Dear madam/sir

I'm sorry but my email system put the email below into my spam folder. I only found it today when I had a call from your section looking for a response.

I indicated on the telephone that while I received a letter from The Hon Ben Morton MP, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the response did not address the single question asked in out letter. As our original letter highlighted our Unanswered Questions Policy, we are bound to interpret the lack of response accordingly (see https://a4.org.au/node/2288).

We are keen to know what guidance (if any) the Assistant Minister was given in relation to our original letter and to the single question it contained.

In other words, we remain interested in the issues raised in our FoI request of 24/11/2020. We do not want to withdraw any part of that request.

Bob Buckley

Convenor, Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4)

website: https://a4.org.au/

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia, known as A4, is the national grassroots organisation advocating for autistic people, their families, carers and associates. A4 is internet based so that Australians anywhere can participate.

Note for politicians and bureaucrats – Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia's policy on unanswered questions is available at https://a4.org.au/node/1419.

“The first step in solving any problem is recognising there is one.” Jeff Daniels as Will McEvoy in The Newsroom.

On 9/12/2020 2:40 pm, FOI wrote:

OFFICIAL

Dear Mr Buckley

We write in relation to your FOI request, received  by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on 24 November 2020 and made in the following terms:

On the following dates, I used the Prime Minister's online contact form to raise a number of issues and ask questions. Other that the initial automatic response, I received nothing further. I submitted messages on the following dates:

• part 1 and part 2 on 9/10/2020
• 19/10/2020
• 29/10/2020, and
• 1/11/2020.

At this stage, I am interested to know what happened to the messages I sent on 9/10 and 19/10.

I hereby request, under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 the information relating the message I sent to the Prime Minister via his contact form on 9/10/2020 and the 19/10/2020 about ...

1. about the record of those messages including whether a response would be provided to me and if so what might be in the response, and
2. communication with any other government representative or agency who was contacted about these messages and what communication with others occurred about the issues raise in my messages.

We are informed that you should now have received a response to your correspondence of 9 October 2020 from the Hon Ben Morton MP, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister.

With that in mind, we seek your advice on whether you wish to withdraw the part of your request relating to your correspondence of 9 October 2020. The Department would continue to process your FOI request in relation to your correspondence of 19 October 2020.

We would be grateful for your advice on whether you wish to withdraw the part of your request relating to your correspondence of 9 October 2020 by Thursday, 10 December 2020.

Yours sincerely

FOI and Privacy Section | Legal Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

e. foi@pmc.gov.au | w. www.pmc.gov.au

One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

 

 

From: FOI <FOI@pmc.gov.au>

Sent: Tuesday, 1 December 2020 10:08 AM

To: 'convenor@a4.org.au' <convenor@a4.org.au>

Cc: FOI <FOI@pmc.gov.au>

Subject: FOI/2020/274 - Freedom of information - acknowledgement [SEC=OFFICIAL]

OFFICIAL

Dear Mr Buckley

Thank you for your email dated 24 November 2020, received by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which you made a request to the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) in the following terms:

On the following dates, I used the Prime Minister's online contact form to raise a number of issues and ask questions. Other that the initial automatic response, I received nothing further. I submitted messages on the following dates:

• part 1 and part 2 on 9/10/2020
• 19/10/2020
• 29/10/2020, and
• 1/11/2020.

At this stage, I am interested to know what happened to the messages I sent on 9/10 and 19/10.

I hereby request, under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 the information relating the message I sent to the Prime Minister via his contact form on 9/10/2020 and the 19/10/2020 about ...

1. about the record of those messages including whether a response would be provided to me and if so what might be in the response, and
2. communication with any other government representative or agency who was contacted about these messages and what communication with others occurred about the issues raise in my messages.

Timeframe for receiving your decision

We received your request on 24 November 2020 and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date. You should therefore expect a decision from us by 24 December 2020. The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if there is any extension of time.

Charges

Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of the charge as soon as possible.

Publication of documents

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be published online on our disclosure log at https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/departmental-foi-disclosure-logs, subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any objections to the publication of any of the information which may be released to you please contact us by email at foi@pmc.gov.au. If you do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to provide supporting reasons.

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the Department’s policy to withhold:

• any person’s signature;
• the names and contact details of Australian Public Service officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
• the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;
• the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level below Chief of Staff.

The names and other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release. If you require signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers or Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at foi@pmc.gov.au 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 (that is, the information will be treated as irrelevant and redacted from any documents for release).

We will write again when the Department has more information. Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/.

Yours sincerely

FOI and Privacy Section | Legal Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

e. foi@pmc.gov.au | w. www.pmc.gov.au

One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

______________________________________________________________________

IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information

that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or

other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you

must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other

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______________________________________________________________________

The Assistant Minister's response (mentioned above) and A4's interpretation is available here: https://a4.org.au/node/2288