Treatment of returnees' sections of Sri Lanka 2013 country report

Elias Ross made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was refused by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,

Please provide all email correspondences used to compile the 'treatment of returnees' section of the 2013 Sri Lankan country report. Please limit the request to those email correspondences between DFAT and the Sri Lankan Government, the International Organisation for Migration and the two NGOs mentioned in section 3.80 of the report.

I am also requesting email correspondences that were generated by the Department in the processing and refusal of my previous request 'Treatment of returnees' sections of Sri Lanka 2019 country report which can be found here: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/t...

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Yours faithfully,

Elias Ross

FOI, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

1 Attachment

OFFICIAL

Good afternoon Mr Ross

Thank you for your email dated 30 November 2020 to the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), including an application under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) for access to:

 

“Please provide all email correspondences used to compile the 'treatment
of returnees' section of the 2013 Sri Lankan country report. Please limit
the request to those email correspondences between DFAT and the Sri Lankan
Government, the International Organisation for Migration and the two NGOs
mentioned in section 3.80 of the report.

 

I am also requesting email correspondences that were generated by the
Department in the processing and refusal of my previous request 'Treatment
of returnees' sections of Sri Lanka 2019 country report which can be found
here:
[1]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

 

In the interests of ensuring your request is processed in a timely manner
– and noting the substantially different nature of Part 1 and Part 2 of
the request – DFAT is seeking your agreement to process Part 1 and Part 2
of your request as two separate applications under the FOI Act. This will
assist the department in undertaking searches as efficiently as possible
and processing your request to a decision in a timely manner.

I would be most grateful if you could confirm by return email by COB
Wednesday 9 December 2020 whether you agree to your request being
processed as two separate requests at your earliest convenience.

Kind regards

[2]cid:image001.png@01D349A2.74F24380

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[3]DFAT.GOV.AU | [4]Twitter | [5]Facebook | [6]Flickr | [7]YouTube

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

Please process these as two seperate requests. Many thanks for following up

Yours sincerely,

Elias Ross

FOI, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

1 Attachment

OFFICIAL

FOI Reference: LEX3056

File Number: 20/33510

 

Dear Mr Ross

 

Re: Freedom of Information (FOI) Request

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 30 November 2020 in which you seek access
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to:

 

“Please provide all email correspondences used to compile the 'treatment 
of returnees' section of the 2013 Sri Lankan country report. Please limit 
the request to those email correspondences between DFAT and the Sri
Lankan  Government, the International Organisation for Migration and the
two NGOs  mentioned in section 3.80 of the report.”

 

This e-mail sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

 

Searches are now being undertaken in relevant areas of the Department for
documents relevant to your request.

 

Scope of request:

If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the Department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.

 

Timeframe for receiving our decision:

We received your request on 30 November 2020 and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date,
therefore our decision would be due on 30 December 2020.  Due to the
significant number of public holidays over the forthcoming Christmas/New
Year period, we would be most grateful if you could confirm by return
e-mail your agreement to an extension of the statutory processing time by
30 days until 29 January 2021.  Should you agree to this extension, we
will inform the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

 

Charges:

Please note that the Department issues charges for processing FOI
requests.  We will advise you of these charges when we are in a position
to estimate the resources required to process your request.

 

Timing of release:

As the subject matter of your request will require DFAT to upload any
documents released to you to the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log, we take
this opportunity to advise you that the Department’s policy is to upload
documents to the disclosure log on the same day as the documents are
released to you.

 

Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:

It is the Department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names and contact details of government
officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent.  If you
require the mobile numbers of all government officials, or the names and
contact details of non-SES officials, please let us know at
[1][DFAT request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will
take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope
of your request.

 

Personal Information:

If we need to consult with other people or organisations regarding your
FOI request, we may need to disclose your personal information (e.g. your
name).  When we consult it may be apparent that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity.  Please let us know if you have
any concerns in this regard.  The Department’s privacy policy is available
at dfat.gov.au/privacy.html.

 

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by return e-mail at [2][DFAT request email]

 

Yours sincerely,

 

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[3]DFAT.GOV.AU | [4]Twitter | [5]Facebook | [6]Flickr | [7]YouTube

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

 

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

1 Attachment

OFFICIAL

FOI Reference: LEX3057

File Number: 20/33513

 

Dear Mr Ross

 

Re: Freedom of Information (FOI) Request

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 30 November 2020 in which you seek access
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to:

 

“I am also requesting email correspondences that were generated by the
Department in the processing and refusal of my previous request 'Treatment
of returnees' sections of Sri Lanka 2019 country report which can be found
here:
[1]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

 

This e-mail sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

 

Searches are now being undertaken in relevant areas of the Department for
documents relevant to your request.

 

Scope of request:

If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the Department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.

 

Timeframe for receiving our decision:

We received your request on 30 November 2020 and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date,
therefore our decision would be due on 30 December 2020.  Due to the
significant number of public holidays over the forthcoming Christmas/New
Year period, we would be most grateful if you could confirm by return
e-mail your agreement to an extension of the statutory processing time by
30 days until 29 January 2021.  Should you agree to this extension, we
will inform the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

 

Charges:

Please note that the Department issues charges for processing FOI
requests.  We will advise you of these charges when we are in a position
to estimate the resources required to process your request.

