Freedom of Information Disclosure Log

FOI reference number

Date access granted to applicant

Scope of request (summary)

Link to document(s)

Material from 1 January 2022 to 17 September 2025 (date of lodgement of the FOI request):

1. All documents setting out the eligibility criteria for the Les Carlyon literary Award including communications and consultation concerning changes to the criteria
2.  All communications with Kerry Stokes, including agents of Kerry Stokes regarding the Les Carlyon literary award
3. All communications with Seven Holdings Ltd and its subsidiaries regarding the Les Carlyon literary award

4. All communications concerning the judging, awarding, or not awarding, of the Les Carlyon literary award to Chris Masters’ book Flawed Hero: Truth, Lies and War Crimes

5. All communications with the council, including individual members of the council, concerning the 2024 Chris Masters’ book Flawed Hero: Truth, Lies and War Crimes.

1.) Any advertisements, flyers, or promotional material for the most recent (2024) round of the Les Carlyon Prize. This should include those inconsistent "advertisements" referred to by the AWM spokesperson in the statement “Advertisements for the 2024 call for submissions were inconsistent and some excluded the requirement that entrants be emerging or unpublished authors."

2.) Minutes of the June 2025 council meeting referred to by the AWM spokesperson in the statement  "When this was brought to council’s attention in June 2025, they unanimously restated their intention that the award remain for emerging writers and were not privy to the shortlist or longlist." (Just an extract of the minutes relating to the discussion of that item, and the vote or fact it was unanimous would be fine if easier, the rest of the minutes are not required)

3.) An attendance record of which council members did and did not attend the June 2025 council meeting.

4.) The total number of entries received in the 2024 round for the Prize (reported to be 59 by The Guardian, but not officially confirmed)

5.) The total number of entries deemed ineligible following the June 2025 council meeting – Nil. The only entries deemed ineligible was a submitted publication outside of the 2022-2024 timeframe.

6.) Total compensation, if any, given to the entrants at point 5 above for their costs in entering the competition before the rules were changed.

7.) Details of the terms and conditions (or similar document) for the 2024 round for the Prize as at the closing date, and the date on which they were published

8.) Details of the terms and conditions (or similar document) for the 2024 round for the Prize after the June 2025 council meeting, and the date on which they were published

1. submissions, briefs, papers, and talking points regarding the 17 March 2023, 2 June 2023, and 25 August 2023 AWM Council meeting items about histories - items for these meetings are referenced as occurring under 'Previous Council Outcomes' on page 3 of the 13 March 2024 brief titled "11. Further Official Histories Scope..."
2. AWM Council meeting minutes and action items regarding those regarding the meeting items addressed in item 1. Excluded from this item is content from the minutes and action items which relate to matters other than those addressed in item 1.
3. correspondence/emails/communications to/from the AMW Council Chair, AWM Director, or AWM ADPP regarding the meeting items addressed in item 1.
4. correspondence/emails/communications to/from the AMW Council Chair, AWM Director, or AWM ADPP regarding the 13 March 2024 AWM Council agenda item "11. Further Official Histories Scope..."

• The contract for the official historian of the official histories on the operations in Afghanistan, East Timor and Iraq.
• Documents which recommend and decide the selection of the historians of volumes of the official histories on the operations in Afghanistan, East Timor and Iraq.

• The contract for the official historian of the official histories on the operations in Afghanistan, East Timor and Iraq.
• Documents which recommend and decide the selection of the historians of volumes of the official histories on the operations in Afghanistan, East Timor and Iraq.

The scoping study of July 2014.

•  The paper submitted to the Council, and relevant content of the meeting minutes, of August 2014 regarding the proposed history &/or scoping study.
• The papers submitted to the Council of March and May of 2015 meetings, and relevant content of the meeting minutes.

• A list of the potential suppliers approached by the AWM for CN3998238-A2, and
• The brief provided to any potential suppliers

• March 2025 Council agenda, minutes and catering invoices
• June 2025 Council agenda and catering invoices

• Record EXEC10041-006339

• Record EXEC10041-013332

• AWM Council meeting agendas and minutes. The date period of this item is from 01/01/2006 to 30/04/2006.

