Post by Banjo on Sept 30, 2013 7:08:47 GMT 7
Freedom of information
Under freedom of information (FOI) you have a right, with limited exceptions, to access documents held by the department. An FOI request can take up to 30 days to process.
Documents available outside the FOI Act
To request Medicare or PBS information for an individual or a family, including end of financial year tax statements, complete the Request for Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) claims information for individuals and families form.
You can get certain information, including personal information we hold about you immediately through registering with online services:
Centrelink Customer Online Services
Child Support Online Services
Medicare Online Services
You should also check the information we have published under the Information Publication Scheme and FOI disclosure log to see if what you are seeking is already available.
You can access the facts & figures page for more publicly available information.
There are also options to seek high level statistical data outside of FOI. Further information and guidance on the processes is available by contacting statistics@humanservices.gov.au.
Note:
Please first check if the information you are seeking is available through facts & figures
Data requests are assessed on an individual basis and a fee may apply
There may be requirements to seek clearance from other sources including other government departments
Media should use the DHS Media Team as a first point of contact for information and data requests. Please visit the media section or email media@humanservices.gov.au.
Your rights
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives any person the right to:
access copies of documents (except exempt documents) we hold
ask for information we hold about you to be changed or annotated if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading, and
seek a review of our decision not to allow you access to a document or not to amend your personal record
You can ask to see any document that we hold. We can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt. Exempt documents may include those relating to national security, documents containing material obtained in confidence and Cabinet documents, or other matters set out in the FOI Act.
How to make an FOI request
You can submit your request by post, email or you can attend a departmental office but your request must:
be in writing
state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
provide information about the documents to assist us to process your request
provide an address for reply.
If you ask a third party to make an FOI request on your behalf, you need to provide a specific, written authority to send copies of documents to you care of that person, or to allow that person to inspect copies of documents containing information about you.
Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support programs:
Department of Human Services
PO Box 7820
Canberra BC ACT 2610
Email: freedomofinformation@humanservices.gov.au
Australian Hearing
Australian Hearing Hub
Level 5 , 16 University Avenue
Macquarie University NSW 2109
Australian Hearing FOI online request form
CRS Australia
Department of Human Services
PO Box 7820
Canberra BC ACT 2610
Email: freedomofinformation@humanservices.gov.au
Fees and charges
There is no application fee for an FOI request.
There are no processing charges for requests for access to documents containing only personal information about you. However, processing charges may apply to other requests. The most common charges are:
Activity Item Charge
Search and retrieval: time we spend searching for or retrieving a document $15.00 per hour
Decision making: time we spend in deciding to grant or refuse a request, including examining documents, consulting with other parties, and making deletions First five hours: Nil
Subsequent hours: $20 per hour
Transcript: preparing a transcript from a sound recording, shorthand or similar medium $4.40 per page of transcript
Photocopy $0.10 per page
Inspection: supervision by an agency officer of your inspection of documents or hearing or viewing an audio or visual recording at our premises $6.25 per half hour (or part thereof)
Delivery: posting or delivering a copy of a document at your request Cost of postage or delivery
If we decide to impose a charge, we will give you a written estimate and the basis of our calculation. Where the estimated charge is between $20 and $100, we may ask you to pay a deposit of $20, or where the estimated charge exceeds $100, we may ask you to pay a 25% deposit before we process your request.
You can ask for the charge to be waived or reduced for any reason, including financial hardship or on the grounds of public interest. If you do so, you should explain your reasons and you may need to provide some evidence.
What you can expect from us
We will tell you within 14 days that we have received your request. We will also give you an estimate of the charges that apply to your request. We will give you our decision within 30 days unless that time has been extended. If a document contains information about a third party, we will need to consult them and may need to extend the time to give you our decision by another 30 days. We may also seek your agreement to extend the time by up to 30 days if your request is complex.
If you disagree with our decision
When we have made a decision about your FOI request, we will send you a letter explaining our decision and your review and appeal rights.
You can ask for the following decisions to be reviewed:
if we refuse to give you access to all or part of a document or if we defer giving you access
if we impose a charge
if we refuse to change or annotate information about you that you claim is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading.
A third party who disagrees with our decision to give you documents that contain information about them can also ask for our decision to be reviewed.
Internal review
You can request in writing that we reconsider our decision through an internal review. An internal review will be conducted by another officer in our agency. We will advise you of our new decision within 30 days of receiving your request. Please send requests for internal reviews to the appropriate agency, FOI contact details as listed above.
Information Commissioner review
You can ask the Australian Information Commissioner to review our original decision or our decision on internal review within 60 days of the date of decision (or 30 days after you are notified if you are an affected third party). The Information Commissioner can affirm or vary the decision or substitute a new decision. The Information Commissioner may decide not to conduct a review in certain circumstances. More information is available at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request, you can complain to the Australian Information Commissioner who may investigate our actions. More information is available on the OAIC’s website. The Commonwealth Ombudsman can also investigate complaints about our actions. However, the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner will consult to avoid the same matter being investigated twice.
More information
Certain documents that we have released under the FOI Act can be obtained at:
FOI disclosure log
Information Publication Scheme
Additional information about the Freedom of Information, privacy and information policy is available by visiting the following websites:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
Freedom of information
Privacy Commissioner
Information policy
www.humanservices.gov.au/corporate/freedom-of-information/
Under freedom of information (FOI) you have a right, with limited exceptions, to access documents held by the department. An FOI request can take up to 30 days to process.
