FOI Attorney General/ Attorney Generals disclosure Log

From: fionabrown01@hotmail.com
To: andra.eisenberg@ag.gov.au
Subject: RE: FOI inquiry [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:39:42 +1000

Dear Andra,

Thank you for your reply to my FOI.

I have attached 3 emails received from Helen Daniels confirming that my complaint   with extensive evidence  was being was  examined by her and would be  then forwarded to   Robert McClelland. who at the time was  Attorney General.

I understand from your response  that it is a policy of the Attorney Generals Department and it also  appears mandatory for all complaints received   regarding corrupt conduct in  departments  in the Attorney Generals portfolio to be covered and protected .

I  believe you have failed  to adequately  address my request.

I am therefore requesting again the process that Helen Daniels followed ,considering she confirmed  that the evidence was examined and also the process that the Attorney General Department follows  when  complaints are received .

It is clear that the Attorney General has a responsibility  to have integrity and  not protect  corrupt conduct .

Please provide me with  all paperwork filed by Helen Daniels  on my complaint regarding the serious corrupt conduct by senior staff at ITSA.

Thanking you kindly

Fiona Brown

From: Helen.Daniels@ag.gov.au
To: fionabrown01@hotmail.com
CC: Glynis.Harwood@ag.gov.au; Adam.Jones@ag.gov.au; Jessica.Robinson@ag.gov.au; Bronwen.McGee@ag.gov.au
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:06:15 +1100
Subject: RE: breaches of the Bankruptcy Act by ITSA [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

UNCLASSIFIED

Fiona

I am the relevant senior manager in bankruptcy policy for correspondence.

Helen

Helen Daniels

Assistant Secretary

Business Law Branch

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From: Helen.Daniels@ag.gov.au
To: fionabrown01@hotmail.com
CC: Jessica.Robinson@ag.gov.au; Adam.Jones@ag.gov.au; Glynis.Harwood@ag.gov.au; Bronwen.McGee@ag.gov.au
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 10:16:06 +1100
Subject: RE: ITSA file [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

UNCLASSIFIED

Good morning Fiona

I understand that my executive assistant,  Glynis Harwood, explained that after examining your material  a draft response is then forwarded to the Attorney-General who will examine it, subject to his own competing priorities.  The Department is not in a position to advise when a reply will or will not be signed by the Attorney-General.  That is a matter for him.  The reference to an acting Attorney-General is not a matter the Department can advise on.

Regards

Helen

Helen Daniels

Assistant Secretary

Business Law Branch

From: Helen.Daniels@ag.gov.au
To: fionabrown01@hotmail.com
CC: Adam.Jones@ag.gov.au; Bronwen.McGee@ag.gov.au
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2011 09:49:50 +1100
Subject: RE: ITSA file [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Fiona

I acknowledge this and your earlier emails.  I note that you are waiting for a response to your correspondence.  I am not in a position to advise a date when a response will be provided.

Helen

Helen Daniels

Assistant Secretary

Business Law Branch

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From: Andra.Eisenberg@ag.gov.au
To: fionabrown01@hotmail.com
CC: Frances.Brown@ag.gov.au
Subject: RE: FOI inquiry [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2013 01:58:25 +0000

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Fiona

Thank you for your email of 14 April 2013. 

I have consulted our complaints section within the Attorney-General’s Department.  They confirmed for me that the complaints form you referred to is only for internal complaints about internal matters within the Attorney-General’s Department and not external matters concerning external agencies (such as the Insolvency Trustee of Australia).  I provided you with a copy of that complaint form because your FOI request was for our internal complaints procedures.  As the AGD has no power to investigate external matters involving external agencies, not only was it not mandatory for Helen Daniels to fill in the complaints form, but it would have had no effect.

If you wish to inquire about the complaints made by Mr Mirchevski to the Attorney’s Office, please contact the Attorney’s Office on 02 6277 7300 or kate.palmer@ag.gov.au.