Procurement documents, including internal approvals and documentation,

regarding the process which resulted in the contract CN3292109.

• The contract, and any extensions or variations, for CN3292109.

• Invoices for the entity and contract relevant to CN3292109.

• The date period of this request is from 01/01/2015 to 30/06/2020.

1. Invoices, receipts or statements from the relevant publishers regarding the following publications:

• In Their Time of Need: Australia’s Overseas Emergency Relief Operations, 1918–2010
• Australia and the ‘New World Order’: From Peacekeeping to Peace Enforcement 1988–1991.

2) All correspondence created from the processing of FOI request 2024-25-27, excluding correspondence with the applicant, or correspondence with the publishers.

The date period for items 1. a) and b) is from 01/07/2015 to 30/09/2021. The date period for item 2) is from 20/04/2025 to the date of this request.

I do not seek the names of staff from the publishers, or their direct phone numbers, or direct contact details of current employees of the agency.

For the following two items:

1. Blueshift (2023, $65,000)

2. Habitat – Edition 2 of 5 (2023, $136,400)

Please provide only the documents that demonstrate how each item was evaluated, specifically:

Internal or external valuation reports;

Curatorial justifications or memos referencing cultural, artistic, or historical relevance;

Any acquisition proposals, briefing notes, or internal correspondence discussing the rationale for the purchase price;

Meeting notes or decisions authorizing the acquisitions.

• Record EXEC10041-010426

• the AWM Annual Report 2015-16 states that the Chair of the AWM Council provided a briefing to the Minister following AWM Council meetings. I request all briefs and correspondence to the Minister, talking points and briefs provided to the Chair, and diary notes of the Chair, for these briefings. 

The date period for this request is 01/01/2015 to 30/06/2016.

Please provide the following information relating to the most recent agreement between the Australian War Memorial (AWM) and each of the companies listed below:

1. Documents relating to the AWM’s due diligence requirements and/or risk assessments relating to the agreement
2. AWM council minutes and/or other council documentation relating to discussions or decisions about the agreement

The companies are:

1. 1. Lockheed Martin
   2. Northrop Grumman
   3. Boeing
   4. Leidos
   5. BAE Systems
   6. Thales
   7. Lockheed Martin
   8. RTX (formerly Raytheon).

1. the contract (Austender CN3971986) between AWM and Wildbear Entertainment Pty Ltd for the provision of a documentary for the AWM Development project
2. correspondence, emails or other documentation from the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019 relating to making a documentary about the redevelopment. 
3. a list of persons and/or entities - including non-Cwlth entities - that provided (or will provide) grants or sponsorship payments to fund the documentary and the total amount each entity provided (or will provide)
4. copies of any correspondence/emails/contracts and other documentation in relation to this project between the AWM and each of these entities during the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023
5. copies of any correspondence/emails/briefings and other documentation mentioning this project (eg minutes from AWM Council meetings) with the AWM Council (can be limited to the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020 if there are too many documents)
6. copies of any correspondence/emails/briefings and other documentation between the AWM and the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and his office in relation to this project.

• AWM Council meeting agendas and minutes. The date period of this item is from 01/01/2005 to 31/12/2005.
• Receipts and invoices for food and beverage catering for AWM Council meetings. The date period for this item is 01/01/2019 to 31/12/2019.

 Invoices, receipts or statements from the relevant publishers         regarding the following publications:

• In Their Time of Need: Australia’s Overseas Emergency Relief Operations, 1918–2006
• Born of Fire and Ash: Australian Operations in Response to the East Timor Crisis, 1999–2000
• Australia and the ‘New World Order’: From Peacekeeping to Peace Enforcement 1988–1991

Date period from 01/10/2021 to the date of this request.

I do not seek the names of staff from the publishers, or their direct phone numbers.

