Appendix 6: Freedom of Information

This statement is provided in accordance with section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and is correct to 30 June 2001.

Access to records under the Freedom of Information Act 1982

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 extends the right to obtain access to documents in the Government’s possession. Access is limited only by exemptions that protect essential public interests and the private and business affairs of people about whom departments and statutory authorities collect and hold information. During the year, we met our obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, processing 73 requests.

Members of the public seeking access to documents should lodge a formal Freedom of Information request. This must be made in writing, be accompanied by a $30 application fee, and include a telephone number, a fax number (if available) and an address within Australia to which notifications are to be addressed. Requests should be sent to:

Freedom of Information Unit
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
RG Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221

Tel: (02) 6261 2903
Tel: (02) 6261 1170

The department’s State and Territory offices can also be contacted for this purpose (see inside back cover of the report for a list of addresses).

Decisions on granting access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 are generally made by the departmental Senior Executive Service member responsible for the work area to which the request relates.

The department levies the applicable fees and charges imposed under the Freedom of Information Regulations (Fees and Charges). Such fees and charges may be remitted, reduced or not imposed if grounds for financial hardship or general public interest can be established. Further advice regarding fees and charges may be directed to the Freedom of Information Unit of the department.

Access to records under the Archives Act 1983

Records more than 30 years old are available for public access under the Archives Act 1983, except for information that falls into an exempted category. Archival records are not subject to the Privacy Act 1988 and most exemptions in departmental records relate to intelligence, security, defence or international relations sensitivities. Records are mostly held by the National Archives of Australia. Applications for access under the Archives Act 1983 should be addressed to:

Director, Access and Information Services
National Archives of Australia
PO Box 7425
Canberra Mail Centre ACT 2610

Tel: (02) 6212 3600

The Archives Act also allows the department to grant approved individuals special access to records not generally available to the public. Where the records contain potentially exempt material, a charge will be levied to cover the actual cost of assessment and administration. Inquiries about eligibility for special access or information on departmental history should be addressed to:

Director, Historical Research and Access
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
RG Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221

Tel: (02) 6261 2619
Tel: (02) 6261 2628

We also publish a comprehensive range of public information on our website (www.dfat.gov.au).

Functions and powers

The department exercises, or participates in the exercise of, the following functions and decision-making powers:

entering into multilateral and bilateral treaties and arrangements, and their administration, including:
- implementing the World Trade Organization Agreement and its annexed agreements, including World Trade Organization formal dispute settlement processes;
- negotiating intellectual property provisions under Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights;
- negotiating protocols and disciplines pursuant to the General Agreement on Trade in Services;
- implementing bilateral trade agreements, such as the Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement;
- implementing Australia’s nuclear safeguards agreements and related multilateral arrangements;
- implementing treaties and agreements relating to arms control and disarmament;
- administering Australia’s bilateral cultural agreements;
- fulfilling responsibilities under the Torres Strait Treaty and Timor Gap Agreement;
- implementing the provisions of the Vienna conventions on diplomatic and consular relations;
- negotiating commodity agreements;
- fulfilling Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Charter and international conventions;
- negotiating and implementing agreements to promote and protect human rights;
- negotiating and implementing the statutes of the International Criminal Court;
- negotiating and implementing investment promotion and protection agreements;
- negotiating and implementing environmental treaties;
- implementing the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and associated maritime delimitation agreements;
- implementing the Antarctic Treaty, associated conventions and protocols and negotiating related instruments; and
- monitoring the implementation of Australia’s extradition treaties and similar arrangements with Commonwealth and other countries and treaties of mutual assistance on criminal matters, and the negotiation of further treaties;
assisting Australian citizens travelling and residing overseas, including:
- providing welfare assistance in cases such as death, arrest, hospitalisation, war, civil unrest and disaster;
- granting relief to, and assisting with repatriation of, Australians in difficulties overseas, where appropriate;
- registering Australian citizens;
- performing notarial acts;
- registering children born overseas to Australian parents as Australian citizens, as provided for under the Citizenship Act 1948, where the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs is not represented; and
- taking evidence overseas on the authority of an Australian court order;
providing postal voting facilities overseas under the direction of the Australian Electoral Commission and State electoral authorities;
issuing passports and other travel documents;
granting territorial and extra-territorial asylum;
performing duties overseas under the Shipping Registration Act 1981 and the Navigation Act 1912 under the direction of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority;
processing full-time student applications on behalf of the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs;
issuing visas for entry into Australia in countries where the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs is not represented;
granting official financial assistance for holding international conferences in Australia;
authorising official expenditure on cultural exchanges, tours, exhibitions, academic exchanges and visits;
undertaking and publishing analyses of economic and political developments affecting Australia, with a view to encouraging informed debate on their implications;
providing advice and export permits to Australian Government agencies and the private sector with regard to Australia’s obligations under UN sanctions regimes;
representing the Australian Government in international litigation, including in the International Court of Justice;
assisting Australian exporters through the provision of advice to ministers on trade finance issues, including the operations of the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, and Australia’s obligations under the OECD Arrangement on Guidelines for Officially Supported Export Credits; and
representing the Australian Government at meetings of the Paris Club group of official creditors to consider the coordinated treatment of debts owed by developing countries.