Documents available outside the FOI Act
To request Medicare or PBS information for an individual or a family, including end of financial year tax statements, complete the Request for Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) claims information for individuals and families form.
You can get certain information, including personal information we hold about you immediately through registering with online services:
Centrelink Customer Online Services
Child Support Online Services
Medicare Online Services
You should also check the information we have published under the Information Publication Scheme and FOI disclosure log to see if what you are seeking is already available.
You can access the facts & figures page for more publicly available information.
There are also options to seek high level statistical data outside of FOI. Further information and guidance on the processes is available by contacting statistics@humanservices.gov.au.
Note:
Please first check if the information you are seeking is available through facts & figures
Data requests are assessed on an individual basis and a fee may apply
There may be requirements to seek clearance from other sources including other government departments
Media should use the DHS Media Team as a first point of contact for information and data requests. Please visit the media section or email media@humanservices.gov.au.
Your rights
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives any person the right to:
access copies of documents (except exempt documents) we hold
ask for information we hold about you to be changed or annotated if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading, and
seek a review of our decision not to allow you access to a document or not to amend your personal record
You can ask to see any document that we hold. We can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt. Exempt documents may include those relating to national security, documents containing material obtained in confidence and Cabinet documents, or other matters set out in the FOI Act.
How to make an FOI request
You can submit your request by post, email or you can attend a departmental office but your request must:
be in writing
state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
provide information about the documents to assist us to process your request
provide an address for reply.
If you ask a third party to make an FOI request on your behalf, you need to provide a specific, written authority to send copies of documents to you care of that person, or to allow that person to inspect copies of documents containing information about you.
Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support programs:
Department of Human Services
PO Box 7820
Canberra BC ACT 2610
Email: freedomofinformation@humanservices.gov.au
Australian Hearing
Australian Hearing Hub
Level 5 , 16 University Avenue
Macquarie University NSW 2109
Australian Hearing FOI online request form
CRS Australia
Department of Human Services
PO Box 7820
Canberra BC ACT 2610
Email: freedomofinformation@humanservices.gov.au
Fees and charges
There is no application fee for an FOI request.
There are no processing charges for requests for access to documents containing only personal information about you. However, processing charges may apply to other requests. The most common charges are:
Activity Item Charge
Search and retrieval: time we spend searching for or retrieving a document $15.00 per hour
Decision making: time we spend in deciding to grant or refuse a request, including examining documents, consulting with other parties, and making deletions First five hours: Nil
Subsequent hours: $20 per hour
Transcript: preparing a transcript from a sound recording, shorthand or similar medium $4.40 per page of transcript
Photocopy $0.10 per page
Inspection: supervision by an agency officer of your inspection of documents or hearing or viewing an audio or visual recording at our premises $6.25 per half hour (or part thereof)
Delivery: posting or delivering a copy of a document at your request Cost of postage or delivery
If we decide to impose a charge, we will give you a written estimate and the basis of our calculation. Where the estimated charge is between $20 and $100, we may ask you to pay a deposit of $20, or where the estimated charge exceeds $100, we may ask you to pay a 25% deposit before we process your request.
You can ask for the charge to be waived or reduced for any reason, including financial hardship or on the grounds of public interest. If you do so, you should explain your reasons and you may need to provide some evidence.
What you can expect from us
We will tell you within 14 days that we have received your request. We will also give you an estimate of the charges that apply to your request. We will give you our decision within 30 days unless that time has been extended. If a document contains information about a third party, we will need to consult them and may need to extend the time to give you our decision by another 30 days. We may also seek your agreement to extend the time by up to 30 days if your request is complex.
If you disagree with our decision
When we have made a decision about your FOI request, we will send you a letter explaining our decision and your review and appeal rights.
You can ask for the following decisions to be reviewed:
if we refuse to give you access to all or part of a document or if we defer giving you access
if we impose a charge
if we refuse to change or annotate information about you that you claim is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading.
A third party who disagrees with our decision to give you documents that contain information about them can also ask for our decision to be reviewed.
Internal review
You can request in writing that we reconsider our decision through an internal review. An internal review will be conducted by another officer in our agency. We will advise you of our new decision within 30 days of receiving your request. Please send requests for internal reviews to the appropriate agency, FOI contact details as listed above.
Information Commissioner review
You can ask the Australian Information Commissioner to review our original decision or our decision on internal review within 60 days of the date of decision (or 30 days after you are notified if you are an affected third party). The Information Commissioner can affirm or vary the decision or substitute a new decision. The Information Commissioner may decide not to conduct a review in certain circumstances. More information is available at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request, you can complain to the Australian Information Commissioner who may investigate our actions. More information is available on the OAIC’s website. The Commonwealth Ombudsman can also investigate complaints about our actions. However, the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner will consult to avoid the same matter being investigated twice.
More information
Certain documents that we have released under the FOI Act can be obtained at:
FOI disclosure log
Information Publication Scheme
Additional information about the Freedom of Information, privacy and information policy is available by visiting the following websites:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
Freedom of information
Privacy Commissioner
Information policy
www.humanservices.gov.au/corporate/freedom-of-information/