OFFICIAL

Dear Jane

 

Acknowledgement

I refer to your correspondence of 20 January 2026 seeking access to
documents held by the Department of Defence (Defence), under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). This email is to advise you that your
request has been received and allocated for Case Management.

 

The scope of your request is:

 

… documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 relating to the
appointment, training, qualifications, including governance of Unit
Welfare Officers (UWOs) within the Australian Defence Force.

 

Instructions, policies, manuals, or directives governing the appointment
of Unit Welfare Officers, including eligibility criteria, rank
requirements, and appointing authority.

 

Any training requirements, courses, induction packages, guidance material,
or competency standards required or recommended for personnel appointed as
UWOs.

 

This would include any Records outlining qualification expectations,
certifications, or professional standards applicable to the UWO role.
Including documents describing the scope of authority, responsibilities,
ethical obligations, confidentiality requirements, and limitations of
UWOs.

 

Any Defence Instructions, Army Standing Instructions, or equivalent
Service-specific & Joint Service guidance referring to Unit Welfare
Officers, including superseded or withdrawn versions.

 

Disclaimer

Where staff details are captured in documents within the scope of your FOI
request, this information will be redacted; this includes private email
addresses, signatures, personnel (PMKeyS) numbers and mobile telephone
numbers, unless you specifically request such details. Defence excludes
duplicates of documents and any documents sent to or from you.
Furthermore, Defence only considers final versions of documents.

 

Charges

Defence may impose a charge for the work involved in providing access to
the documents in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Charges)
Regulations 2019. We will notify you if your request attracts a charge.
Please note that there is no charge for documents that contain the
personal information of the applicant.

 

Timeframe

The statutory timeframe to provide you with a decision on your request
ends on 19 February 2026. This period may be extended if we need to
consult with third parties, or for other reasons. We will advise you if
this happens.

 

Where the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the
timeframe will expire on the next working day. This is in accordance with
the FOI Guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act.

 

Disclosure Log

Documents released under the FOI Act may be published on Defence’s
disclosure log, located on our website.

 

Contact Details

We will contact you via the email address you have provided. Please advise
if you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.

 

Should you have any questions relating to your request, please contact:
[1][email address].

 

Kind regards

 

FOI Case Management
Freedom of Information
Media and Information Disclosure Branch

Ministerial & Executive Coordination and Communication Division

Department of Defence

 

Email: [2][email address]

 

IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of the Department of Defence.
Unauthorised communication and dealing with the information in the email
may be a serious criminal offence. If you have received this email in
error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the email
immediately.

 

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]