Regards

Andra Eisenberg | Senior Legal Officer

Freedom of Information and Privacy Section | Office of Corporate Counsel

Australian Government Attorney-General's Department | 3 - 5 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600
T: +61 (2) 6141 3274  E: Andra.Eisenberg@ag.gov.au   

From: fiona brown [mailto:fionabrown01@hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, 14 April 2013 12:59 pm
To: Eisenberg, Andra
Cc: Adam Jones (Adam.Jones@oaic.gov.au); O'Keefe, Quentin; Brown, Frances
Subject: RE: FOI inquiry [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Hi Andra,
Thank you for the FOI I received from you.
I now refer to  the following form which would have been manditory for Helen Daniels to fill out when she dealt with my complaint regarding the Insolvency Trustee Service Australia.
The complaint  contained extensive evidence of  systemic corrupt conduct by senior staff.
Under Freedom of information can you please supply me with a copy of the  Complaints register  form  wich would have been filed by Helen Daniels after dealing with my complaint.
I also am aware that you have CC Adam Jones @oaic.gov.au who tried to intimidate me  by telling me that my complaint had no grounds when I first made contact with  the Attorney Generals Department.
Also as I am aware that the complaints by Mr Mirchevski  to the Attorney General on the corrupt trustee Paul Pattison that was being protected by the Inspector General in Bankruptcy Veronique Ingram was sent to the Attorney Generals Office which is separate from the Deparment  could you please h elp me with a contact phone number and email for them.
Thanking you kindly
Fiona Brown
.

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From: Andra.Eisenberg@ag.gov.au
To: fionabrown01@hotmail.com
CC: Adam.Jones@oaic.gov.au; Quentin.O'Keefe@ag.gov.au; Frances.Brown@ag.gov.au
Subject: FOI inquiry [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:34:15 +0000

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Fiona

I refer to your FOI request of 27 February 2013.  In this most recent request, you requested the following:

·         A copy of the Attorney General’s Department service charter and complaint-handling policy

·         Statistics on complaints made to the AGD in the past 2 financial years.

Decision

I am authorised to make decisions in relation to this matter on behalf of this Department.  I am therefore releasing to you copies of the Department’s service charter and complaint handling policy.  I can also provide the following information regarding complaints made to the Department in the past two financial years.

The 2010/2011 annual report identified 11 complaints against the Department in 2010/11.  The complaint statistics for 2011/12 are approximately a dozen (but this does not include complaints made directly to the marriage celebrants’ inbox or the disaster assistance inbox etc.

Finally, with regard to the complaints of Mr Mircevki against Mr Paul Pattison, I am aware of two complaints made by Mr Mircevki to the Attorney-General but these complaints were made to the Office of the Attorney-General and not the Attorney-General’s Department.  While these two agencies may be confused, under the FOI Act, they are two totally separate agencies and your request was for complaints made to the Attorney-General.

Right of review

Should you wish to seek a review of my decision in this matter, you have two options.  You may seek an internal review by another senior officer of the Department.  If you wish to pursue this course of action, you should forward an application to me within 30 days of the date of this letter.  Alternatively, you may seek a review of the decision by writing to the Office of the Australia Information Commissioner (OAIC).  The OAIC also investigates complaints should you wish to complain about any aspect of the way in which your request has been handled.  Applications for review by the OAIC should be sent to GPO Box 2999, Canberra, ACT 2601 or enquiries@oaic.gov.au.  Further information can be found at www.oaic.gov.au.

Yours sincerely

Andra Eisenberg | Senior Legal Officer

Freedom of Information and Privacy Section | Office of Corporate Counsel

Australian Government Attorney-General's Department | 3 - 5 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600
T: +61 (2) 6141 3274  E: Andra.Eisenberg@ag.gov.au   

From: fiona brown [mailto:fionabrown01@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2013 6:56 pm
To: Eisenberg, Andra
Cc: Bennett, Malcolm; O'Keefe, Quentin; Jones, Adam
Subject: RE: FOI inquiry [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Hi Andra,

Thank you for your response to my FOI.

Please can you send me a copy of the Attorney Generals service charter and associated complaint-handling policy  and a copy of the Attorney General investigation policy and standards related to this policy.

 I am now aware that the Attorney Generals Department   have obviously attempted to cover-up and protect  evidence of systemic corrupt conduct at the Insolvency Trustee Service Australia. 

