This statement is published to meet the requirements, in part, of section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. The Act requires agencies to publish information about:
- the way they are organised, their functions, decision-making and other powers they have that affect the public;
- arrangements for public participation in the agency's work; and
- the document categories that are held by the agency and how the public can access the documents.
The table below shows the number of freedom of information requests received and completed or otherwise dealt with in 2005–06. The figures refer to requests for access to documents under Section 15 of the Act.
Note:
- In addition to this figure, 49 requests were outstanding from 2003–04.
Defence also received nine requests under Part V of the Act for amendment or annotation of records of personal information (14 in the previous year). Applications for internal review numbered 11 (18 in the previous year) and five applications were made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of Freedom of Information decisions (six in the previous year).
In addition to formal freedom of information requests, the Freedom of Information Directorate responded to 719 inquiries that did not require consideration under the Act, including requests for access to personnel records that were re-directed for administration, in accordance with section 15A of the Act. Section 15A provides for access to be given in such cases, outside the provisions of the Act, through established administrative channels.
Table 6.19 shows the performance of Defence in meeting the 30-day statutory time limit for responding to requests for access to documents. The time limit continues to be a challenge for Defence, in part because of the relatively high proportion of complex requests, often relating to policy matters, involving a large number of documents and difficult issues. Such requests represented 62 per cent of total requests in 2005–06.
Note:
- The 30-day deadline may be extended by an additional 30 days to allow for consultation with third parties.
Further information about Defence's dealings with freedom of information requests in 2005–06, including information about costs incurred, will be published in the Freedom of Information annual report, which the Attorney-General is required to present to Parliament in accordance with section 93 of the Act.
Functions and Decision Making Powers
Information about Defence's structure and functions, including its organisational chart, can be found in Chapter One—Overview. Information about legislation administered by the Minister for Defence is published in the Administrative Arrangements Order, which is available at http://www.pmc.gov.au/parliamentary/index.cfm. Further information relating to decision-making powers can be found in the online version of this report.
Freedom of Information Procedures and Contact Points
A request for access to documents under the Act must be made in writing and provide sufficient information concerning the documents to enable a responsible officer in Defence to identify them. The request has to be accompanied by a $30 application fee and should include a telephone number and a return address in Australia at which the applicant can be contacted. In some cases, a fee may not be required or may be remitted by Defence.
Requests for information under the FOI Act should be sent to:
Freedom of Information Directorate
Defence Legal Division
RG Casey Building (RGC-2-058)
Department of Defence
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Phone: 02 6266 8860
Facsimile: 02 6266 8857
FOI.Enquiries@defence.gov.au
Applicants seeking access to documents may be liable to pay charges at rates prescribed by the Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations.
Authorised Freedom of Information Decision Makers
Decisions on requests made to Defence under the Act may be made by the Minister for Defence, the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, the Secretary of Defence, or by persons acting under authority. The authority to release documents or to refuse requests for access to documents is held widely throughout Defence at Director level (Executive Level 2 and Colonel or equivalent rank) and above.
Authority to make decisions of other kinds under the Freedom of Information legislation, such as the power to impose charges on applicants, has also been delegated to appropriate officers. Details can be obtained from the Freedom of Information Directorate, using the address and contact numbers above.
Ministers, the Parliamentary Secretary and the Secretary may also issue certificates that establish conclusively that documents are exempt from disclosure under the Act.
Arrangements for Outside Participation
Australian Defence Human Research Ethics Committee
The Australian Defence Human Research Ethics Committee's mission is to promote and encourage ethical health research in the military context, with responsibility for the review and monitoring of all human research in Defence. It is structured in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council's national statement on ethical conduct in research involving human participants and has representatives external to Defence.
Defence Families of Australia
Defence Families of Australia is an independent advisory group convened by Defence to represent the diversity of today's Defence families. Its aim is to improve the quality of life for ADF families by providing them with a forum for expressing their views, for reporting and making recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Force and for influencing policy affecting ADF families.
