DFAT Annual Report 2007-2008 : Appendix 4 Freedom of information

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 2008.

It covers:

the functions, organisation and powers of the department
access to records under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
access to records under the Archives Act 1983
outside participation
categories of documents
registers of Australian births overseas
documents for sale and free of charge.

Functions, organisation and powers

The broad functions of the department are described in the Departmental Overview in section 1 of this report. A chart showing the department’s senior executive structure as at 30 June 2008 appears on page 14. Further information on the organisation of the department can be found in Section 3: Corporate Management and Accountability. Legislation administered by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Trade is published in the Administrative Arrangements Order, which is available at http://www.pmc.gov.au/parliamentary/docs/aao_july_2008.pdf

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.

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 the $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:

Director, FOI Section
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
R G Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221
Tel: (02) 6261 3775
Fax: (02) 6261 2144

The department’s state and territory offices can also be contacted for this purpose (see inside back cover of this annual 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 for any reason, including if grounds of financial hardship or general public interest can be established. Further advice regarding fees and charges may be obtained from the department’s FOI Section.

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
National Reference Service
National Archives of Australia
PO Box 7425
Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610
Tel: (02) 6212 3900 or 1300 886 881 (within Australia)

The Archives Act 1983 also allows the department to grant approved individuals special access to records not generally available to the public. Inquiries about eligibility for special access or information on departmental history should be addressed to:

Director
Historical Publications and Information Section
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
R G Casey Building
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221
Tel: (02) 6261 1422
Fax: (02) 6261 1445

The department also publishes a comprehensive range of public information on our website at http://www.dfat.gov.au/.

Performance reporting regarding the department’s processing of FOI and archival access examination requests is found on page 225 of this report.

Outside participation

Members of the public are able to write to portfolio ministers about the range of policy and other matters dealt with by the department.

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 various bodies	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 Australia–Korea Foundation Australia–Malaysia Institute Australian National Commission for UNESCO Australian New Zealand Leadership Forum Australia–Thailand Institute Council for Australian–Arab Relations Council on Australia Latin America Relations National Consultative Committee on International Security Issues Horticultural Market Access Committee
Consultations regarding Australia’s negotiating priorities for multilateral, regional and bilateral trade negotiations	state and territory governments industry associations, peak bodies and organisations companies and business people non-government organisations and public interest and community groups academic institutions individuals seeking consultation calls for public submissions statutory authorities
Consultations regarding development and prosecution of Australia’s approach to dispute settlement cases and issues in the WTO through the department’s WTO disputes inquiry point	firms industry organisations other groups seeking consultation
Formal arrangements for consultations with interested bodies on trade-related matters	ASEAN Free Trade Area–Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (AFTA–CER) Business Council statutory authorities Intellectual Property Consultative Group
Consultations regarding Australian participation in international expositions	companies and business people industry associations, peak bodies and organisations state and territory governments
Consultation on Australia’s policy approach to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum	APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Australian Chapter of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee (PECC)
Consultation on security in the Asia-Pacific region	academic community foreign and strategic policy institutions
Consultation in preparation of Economic Analytical Unit reports	academic community industry associations, peak bodies and organisations
Business relations programs operated by the department’s state and territory offices	companies and business people identified interest groups and stakeholders within each state and territory
Consultation on Australia’s position in the Indian Ocean Rim	Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG) Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR–ARC) Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF)
Liaison regarding agriculture, industrial products and services	Commonwealth agencies with relevant technical competencies Industry associations, peak bodies and organisations state and territory governments
Consultations concerning negotiations affecting specific multilateral environment treaties	environmental organisations industry associations, peak bodies and organisations state and territory governments
Consultations on biosecurity issues	National Consultative Group on Biosecurity Issues
Regular exchanges of views	Amnesty International and other human rights organisations United Nations Association of Australia
Consultations on international humanitarian law	Australian Red Cross International Committee of the Red Cross
Consultations on Antarctica	tourism companies non-government organisations
Consultations concerning UN sanctions	industry and business associations, peak bodies and organisations/other groups
Consultations concerning the freezing of terrorist assets	Australia’s financial sector
Consultation with bodies on promoting awareness and use of the department’s travel advisories	Australian Federation of Travel Agents and other peak travel industry bodies Smartraveller Consultative Group

Categories of documents

Documents are captured, managed and maintained in accordance with the department’s recordkeeping policy. Documents not needed for current business are transferred into archival custody or destroyed in accordance with an authorised disposal schedule. Australia’s overseas posts have documentary holdings of their own, which may parallel or complement those the department holds in Canberra and in state and territory offices.

