Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information (FOI) team at the
Attorney-General’s Department (the department). We get a high volume of
emails and FOI applications and work to respond as promptly as possible.
This auto-reply email confirms your email has been delivered to the
[AGD request email] mailbox. If you have written to the department to submit an
FOI request, please consider this email to be an acknowledgement of its
receipt.
Please note that we will only respond to emails about the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). For information on how to make a
request under the FOI Act please refer to:
https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protect....
For enquiries about other matters, please refer to:
https://www.ag.gov.au/about-us/connect-u....
The statutory processing time for FOI requests is 30 days, however this
may be extended if the department needs to consult third parties or for
other reasons. If you have submitted an FOI request, the department will
write to you again within 30 days of receiving your request. This
correspondence may:
* provide assistance to you to help you make a valid FOI request,
* seek further information from you to help us process your request,
* provide you with a decision on your FOI request, or
* discuss whether an extension of time is needed to process your request.
Please do not send duplicate emails as this may cause delays to processing
times.
This FOI inbox is monitored during business hours Monday to Friday,
excluding public holidays.
You can expect our team to provide a helpful, respectful service and we
expect respectful engagement in return.
Under s 89L of the FOI Act, disrespectful, threatening or abusive language
may be an abuse of the access action process. If this happens, we may not
be able to help you or we might take steps to manage how we communicate
with you.
If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
immediately by return e-mail and delete all copies. If this e-mail or any
attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute
waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of
information in the e-mail or attachments.
If you have received this transmission in error please notify us
immediately by return e-mail and delete all copies. If this e-mail or any
attachments have been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute
waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of
information in the e-mail or attachments.

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Applicant

 

Thank you for your request, which was received by the Commonwealth
Attorney-General’s Department (the department) Freedom of Information
(FOI) section (reference number FOI25/213). We write to acknowledge your
request, an extension of time for processing, and your agreement to
exclude certain information from your request.

 

Request for extension of time

We received your FOI request on 23 April 2025 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced on the following day. The
statutory due date for decision is currently 23 May 2025. Due to an
increase in the number of information access applications currently being
received by the department, a case officer is yet to be allocated and we
therefore seek your agreement to a 30-day extension of time to process
this request under s 15AA of the FOI Act. This would mean that a decision
about your request would be due on 23 June 2025.

 

If we are in a position to make a decision earlier than this date, we will
endeavour to do so. The statutory period may also be extended if we need
to consult third parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act.
We will advise you if this happens.

 

Request to exclude certain information from the scope of your request

The department is seeking your agreement to exclude the following
categories of information from the documents in your request:

o duplicates of documents that are in scope;
o personal information of members of the public;
o contact details for teams, internal to the department and other
agencies
o personal information belonging to officers of the department and other
government agencies.

 

Excluding the information listed above enables us to process your request
more efficiently. If you agree to the above exclusions, the names of
senior executive officers will be released where they are present in the
documents and do not attract an FOI exemption. In addition, publicly
available telephone numbers and email addresses will generally be
released.

 

Next steps

Please respond to this email by Friday 2 May 2025 to confirm if you agree
to this extension of time and to the exclusion of the above information.
If you agree to the extension, we will notify the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (OAIC) of your agreement under s 15AA of the FOI
Act, including your name and contact details.

 

If you would like to discuss this further please contact the FOI Team by
phoning (02) 6141 6666 or emailing [1][AGD request email]

 

Freedom of Information & Privacy

Attorney-General’s Department

( Phone: (02) 6141 6666 | 8  Email:  [2][AGD request email]

 

 

 

OFFICIAL

The Attorney-General’s Department may collect your personal information
where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our
functions, including those under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) and the Privacy Act 1988. We may collect your name, email address and
telephone number so that we can contact you about your request or privacy
complaint. If your request concerns accessing or correcting your personal
information, we will collect the minimum amount of evidence necessary to
verify your identity. We hold personal information in accordance with the
Privacy Act and our privacy policy. If you have an enquiry or complaint
about your privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on 02 6141 6666 or
via e-mail [email address]. 
If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by
return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have
been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any
confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the
email or attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[AGD request email]
2. mailto:[AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Ben,

 

I would be grateful for your response to the email below regarding request
for extension and request to exclude certain information as soon as
possible.

