOI Act (the fifth such investigation since 2019), and forms part of the remedial framework agreed with the OAIC following that investigation. I also note that the OAIC's August 2025 investigation included recommendations accepted by the AFP relating to FOI resourcing and workload management, and that the document sought forms part of that remedial framework.
I note your reference to "an excessive number of requests" as the basis for the proposed extension. I would observe that the characterisation of FOI requests as "excessive" sits uncomfortably alongside the AFP's acceptance of the OAIC's recommendations regarding FOI resourcing and workload management. The volume of FOI requests received by an agency is a foreseeable operational demand, not a basis for routine extensions of statutory timeframes.
In light of the narrow scope of the request and the nature of the document sought, could you please confirm whether a 30-day extension under s 15AA is necessary to process this request, and, if so, the specific aspects of processing for which the additional time is required? I would need to understand the specific basis on which additional time is required before considering whether to agree.
In the absence of agreement to an extension, I understand the statutory processing period under s 15 applies.
Separately, I respond to the consent questions in your email as follows.
Consents to exclusions
* Identifying information of AFP members and Commonwealth employees below SES: YES
* AFP and Commonwealth agency contact details other than official public channels: YES
* Job titles of AFP members and Commonwealth employees below SES: YES
* Draft documents: YES
* Personal information of any individual other than me: YES
* Information provided by third parties to the AFP: NO
* Information about any third parties: NO
* Duplicate documents: YES
* Documents I have already provided to the AFP or that have already been sent to me: YES
For clarity, I do not consent to blanket exclusion of third-party material, but have no objection to exemptions being applied on a document-by-document basis in accordance with the Act.
Additional questions
* Do the documents relate to current court proceedings?: NO
* Are the documents older than 20 years?: NO
Disclosure of identity for consultation
* Consent to being identified where third-party consultation is required: YES
Yours sincerely,
Ada