I  do realize  Attorney Generals Department cannot investigate ITSA  directly,though you are aware it is a requirement the the Attorney Generals Department investigate my complaint considering the extensive evidence I provided. Furthermore it is clearly obvious that  this department fails to comply with the Australian Investigation Standards which is the minimum requirement for Government Departments.

I also bring to your attention    another request I made....

Information and dates regarding any complaints the Attorney General has received on the Bankruptcy Trustee Paul Pattison and Stuart Ariff and how they were handled according to the Attorney General's investigation policy

          I am aware of 2 complaints made to the Attorney Generals Department on  Paul Pattison by  Mr Mircevski. Paul Pattison was the corrupt Bankruptcy Trustee being protected by Veronique Ingram, Inspector General in Bankruptcy. Please  have another check of your records

Also can you send me the statistics  on  complaints made to the Attorney Generals Department in the past 2 financial years.

Thanking you kindly

Fiona Brown

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From: Andra.Eisenberg@ag.gov.au
To: fionabrown01@hotmail.com
CC: Malcolm.Bennett@ag.gov.au; Quentin.O'Keefe@ag.gov.au; Adam.Jones@ag.gov.au
Subject: FOI inquiry [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:00:16 +0000

UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Fiona

Freedom of Information Request

I refer to your FOI request of 19 November 2012 in which you requested [documents relating to] the process that Helen Daniels followed and any documents and emails sent to Veronique Ingram [relating to Fiona Brown’s complaint to the Attorney General about the conduct of Senior Management at ITSA]…… and information and dates regarding any complaints the Attorney General has received on the Bankruptcy Trustee Paul Pattison and Stuart Ariff and how they were handled according to the Attorney General's investigation policy.

Decision

Pursuant to arrangements approved by the Secretary of this Department under section 23 of the FOI Act, I am authorised to make decisions in relation to this matter on behalf of the Department.

Section 24A of the FOI Act permits an agency to refuse a request if all reasonable steps have been taken to locate the documents sought and it is satisfied that the documents do not exist or cannot be found.  After having made appropriate searches and enquiries, I can confirm that this Department does not hold documents of the type that you are seeking.

1.     Specifically, with regard to the first part of your request:

[Documents relating to] the process that Helen Daniels followed and any documents and emails sent to Veronique Ingram [relating to Fiona Brown’s complaint to the Attorney General about the conduct of Senior Management at ITSA],

there are no documents that you are seeking because, as the AGD does not have the power to conduct an investigation of ITSA, there was no investigation and no documents relating to an investigation.  I am therefore obliged to refuse this part of your request under s 24A of the Act.

2.     With regard to the second part of your request:

Information and dates regarding any complaints the Attorney General has received on the Bankruptcy Trustee Paul Pattison and Stuart Ariff and how they were handled according to the Attorney General's investigation policy,

We cannot process a request simply for information as a request under the FOI Act needs to be for specific documents.  However, we have attempted to locate documents relating to complaints received by the AGD on the bankruptcy trustees, Paul Pattison and Stuart Ariff and how these complaints were handled but could not locate any documents.  I can therefore confirm that the AGD does not hold these kinds of documents.

Right of Review

Should you wish to have my decision in this matter reviewed, you have two options.  Firstly, you are entitled to request an internal review of my decision by a senior officer of this Department.  Should you wish to pursue this option, you should write to me within 30 days of receiving this letter.  Alternatively, you are entitled to request a review of my decision by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).  Should you wish to pursue that course and action you should write to the OAIC, within 60 days of receiving this letter, at GPO Box 2999, Canberra, ACT, 2601.  You are also entitled to make a complaint to the OAIC about the way the Department handled your request.

Yours sincerely

Andra Eisenberg | Senior Legal Officer

Freedom of Information and Privacy Section | Office of Corporate Counsel

Australian Government Attorney-General's Department | 3 - 5 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600
T: +61 (2) 6141 3274  E: Andra.Eisenberg@ag.gov.au   

From: fiona brown [mailto:fionabrown01@hotmail.com]