 

Kind regards,

 

[Personal Information Redacted]

Freedom of Information & Privacy

Attorney-General’s Department

Phone: 02 6141 6666 | Email:  [1][AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

From: AGD FOI Requests <[AGD request email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 30 April 2025 3:46 PM
To: Ben Fairless <[FOI #13069 email]>
Cc: AGD FOI Requests <[AGD request email]>
Subject: CM: 30.4.25 - FOI TO APPLICANT - FOI25/213 - FOI Request –
Freedom of information request to the Attorney-General's Department -
seeking agreement to exclude material [SEC=OFFICIAL]

 

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Applicant

 

Thank you for your request, which was received by the Commonwealth
Attorney-General’s Department (the department) Freedom of Information
(FOI) section (reference number FOI25/213). We write to acknowledge your
request, an extension of time for processing, and your agreement to
exclude certain information from your request.

 

Request for extension of time

We received your FOI request on 23 April 2025 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced on the following day. The
statutory due date for decision is currently 23 May 2025. Due to an
increase in the number of information access applications currently being
received by the department, a case officer is yet to be allocated and we
therefore seek your agreement to a 30-day extension of time to process
this request under s 15AA of the FOI Act. This would mean that a decision
about your request would be due on 23 June 2025.

 

If we are in a position to make a decision earlier than this date, we will
endeavour to do so. The statutory period may also be extended if we need
to consult third parties or for other reasons permitted under the FOI Act.
We will advise you if this happens.

 

Request to exclude certain information from the scope of your request

The department is seeking your agreement to exclude the following
categories of information from the documents in your request:

o duplicates of documents that are in scope;
o personal information of members of the public;
o contact details for teams, internal to the department and other
agencies
o personal information belonging to officers of the department and other
government agencies.

 

Excluding the information listed above enables us to process your request
more efficiently. If you agree to the above exclusions, the names of
senior executive officers will be released where they are present in the
documents and do not attract an FOI exemption. In addition, publicly
available telephone numbers and email addresses will generally be
released.

 

Next steps

Please respond to this email by Friday 2 May 2025 to confirm if you agree
to this extension of time and to the exclusion of the above information.
If you agree to the extension, we will notify the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (OAIC) of your agreement under s 15AA of the FOI
Act, including your name and contact details.

 

If you would like to discuss this further please contact the FOI Team by
phoning (02) 6141 6666 or emailing [2][AGD request email]

 

Freedom of Information & Privacy

Attorney-General’s Department

( Phone: (02) 6141 6666 | 8  Email:  [3][AGD request email]

 

 

 

OFFICIAL

The Attorney-General’s Department may collect your personal information
where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our
functions, including those under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) and the Privacy Act 1988. We may collect your name, email address and
telephone number so that we can contact you about your request or privacy
complaint. If your request concerns accessing or correcting your personal
information, we will collect the minimum amount of evidence necessary to
verify your identity. We hold personal information in accordance with the
Privacy Act and our privacy policy. If you have an enquiry or complaint
about your privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on 02 6141 6666 or
via e-mail [email address]. 
If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by
return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have
been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any
confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the
email or attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[AGD request email]
2. mailto:[AGD request email]
3. mailto:[AGD request email]

OFFICIAL

 

Dear Mr Fairless

 

of Information Request FOI25/213

 

Please find attached your decision letter, including your review rights.

 

If you have any questions, please contact me by telephone on (02) 6141
6666 or by email to [1][AGD request email].

 

Kind regards

Rachel

Freedom of Information & Privacy

Attorney-General’s Department

Phone: 02 6141 6666 | Email:  [2][AGD request email]

 

 

 

 

OFFICIAL

The Attorney-General’s Department may collect your personal information
where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our
functions, including those under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act) and the Privacy Act 1988. We may collect your name, email address and
telephone number so that we can contact you about your request or privacy
complaint. If your request concerns accessing or correcting your personal
information, we will collect the minimum amount of evidence necessary to
verify your identity. We hold personal information in accordance with the
Privacy Act and our privacy policy. If you have an enquiry or complaint
about your privacy, please contact the Privacy Officer on 02 6141 6666 or
via e-mail [email address]. 
If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by
return email and delete all copies. If this email or any attachments have
been sent to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver of any
confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect of information in the
email or attachments.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[AGD request email]
2. mailto:[AGD request email]