 

Timing of release:

As the subject matter of your request will require DFAT to upload any
documents released to you to the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log, we take
this opportunity to advise you that the Department’s policy is to upload
documents to the disclosure log on the same day as the documents are
released to you.

 

Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:

It is the Department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names and contact details of government
officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent.  If you
require the mobile numbers of all government officials, or the names and
contact details of non-SES officials, please let us know at
[2][DFAT request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will
take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope
of your request.

 

Personal Information:

If we need to consult with other people or organisations regarding your
FOI request, we may need to disclose your personal information (e.g. your
name).  When we consult it may be apparent that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity.  Please let us know if you have
any concerns in this regard.  The Department’s privacy policy is available
at dfat.gov.au/privacy.html.

 

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by return e-mail at [3][DFAT request email]

 

Yours sincerely,

 

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[4]DFAT.GOV.AU | [5]Twitter | [6]Facebook | [7]Flickr | [8]YouTube

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

1 Attachment

OFFICIAL

Dear Mr Ross,

 

I am emailing you in relation to your current Freedom of Information
requests with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Your FOI
requests LEX3056 and LEX3057 are currently due on 30 December 2020.

 

Further to our emails of 8 December, due to the significant number of
public holidays over the forthcoming Christmas/New Year period, we would
be most grateful if you would agree to an extension of the statutory
processing time by 30 days for these two requests. Should you agree to
agree to the extension the revised due date for both requests will be 29
January 2021.

 

I would be grateful if you could please confirm that you agree to the
extension of time by midday Wednesday, 23 December. Should you agree to
this extension, we will inform the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) of the new timeframe.

 

Kind regards,

 

[1]cid:image001.png@01D349A2.74F24380

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[2]DFAT.GOV.AU | [3]Twitter | [4]Facebook | [5]Flickr | [6]YouTube

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

 

 

 

References

Visible links
2. http://dfat.gov.au/pages/default.aspx
3. https://twitter.com/dfat
4. https://www.facebook.com/dfat.gov.au
5. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dfataustra...
6. https://www.youtube.com/user/dfat

Dear FOI,

I agree to the extension

Yours sincerely,

Elias Ross

FOI, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

2 Attachments

OFFICIAL

FOI Reference: LEX3056

 

Dear Mr Ross,

 

Please find attached the charges letter in relation to your FOI request.

 

Please note that the processing period to assess your request is put on
hold until we receive your payment of the deposit/payment in full of the
charge.

 

Kind regards,

 

[1]cid:image001.png@01D349A2.74F24380

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[2]DFAT.GOV.AU | [3]Twitter | [4]Facebook | [5]Flickr | [6]YouTube

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

 

 

References

Visible links
2. http://dfat.gov.au/pages/default.aspx
3. https://twitter.com/dfat
4. https://www.facebook.com/dfat.gov.au
5. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dfataustra...
6. https://www.youtube.com/user/dfat

FOI, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

2 Attachments

OFFICIAL

FOI Reference: LEX3057

 

Dear Mr Ross,

 

Please find attached the charges letter in relation to your FOI request.

 

Please note that the processing period to assess your request is put on
hold until we receive your payment of the deposit/payment in full of the
charge.

 

Kind regards,

 

 

[1]cid:image001.png@01D349A2.74F24380

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[2]DFAT.GOV.AU | [3]Twitter | [4]Facebook | [5]Flickr | [6]YouTube

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

 

 

 

 

References

Visible links
2. http://dfat.gov.au/pages/default.aspx
3. https://twitter.com/dfat
4. https://www.facebook.com/dfat.gov.au
5. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dfataustra...
6. https://www.youtube.com/user/dfat

Dear FOI,

I apologise for the delay in responding to this request. I am hoping to reopen the request and to contest the charges that have been placed on it. First, I am a centrelink recipient and would like to be considered for a reduction of charges on that basis. Second, the second request here for emails generated for a previous request should not entail the kind of work these charges seem to represent.

Many thanks in advance for your help

Yours sincerely,

Elias Ross

FOI, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

1 Attachment

OFFICIAL

FOI Reference: LEX3056 & LEX3057

Dear Mr Ross,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

In accordance with our letters dated 20 January 2021 in relation to
LEX3056 and LEX3057, you had 30 days from receipt of the charges notices
to either pay the charges, pay deposits or contend the charges. As you did
not respond, your requests were treated as withdrawn in accordance with
section 29 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

 

You are welcome to lodge a fresh request at any time.

 

Kind regards,

 

DFAT FOI Team

Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section
Legal Division | Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[1]DFAT.GOV.AU | [2]Twitter | [3]Facebook | [4]Flickr | [5]YouTube

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

Thank you for your mail. I will submit another request. However, it will be exactly the same request so I do not understand why this request cannot be reopened or addressed immediately. For this request and two others I have submitted to DFAT, the Department has contravened its statutory obligation to respond within the 60 day time frame. I have granted approval of multiple extensions, and even still the Department has failed to respond within the new time frame it set. I would appreciate, given these circumstances, that either this request be opened immediately and my charges contention be considered, or that the new request I will submit shortly (which will simply be the exact same request and will reference this one explicitly) be expedited.

Yours sincerely,

Elias Ross