Outside participation

The department is open to the views of outside organisations and provides opportunities for members of the community to contribute to developing aspects of Australia’s international relations through:

representation on bodies such as the Foreign Affairs Council, Australia International Cultural Council, Australia–China Council, Australia–France Foundation (whose director is located in the Australian Embassy in Paris), Australia–India Council, Australia–Indonesia Institute, Australia–Japan Foundation (whose director is located in the Australian Embassy in Tokyo), Australia–Korea Foundation, Australian National Commission for UNESCO, and the National Consultative Committee on Peace and Disarmament;
consultations with State and Territory governments, industry and environmental organisations in respect of negotiations affecting specific multilateral environment treaties, such as the Biosafety Protocol and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs);
consultations with the National Consultative Group on Biological Weapons;
our regular exchange of views with organisations including Amnesty International and other human rights organisations, and the UN Association of Australia;
our consultations with the Australian Industries Development Association, the Confederation of Australian Industries (and the various business cooperation committees that meet under the Confederation’s aegis), and Australian industry, including AWB Ltd, Australian Dairy Corporation, Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Services Network, Australian Ricegrowers’ Cooperative Limited, Sheepmeat Council of Australia, and Queensland Sugar. These consultations consider priorities for multilateral trade negotiations and other negotiations to alleviate problems caused by market access restrictions;
our consultations with firms, industry organisations and other groups in the development and prosecution of Australia’s approach to dispute settlement cases and issues in the World Trade Organisation, including through the department’s Disputes Investigation and Enforcement Mechanism (DIEM);
the process of public consultations the department pursues to shape Australia’s position on new multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization;
participation in Australian delegations to certain international meetings and/or conferences, such as the Executive Committee meeting of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees or the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change;
the department’s formal arrangements for consultations with interested bodies on trade-related matters, including the Trade Policy Advisory Council, National Trade Consultations, Agricultural Trade Consultative Group and various business councils;
liaison with the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) and its Australian Member Committee (AUS–CSCAP);
liaison with the business and academic community to shape Australia’s position in the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOC–ARC) through our representatives for the Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF) and Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG);
our liaison with other departments and agencies with relevant technical competencies in areas such as quarantine, mining and air services;
participation in consultations with the UN Sanctions Committee;
our liaison process with industry in the preparation of the annual Trade Outcomes and Objectives Statement; and
the business relations programs operated by the department’s State and Territory offices, which strengthen links with business, provide briefings, and organise seminars on trade policy and development issues, as well as maintaining regular consultations with business.

Categories of documents

Documents more than five years old are transferred into archival custody or destroyed in accordance with a disposal schedule. Australia’s overseas posts have documentary holdings of their own, which may parallel those the department holds in Canberra and in State and Territory offices.

The department has extensive documentary holdings, including:

cables, minutes, memorandums, file notes, and other documents concerning political and economic matters, human rights, refugees, disarmament, security, trade and other issues in foreign countries and international organisations;
submissions to portfolio ministers and senior officers;
electronic records of departmental file titles;
storage of texts of inwards and outwards cablegrams and email;
computer disk storage of statistical and other material;
working files, including consular and passport case files, and correspondence;
documents received from foreign governments, including notes verbale and aides memoire;
Australian and foreign intelligence community documents;
documents prepared for use in legal proceedings;
texts of speeches and press statements on foreign affairs and trade;
documents prepared to brief the business community on the economic/business environment of overseas countries;
ministerial correspondence;
the Australian treaty collection and the collection of agreements of less-than-treaty status;
National Interest Analysis (NIAs) on treaties submitted to Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties;
briefs for Australian delegations and ministers visiting overseas;
programs for Ministers visiting overseas;
cabinet submissions and decisions;
credentials of foreign heads of mission in Australia;
series Documents on Australian Foreign Policy 1937–1949 and Documents on Australian Foreign Policy (post-1950 series);
the series Current Notes 1936–1972, Australian Foreign Affairs Record 1973–1988, Australian Foreign Affairs and Trade Record 1989–1992, the journal Backgrounder 1992–1993, Insight 1993–1996 and Australian Foreign Affairs and Trade Record 1997–2000;
documents of international agencies;
emergency task force papers;
Executive Council minutes and accompanying documentation;
annual post evaluation report papers;
divisional evaluation reviews;
office evaluation reports;
evaluation and audit reports;
reports and working papers of the East Asia Analytical Unit;
directives to, instructions to, and briefings for overseas posts;
reports on meetings and conferences;
reports to UN treaty bodies;
briefings for ministers on possible parliamentary questions, records of appearances by departmental officers before the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, and other parliamentary committees;
ad hoc reports on overseas official travel by federal and state members of Parliament;
briefs for, and reports on, post liaison visits;
corporate planning documents, including the Corporate Plan 2000–2002, Portfolio Budget Statements and Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements;
documents and databases relating to budget and human resources management;
documents on office supplies and equipment, motor vehicles, telephones and general office services matters;
documents on property and accommodation matters within Australia;
documents relating to the funding of overseas property;
documents relating to agreement making;
documents relating to the selection of experts, engagement of individual and institutional experts, advisory board members, project managers and contracts for the engagement of consultants;
documents on personnel planning, conditions of service, career development counselling, and discipline and review of action matters;
reports of selection advisory committees and independent selection advisory committees;
information on individual graduate trainee applications;
documents on average staffing levels;
documents and databases relating to staff employed overseas (locally engaged staff), their salaries, conditions, classifications and numbers;
documents and databases relating to the design, implementation and operation of the department’s computer-based information handling, storage, retrieval and control systems serving the areas of communications, accounting, records management, consular, passports, freedom of information, training, management, aid projects and training awards;
documents on fraud investigations;
documents on personnel security, physical and protective security, funding of protective security measures, post inspection reports, technical and information technology security, and contingency plans in relation to the department’s operations abroad and in Australia;
a database on incidents affecting security overseas;
a database of business clients in the department’s State and Territory offices;
documents and a database relating to foreign diplomatic and consular personnel in Australia;
standard paragraphs for correspondence on a wide range of policy items;
documents relating to funding, financial operations, debtors and payment of claims in Australia and overseas;
documents relating to claims under the Scheme for Compensation Due to Defective Administration;
compiled information on employment histories and biographical details (the Statement of Service Appointments and Biographies 2000);
magnetic storage and microfiche records of passport issue details;
electronic record of passport applications and relevant attachments;
master sets of DFAT News, an internal departmental bulletin;
organisation charts and related information;
documents and databases relating to staff employed in Canberra, State and Territory Offices and overseas, their salaries, conditions, classifications and numbers;
personal security files on security-cleared personnel;
records of travel, removals and storage;
sets of administrative circulars;
sets of current and discontinued information papers;
public information materials projecting Australia and its policies overseas on film, video cassette, radio tape, compact disc, slide and written forms;
documents relating to cultural promotion activities and visits programs;
training material in various forms;
a permit register under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987;
documents and database records related to implementation of the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994;
survey returns relating to the identification of companies and organisations subject to permit and notification requirements of the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994;
documents and records related to implementation of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty;
documents and database records related to policy and transactional issues under the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act 1991 (note: EFIC’s activities under parts 4 and 5 of the Act are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 1982); and
documents presented in electronic form on the publicly accessible websites maintained by the department at www.dfat.gov.au and http://www.dfat.gov.au/tw/

Registers of Australian births overseas

Since the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs records details of Australians born overseas, people may seek extracts from the registers through that department. Consular officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade performing functions under the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 at Australian overseas posts also maintain registers of Australians born overseas.

Although data entered in our registers are regularly notified to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, the registers themselves are held at the posts concerned. People may request and obtain extracts from the relevant posts.

Documents for sale and free of charge

Many documents are available either for purchase or free of charge from Government Info Shops or the department. Many are also accessible on the department’s website. A list of departmental publications produced or updated during the year in review is provided at the online version of this report (www.dfat.gov.au/dept/annual_reports/ar.html).

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