The department has extensive documentary holdings including:

Documents relating to relations and communications with foreign governments, the United Nations, United Nations agencies and other international organisations	briefs for Australian delegations and ministers visiting overseas cables, minutes, memorandums, file notes and emails discretionary grants program annual review papers documents and database records relating to foreign diplomatic and consular missions, international organisations and personnel in Australia documents and database records relating to visa applications referred for clearance under Public Interest Criteria 4003 of the Migration Regulations documents received from foreign governments, including notes verbale and aides-mémoire documents received from the UN, UN agencies and other international organisations, including notes verbale documents relating to human rights documents relating to international environment policy and programs programs for ministers visiting overseas reports on meetings and conferences submissions to portfolio ministers and senior officers texts of speeches and press statements on foreign affairs and trade
Documents relating to the administration of UN sanction enforcement laws	applications for permits under UN sanction enforcement laws and associated documents documents and written information produced under s30 of the Charter of the UN Act other correspondence and inquiries relating to the implementation of UN sanctions in Australia
Documents relating to treaties	arrangements of less-than-treaty status Australian treaty collection database of all treaties to which Australia is a party and related metadata including access to texts via the electronic Australian Treaties Library maintained by the Australasian Legal Information Institute documents and databases relating to multilateral and bilateral treaties and arrangements national interest analyses on treaties submitted to Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties
Documents relating to multilateral, regional and bilateral trade policy, including negotiations for trade agreements and the World Trade Organization	briefs for Australian delegations and ministers visiting overseas cables, minutes, memorandums, file notes and emails submissions to portfolio ministers and senior officers draft agreements and negotiating texts official WTO documents, including reports, meeting agendas, declarations, statements and technical working papers reports on meetings and conferences texts of speeches and press statements on trade issues reports and papers analysing the impact of trade liberalisation and other aspects of trade policy submissions from stakeholders documents received from foreign governments statistical trade data
Documents relating to international security issues, including disarmament, arms control and nuclear non-proliferation	Australian and foreign intelligence community documents cables, minutes, memorandums, file notes and emails documents and database records relating to international counter-terrorism cooperation documents and database records relating to implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act 1987, the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994 and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Act 1998 texts of speeches and press statements on foreign affairs and trade submissions to portfolio ministers and senior officers
Documents relating to public diplomacy, including information and cultural programs	documents relating to cultural promotion activities and visits programs documents relating to international expositions documents relating to public diplomacy and advocacy public information materials projecting Australia and its policies overseas on film, video cassette, radio tape, CD, slide, DVD and written forms
Documents relating to the history of the portfolio	publications register research papers and drafts of manuscripts and related material compiled to inform authors and editors preparing material for publication in stand-alone publications and/or series papers (note: publications are available for purchase from the department’s website at: www.dfat.gov.au/publications. Draft manuscripts may also be held by the National Archives of Australia and other research institutes.)
Documents relating to passports and secure travel identification	documents on fraud investigations documents related to seizure of foreign passports under the Foreign Passports (Law Enforcement and Security) Act 2005 records of passport issue details, electronic record of passport applications and relevant attachments working files, including passport case files and case management databases, and correspondence related to issuing passports and other travel documentation under the Australian Passports Act 2005
Documents relating to provision of consular services to Australian citizens abroad	emergency task force papers working files, including consular case files and case management databases and correspondence
Documents relating to overseas property management	documents relating to overseas property management, including maintenance records, leasing and security
Documents relating to personnel management	information on employment histories and biographical details documents and databases relating to human resources management including personnel records and documents on personnel planning, conditions of service, career development counselling, discipline, reviews undertaken pursuant to section 33 of the Public Service Act 1999 and termination matters documents and databases relating to staff employed overseas (locally engaged staff), their salaries, conditions, classifications and numbers personal security files on security-cleared personnel records of travel, removals and storage training material in various forms
Documents relating to financial management	documents and database records relating to procurement and contract management including resumes and contracts for contractors/consultants documents and databases relating to budget resources management and property and accommodation matters within Australia documents relating to funding, financial operations, debtors and payment of claims in Australia and overseas financial and expenditure records
Documents relating to internal departmental administration	documents and databases relating to the design, implementation and operation of the department’s electronic business systems 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 internal procedures and instructions including sets of administrative circulars and master sets of DFATNEWS, an internal departmental bulletin
Documents relating to parliamentary services	ad hoc reports on overseas official travel by federal and state members of parliament 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 Cabinet submissions and decisions Federal Executive Council minutes and accompanying documentation ministerial correspondence Portfolio Budget Statements and Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements
Documents relating to legal matters	documents and database records relating to litigation, legal advice, international legal process, FOI, Ombudsman and Privacy Act 1988 matters
Documents relating to the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act 1991	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)

Registers of Australian births overseas

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) 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 DIAC, 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

A range of documents, including the department’s annual report, are available either for purchase or for free from the department. Many documents are presented in electronic form on the publicly accessible websites maintained by the department at
http://www.dfat.gov.au/ and at http://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/.

Return to top of page