Confirmation of whether any additional emails or internal correspondence dated between 1 April and 9 April 2025 exist relating to:

• My proposal,
• The flag valuation,
• The involvement of Oral History staff, or
• The institutional response to the offer

1. You asked for corrections of specific inaccuracies in Memorial records.  
2. As part of the review you asked that the following areas be engaged:

• Executive
• Oral History
• Acquisitions
• Development teams

All email/other record of correspondence between Memorial officers and the ACT branch of the Returned & Services League (ACT RSL), dated between 1 January 2023 and 10 January 2025, regarding the topic of Anzac Day Dawn Services.

Minutes of meetings between the Memorial and ACT RSL, dated between 1 January 2023 and 10 January 2025.

Any documentation detailing the formal arrangement between the Memorial and ACT RSL regarding delivery of the annual Anzac Day Dawn Service.

Access to the following documents referred to in Professor Craig Stockings, Born of Fire and Ash: Australian operations in response to the East Timor crisis 1999–2000 (The Official History of Australian Operations in Iraq & Afghanistan ... Peacekeeping Operations in East Timor) (p. iii). UNSW Press:

•  *********** interview by ************, Canberra, 15 November 2017
   
• *********** interview by ************, Canberra, 16 August 2016

The most recent versions of internal AWM guidelines and/or codes of ethics and/or procedures.

The most recent register of conflict of interest for Council and a single register of conflict of interest for Council between 22 April 2022 and 31 December 2022.

Senior Management (SES Band 1 and above) declarations of conflict of interest under the above guidelines and/or codes of ethics and/or procedures since 1 November 2023.

The amounts of money donated to the AWM by Mr Nelson as a result of his paid work as a member of the Thales Australia Advisory Board; and, any correspondence regarding concerns about Mr Nelson's dual roles as AWM director and member of the Thales Advisory Board.

The AASB 124 Related Party Disclosure Data Collection Form for all key staff since 1 January 2020.

All documents and correspondence generated in the course of the decision increasing the rate of pay for casual VSOs employed by Hoban, in line with APS 3 employees. This may include, but is not limited to, the decision to not pay casual VSOs employed by Hoban Saturday penalty rates.

The timeframe for the request starts from the first piece of correspondence or document that initiated this decision (and not any previous attempts or deliberations) until today, 17 July 2024.

Exclude any spreadsheets or documents primarily containing any financial calculations or modelling and any duplicate documents.

War Memorial Council decisions, Council agenda papers or Memorial internal documentation relating to the adoption of the corporate document Australian War Memorial Strategic Plan 2023-28 (dated 2023), with particular reference to the paragraph on page 6: 'Our Purpose: To commemorate the sacrifice of those Australians who have died in war or on operational service and those who have served our nation' during the period 1 December 2022 to April 2023.

Any Memorial Council decision, or Council agenda papers, or internal memoranda dated on or after 10 November 2022 (Council Meeting 179) relating to the Council decision of 19 August 2022 (Council Meeting 178) on ‘Frontier Violence’ or modifying or referring to or revising the decision of 19 August 2022

For the period May to November 2023, any internal Memorial memoranda, Memorial advice to the Senate Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee, or advice from the Committee to the Memorial, in each case relating to the Answer to Senate Estimates Question on Notice 597

Any document (external or internal) that deals with why casual visitor services officers are engaged on award rates and conditions instead of APS rates and conditions

Any emails or other communications (eg. meeting invitations/speeches/ videos/transcripts/memorandums/revised chief executive instructions or equivalent) directed at all staff about either the Royal Commission on the Robo-debt Scheme (‘the Royal Commission’), or the government response to the Royal Commission

Any emails or other communications (eg. meeting invitations/speeches/ videos/transcripts/memorandums/revised chief executive instructions or equivalent) directed at all SES (or equivalent) staff about the Royal Commission on the Robo-debt Scheme, or the government response to the Royal Commission

Any brief prepared for Senate estimates in October 2023 relating to how the agency was responding to the Royal Commission or the government response to the Royal Commission

Any brief, agenda paper, submission (or similar) to the agency’s executive leadership group/senior leadership group (or however named in your agency) about how the agency was responding to the Royal Commission or implementing the government response to the Royal Commission

Any document relating to changing training modules/induction (or similar) (whether internally or externally delivered), to incorporate information about the Royal Commission or the government response to the Royal Commission.