Defence Health Consultative Group
The role of the Defence Health Consultative Group is to establish, at a senior level, formal liaison between Defence and appropriate civilian authorities, and to provide advice on major professional health matters of relevance to Defence. The group comprises the Surgeon-General of the Australian Defence Force, Head Defence Health Services, and representatives from other departments and professional bodies, including the Australian Medical and Dental Association and the Royal College of Nursing Australia.
Defence Reserves Support Council
The Defence Reserves Support Council aims to promote the benefits of Reserve service to the community. As well as spreading the word informally about Reserve service, it sponsors a number of specific activities to encourage business support.
Environmental Advisory Committees
Environmental Advisory Committees provide advice on environment and heritage matters relating to Defence areas. These include Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland; Garden Island, Western Australia; Greenbank Training Area and Wide Bay Training Area, Queensland; and Mount Bundy Training Area and Bradshaw Field Training Area, Northern Territory. The committees consist of representatives from Defence, the local community and business organisations.
National Workplace Relations Committee
The National Workplace Relations Committee, established under the Defence Employees Certified Agreement 2000–01, continues to deal with a wide range of employment matters affecting Defence civilian employees. It provides a forum for management and union delegates to consult on current and future Defence workplace policies and conditions.
Royal Australian Air Force Veterans' Trust
The Royal Australian Air Force Veterans' Trust's purpose is to provide residences so that qualifying former members of the Royal Australian Air Force and their dependants, in circumstances of need, can be accommodated and supported. There are three external members of the Trust with previous Air Force service or private industry experience.
Woomera Consultative Committee
The Woomera Consultative Committee advises Defence on matters relating to the management of the Woomera Test Range, South Australia. It includes representatives from Defence and the Woomera Board, which comprises appointed and elected residents of Woomera.
Categories of Documents Maintained
Documents Available as Part of a Public Register and Subject to a Fee or Other Charge
- Oceanographic data (copies of original survey documents, and hydrographic and oceanographic data held by the Navy on computer file).
Documents Available for Purchase by the Public
- annual flying safety calendar, aeronautical maps and charts, supplements and planning documents, and aerial photographs;
- Defence cataloguing handbooks and information;
- Defence Freedom of Information Manual (available through the Freedom of Information Directorate);
- documents that are available for inspection or purchase by the public in accordance with Section 9 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, that is manuals, instructions and the like that are used by, or are available to, Defence staff for making decisions affecting the public;
- draft and final environmental impact statements (held by, and available from Defence Support Group);
- journals and magazines published by Service colleges and schools;
- manuals that have been cleared for release, and sale, to the public. These include, for example, the Defence Commercial Support Program Manual;
- procurement manuals and guidelines produced by the Defence Materiel Organisation (available for purchase in hard copy or free through the DMO website at http://www.defence.gov.au/dmo);
- Service newspapers (available by annual subscription); and
- tide tables (Australian national tide tables and navigational charts and publications are available for purchase either through appointed chart agents or direct from the Hydrographic Office in Wollongong, New South Wales, by mail order. The address can be found at the end of this section).
Documents Free of Charge to the Public upon Request
Defence holds a wide range of documents that can be provided free of charge including information on or in the nature of:
- a range of booklets and brochures from the Defence Community Organisation;
- academic calendars and prospectuses for the Service colleges;
- Defence Annual Reports and the Defence Portfolio Budget and Additional Estimates Statements are available at www.defence.gov.au/budget/;
- flying and ground safety publications (the Air Force makes magazines on these subjects available to some professional organisations);
- general Defence material (pamphlets, brochures, and posters) are freely available on request or available at Defence exhibitions, launches and open days, including the Australian Defence Force Journal;
- the Defence Magazine, including by subscription, which is also available at www.defence.gov.au/defencemagazine.
