Good afternoon

 

On 24 October 2025, the Australian National University (the University)
received your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

 

The University has taken your request to be as follows:

 

‘It appears that the Terms of Reference for this investigation by Vivien
Thom into the 12 August governance inquiry hearing have been updated,
without notification or transparency about the changes to ANU staff, by
ANU leadership.

 

Under FOI laws, I request:

 

1.  copies of any correspondence, via email, teams, Signal, Whatsapp or
other communication/messaging services between Rebekah Brown, Christine
Nixon, Andrew Medcalf and Joan Leach about the Terms of Reference.

 

2. A copy of the original ToR uploaded to the ANU website.

 

3. A copy of any correspondence, or website logs, including email, teams
or service tickets that request an update/change of documents published on
the ANU website in relation to the Vivien Thom investigation.

 

4. Copies of documents, emails or communications held by ANU between the
Governance Committee and the Interim Office of the Vice-Chancellor with
the Communications or Web/IT teams with reason for making an update
without informing the community.

 

5. Meetings, including calendar holds, in the IVC diary with any member of
the governance group – Andrew Metcalfe, Christine Nixon or Joan Leach
regarding the ToR.

 

This request is for any correspondence since the 12 August 2025.’

 

 

Your request has been assigned the case number 202500277.

 

Processing Timeframe

 

The statutory time frame for processing your request is 30 calendar days
from day after the date your request was received by the University. You
should therefore expect a decision from us by 23 November 2025.

 

This period of 30 days may be extended if we need to consult third
parties, impose a charge or for other reasons. We will advise you in
writing if this happens.

 

We will contact you using the email address you provided. Please advise if
you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact. If you have
any questions regarding your request, please feel free to contact the FOI
Team via the functional email [1][ANU request email].

 

The FOI Team’s workload is currently at very high levels due the
unprecedented volume of FOI requests.

 

We are using our best endeavors to process all requests expeditiously
however there may be some slippage due to the current workload. We will
keep in touch with you and advise if there are any significant delays,
and, will, if necessary, seek extensions as permitted by the Act.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

FOI Team

University Governance Office

The Australian National University

 

Email: [2][ANU request email]

Web: [3]https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...

TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider
Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[ANU request email]
2. mailto:[ANU request email]
mailto:[ANU request email]
3. https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...