Documents, emails, briefing notes and correspondence from 01/01/2022-present in relation to considerations about Ben Roberts-Smith-related displays at the Australian War Memorial. Documents, emails and briefing notes from 01/01/2022-present discussing the outcome of the Federal Court proceedings Ben Robert Smith v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd & Ors

All internal correspondence - including but not limited to emails and text messages - with Ben Roberts-Smith related to the decision to display the image attached to this email in the Australian War Memorial.

The original, full and unedited copy of any photo of Ben Roberts-Smith currently or previously displayed in the Australian War Memorial since he was awarded his Victoria Cross.

Please email foi@awm.gov.au if you require access to the documents

Assessments of the contents of the completed book ‘Born of Fire and Ash’ by Craig Stockings

The decision to hold a launch of the book on December 6, 2022, for which invitations were sent out on October 31, 2022, including assessments, requests and/or recommendations relating to the launch

The decision to postpone the launch, which was conveyed to invitees on November 1. 2022, including the date on which the decision was made and the reason/s for the decision

The decision to notify invitees of the postponement  

The decision to hold an ‘In Conversation’ event on March 15, 2023, involving book author Professor Craig Stockings discussing the book with AWM chairman Kim Beazley

Reasons for holding an ‘In Conversation’ event instead of a formal launch

The guest list for the originally proposed launch, scheduled for December 6, 2022

The guest list for the ‘In Conversation’ event subsequently held on March 15, 2023

Discussion/s about who should and/or should not be invited to: 

            the original postponed event 

            the subsequently held event. 

All briefing and correspondence associated with the AWM's decision to give both brass from the AWM's "Roll of Honour and gold from the 1919 King's Cup trophy to Mr Chris Hartley and/or "The King's Cup Organising Committee".

Access to the following:

(a) advice from the Memorial in approximately March or April 2022 to the then Minister for Veterans Affairs recommending the appointment of Ms Sharon Bown and Mr Daniel Keighran VC as members of the Council of the Memorial;

(b) copy of Gazette notice(s) or other official notification of appointments of Ms Bown and Mr Keighran as members of the Council of the Memorial for three-year terms commencing 5 May 2022.

Australian War Memorial Sponsorship and Marketing Policy  

Australian War Memorial  Code of Ethics

Agreement between Australian War Memorial and Lockheed Martin for the Veteran Podcast Series, and any other agreements/memoranda between the Australian War Memorial and Lockheed Martin

Documents relating to Australian War Memorial due diligence requirements or processes and/or risk assessments relating to the Lockheed Martin Veteran Podcast Series agreement,  and other agreements/memoranda between the Australian War Memorial and Lockheed Martin

Minutes or record of meeting of the Australian Heritage Council (AHC) meeting December 2021, insofar as they relate to a heritage management plan (HMP) submitted by the Australian War Memorial (AWM).

Advice from the AHC or DAWE providing feedback to the AWM on the AWM's HMP following the AHC meeting of December 2021.

Any responses (to the AHC or DAWE post-December 2021 feedback) sent by the AWM to the AHC or DAWE, including any AWM requests for further feedback from the AHC.

Copy of the conditions attaching to the Australian Heritage Council's approval of the Australian War Memorial's revised Heritage Management Plan or advice of where these conditions may be found in the public domain.

Released document 1

Released document 2

2020-2021-09

10/07/2021

General correspondence with customers regarding the development project, as well as directions or correspondence with staff and volunteers about how to respond to customers in writing or verbally.

Any Australian War Memorial council minutes and/or council file notes and/or council documentation relating to concerns and/or discussions about allegations of war crime by the Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan; Any minutes or correspondence regarding possible, potential or real conflicts of interest on the council and the time frame for this request is 1st of January 2016 to the present.

Released document

All emails held by the Australian War Memorial sent by either Mr Kerry Stokes or Mr Brendan Nelson mentioning "Ben Robert-Smith" or "BRS" or "Ben" (where the reference is to Mr Robert-Smith) between 1 March 2018 and 31 December 2018.