Good afternoon Remy,

On 16 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:

“… any and all documents held by the Australian National University that relate to:

1. Papers or presentations prepared by, or on behalf of, the Provost/IVC, for the Senior Leadership Group meeting.
2. Digital and hand written notes or minutes prepared by the IVC Office staff with actions, decisions, including agreed communications for the community.
3. Teams, signal or other communication platforms which discuss the meeting attendance or agenda items or senior ANU staff at the SLG meeting.”

You specified that the date range for your request is 1 September 2025 to present (16 October 2025).

Your request has been assigned the case number 202500269.

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 17 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 [ANU request email].

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

We are using our best endeavours 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: [ANU request email]
Web: https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906

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Good afternoon Remy,

I refer to your below request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act), received by the Australian National University (the University) on 16 October 2025.

You requested:

“… any and all documents held by the Australian National University that relate to:

• Papers or presentations prepared by, or on behalf of, the Provost/IVC, for the Senior Leadership Group meeting.
• Digital and hand written notes or minutes prepared by the IVC Office staff with actions, decisions, including agreed communications for the community.
• Teams, signal or other communication platforms which discuss the meeting attendance or agenda items or senior ANU staff at the SLG meeting.”

You specified the date range for the documents being requested was from 1 September 2025 to present (16 October 2025).

Refinement Sought

While searching for documents relevant to your request, internal advice is that there is no such group as the ‘Senior Leadership Group’ – and you may mean a different group entirely.

Two examples of other University groups you might have meant are:
1. the Strategic Leadership Group – an advisory board that brings together senior academic and professional leaders of the University. SLG takes a strategic, whole of university focus in its discussions, which are used to advise the Vice-Chancellor; or
2. the University Leadership Group – an information-sharing body that brings together leaders across the University and is convened by the Vice-Chancellor as required through the year. This Group is a forum for discussing major strategic issues, exploring the University’s external context, and responding to feedback from leaders (on the University website here: https://services.anu.edu.au/planning-gov...).

Both of the above examples could feasibly fit the context of your request. Because there is more than one group that could apply – and there is no group named the ‘Senior Leadership Group’ – we need clarification about what you mean in order to conduct a thorough and accurate search for the documents you seek.

Would you therefore be willing to refine your request to specify the exact group or committee that you meant in your original request wording?

If yes, could you please let us know as soon as possible – but ideally no later than this Friday 24 October 2025?

Yours sincerely,

FOI Team
University Governance Office
The Australian National University
Email: [ANU request email]
Web: https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906

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Acknowledged with thanks, Remy.

We have passed on your refinement to the relevant teams, and will continue to process your request on the basis of your refinement.

Thank you for getting back to us this week.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Team
University Governance Office
The Australian National University
Email: [ANU request email]
Web: https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906

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Dear Remy,

I refer to your request in the below thread for access to documents regarding the Strategic Leadership Group from 1 September 2025 to present (16 October 2025, the date you made the request), which you made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) received by the University on 16 October 2025.

Update on your request

- Similarly to your other requests on hand, this request is also receiving attention and a decision will be provided to you as soon as possible.
- 26 documents have been found in relation to your request and are being processed.
- They have been collected, converted and are ready for review by subject matter experts and FOI officers.
- Staff have finished searching for the requested documents, and (at this stage) identified eight as falling in scope of your request. If, upon further review, we believe any of those documents are not relevant to your request, we will let you know.
- There are 141 pages to review thoroughly and consider under the FOI Act, and staff have already performed one initial reviews of the material.
- Just so you’re aware, we estimate that it takes approximately 5 minutes per page to review a document thoroughly when considering its release under the FOI Act – which aligns with the time taken to process your request thus far.

Reasons for seeking an extension

Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing delays regarding your request (as well as other requests) and we will be unable to provide you with a response by the current decision date of COB Monday 17 November 2025.

Delays are being experienced across all requests due to the absences of key FOI staff causing delays in the processing of your FOI request – specifically, at least two key staff who are able to conduct and complete searches for the information have been away for a week (returning next week). Beyond their return, any information they may find would still need to be processed and considered.

There also likely to be further delays due to the FOI team dealing with a number of complex FOI requests with minimal staff.

Do you agree to an extension?

Accordingly, the University is seeking an extension of time of 30 days in accordance with section 15AA of the FOI Act.

If you agree to the extension, the University would be required to provide you with a decision notice by no later than COB Monday 15 December 2025.

Your earliest response would be appreciated as we are required to notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) of any extension agreed. If you do not agree, that’s fine – we will continue processing your request and issue a decision as soon as practicable – just know that our decision will be technically late / a deemed refusal. We will let you know your review rights, if that's the case.

In short, your request is being processed regardless – whether you agree to an extension or not.

FYI: we have also asked the same of you regarding another request of yours (FOI 202500263).

Yours sincerely,

FOI Team
University Governance Office
The Australian National University

Email: [ANU request email]
Web: https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906

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Acknowledged with thanks, Remy.

And apologies for the typo below:
- There are eight documents that have been found (totalling 141 pages) that fall in your current request (FOI 202500269).
- The reference to 26 documents is for your other request (FOI 202500263).

If you also agree to an extension to FOI 202500263, please let us know at your earliest convenience.

We appreciate your understanding and patience as we work to complete your cases.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Team
University Governance Office
The Australian National University

Email: [ANU request email]
Web: https://www.anu.edu.au/freedom-of-inform...
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C | ABN: 52 234 063 906

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