- information about military retirement and superannuation schemes;
- lists of approved and unapproved capital facilities projects (the infrastructure 'Green Book') available at http://www.defence.gov.au/im/ ;
- manuals and guides relating to Australian Public Service and ADF pay and conditions, including the Australian Defence Force Member's Guide to ADF Pay and Conditions of Service (2005–06 edition), the Defence Force Pay and Conditions Manual, the Defence Employees Certified Agreement 2004–06, Defence Collective Agreement 2006–2009 (which took effect on 1 July 2006) and the Defence Workplace Relations Manual;
- material relating to the activities of the DSTO, consisting of brochures and booklets, research news, selected technical reports, technical and research press releases and lectures given at professional, commercial and public events:
- notices to mariners (the Navy issues such notices containing hydrographic advice to correct navigational charts and documents and detailed information about exercises and firings);
- organisational material (functional statements, organisation charts and duty statements);
- pamphlets and brochures on graduate employment programs and scholarships in Defence for APS employees and APS graduate careers page on the internet;
- pamphlets, brochures, guides and application forms relating to export control and obligations imposed through export controls, including the Australian export control list—the Defence and Strategic Goods List;
- personnel documentation and records, including medical and psychological records (such records are only released to the subject of the records or to a third party authorised by the subject);
- procurement policy and procedural guides, contract templates and Defence industry statements;
- recruitment pamphlets, brochures and video media, the 'career explorer' computer software program on ADF career options, and an internet home page on ADF career options;
- technical material, including technical details of obsolete and selected current equipment, unclassified technical reports and Defence (Australia) Standards; and
- transcripts of public seminars conducted by Defence.
Electronic Documents
Defence's internet homepage can be found at http://www.defence.gov.au. The website contains material that may be of interest to the general public, including departmental media releases and speeches, statutory reports, Service-specific information, including Service newspapers, and export control information.
Departmental press releases are available by email from the press release service by subscription. Photos of a defence nature are also freely available from the image gallery on the site. Ministerial press releases and speeches are linked to the above website.
Other Documents
Defence maintains records in various forms and locations relating to its functions. Records are retained for varying periods depending on their administrative and historical value and are disposed of in accordance with standards and practices approved by the National Archives of Australia. Some categories of documents held are:
- accounting records;
- arrangements with other Government agencies and with state and territory governments and agencies;
- cabinet documents (including submissions, memoranda, minutes and promulgation of decisions);
- committee records;
- conditions of service (including documents relating to financial conditions for overseas service);
- contractual documents, requests for tender documents and industry study reports;
- departmental instructions, circulars and reference books;
- documents concerning quality assurance;
- guidelines held in electronic form by the Directorate of Classified Archival Records Review that are used in determining which matter, if any, contained in classified Defence historical records is exempt under sections paragraphs 33(1)(a) and (b) of the Archives Act 1983 from public access. New guidelines are created, or existing ones revised or abolished, progressively as the need arises;
- industrial matters (including agenda and minutes of meetings of various industrial committees and councils, occupational health and safety committees and policy on industrial practices within the department);
- intelligence reports;
- international agreements and arrangements held in a register of agreements;
- ministerial submissions and briefing papers;
- personal documentation (for example, recruitment and enlistment, selection for promotion documents and those of a medical and psychological nature);
- press cuttings;
- technical publications (relating to the maintenance of ADF materiel, and drawings, specifications and standards relating to ships, aircraft and other equipment in use); and
- working papers (internal working papers are maintained throughout the organisation on a wide range of policy, technical and administrative subjects).
Facilities for Accessing Documents
The following areas within Defence maintain access points at which information about their activities is available:
Defence Science and Technology Organisation
Director Defence Science Communications
Defence Science and Technology Organisation
Department of Defence
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6265 7928
Coordination and Public Affairs Division
Director General of Public Affairs
Department of Defence
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6265 2999
Defence Publishing Service
ACT/Southern NSW Region
Defence Support Group
Department of Defence
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6266 2022
Hydrographic Office
Locked Bag 8801
WOLLONGONG NSW 2500
Tel: (02) 4221 8612
Documents that are available for inspection or purchase by the public in accordance with Section 9 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 are listed in an index available through the offices of National Archives of Australia and through the Defence Freedom of Information Directorate. Arrangements to inspect listed documents, or to purchase copies, may be made by contacting the Freedom of Information Directorate in the Department of Defence, Canberra. The contact details can be found in the 'Freedom of Information Procedures and Contact Points' section.