Gold card costs
Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
I am seeking the latest document/worksheet listing the following, namely:
: The total cost to DVA of a veteran in receipt of a Gold Card.
: The total cost to DVA of a war widow in receipt of a Gold Card
: The total additional cost to Government of a veteran in receipt of a Gold Card, and
: The total additional cost to Government of a war widow in receipt of a Gold Card.
All documentation/worksheets to list the complete breakdown of costs, e.g. optical, dental, hospital, transport, medical, pharmaceutical, etc.
Yours faithfully,
Alan ASHMORE
Dear Mr Ashmore
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (the department) has received your
request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). I note you have requested access to the following:
I am seeking the latest document/worksheet listing the
following, namely:
: The total cost to DVA of a veteran in receipt of a Gold Card.
: The total cost to DVA of a war widow in receipt of a Gold Card
: The total additional cost to Government of a veteran in receipt of a
Gold Card, and
: The total additional cost to Government of a war widow in receipt of a
Gold Card.
All documentation/worksheets to list the complete breakdown of costs, e.g.
optical, dental, hospital, transport, medical, pharmaceutical, etc.
Your request was received by the department on 8 September 2022 and the
ordinary 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced
from the day after that date.
Charges
The Department will notify you within 14 days of an estimate of the
charges that will apply to your request for non-personal information
before we process any requested documents or impose a final charge.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[1][FOI #9359 email] . Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Disclosure log
Information released under the FOI Act may be published on a disclosure
log on our website, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions
include where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.
Request to treat certain material as out of scope or irrelevant to the
request
To the extent the department has documents in its possession that fall
within the scope of your request, we intend to treat the following
information as out of scope or irrelevant to your request, pursuant to
section 22(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act:
1. The surnames, signatures and direct contact details of non-SES
Commonwealth employees and contractors, including clinical staff working
for Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling; and
2. The signatures of third party individuals.
If you agree to the department treating these details as irrelevant,
please advise by 22 September 2022.
Further assistance
If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]
Yours sincerely
Arthur
Position Number 62210944
Information Access Officer
Information Access Unit
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Email: [3][email address]
[4]cid:image001.png@01D4D4DC.79DB5D20
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #9359 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[email address]
Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
I am comfortable with the contents of your letter of 15 September 2022.
Yours sincerely,
Alan ASHMORE
Dear Mr Ashmore
I refer to your Freedom of Information request (LEX 53717) to the
Department of Veterans’ Affairs, dated 8 September 2022, seeking the
following:
“I am seeking the latest document/worksheet listing the following, namely:
: The total cost to DVA of a veteran in receipt of a Gold Card.
: The total cost to DVA of a war widow in receipt of a Gold Card
: The total additional cost to Government of a veteran in receipt of a
Gold Card, and
: The total additional cost to Government of a war widow in receipt of a
Gold Card.
All documentation/worksheets to list the complete breakdown of costs, e.g.
optical, dental, hospital, transport, medical, pharmaceutical, etc.”
The Department is currently compiling the data requested and requires
additional time to breakdown the total costs to meet the requirements of
your request.
Request for extension of time
The FOI Act states that an FOI request must be processed within 30 days of
receipt in the first instance.
Under section 15AA of the FOI Act, an extension of time is possible if the
applicant agrees in writing.
We are seeking your agreement to a 14-day extension of time to finalise
your request.
The current due date of this request is 10 October 2022. If granted, the
extension would make the new decision date for your request 24 October
2022.
We will of course make every effort to finalise the request earlier than
that date.
Your response sought
Please respond to this email by COB 28 September 2022 to let me know
whether you are agreeable to this extension of time request.
If you do not agree to this extension of time, the Department may need to
apply to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for an
extension of time under section 15AB of the FOI Act.
If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact me
at: [1][email address].
Kind regards
Ramona
Assistant Director
Position Number: 62336362
Information Access Unit | Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans' Affairs
GPO Box 9998 Canberra ACT 2600 | 21 Genge St Canberra City ACT 2601
[2]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
Yes I agree with your request. Looking forward to receiving all the requested information by no later than the revised date.
Yours sincerely,
Alan ASHMORE
Dear Mr Ashmore
Thank you for agreeing to the extension of time request.
Kind regards
Ramona
Assistant Director
Position Number: 62336362
Information Access Unit | Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans' Affairs
GPO Box 9998 Canberra ACT 2600 | 21 Genge St Canberra City ACT 2601
[1]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
Dear Mr Ashmore
Thank you for your Information Access request to the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs – LEX 53717.
Please find the decision and documents for release attached.
Kind regards
Ramona
Assistant Director
Position Number: 62336362
Information Access Unit | Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Department of Veterans' Affairs
GPO Box 9998 Canberra ACT 2600 | 21 Genge St Canberra City ACT 2601
[1]cid:image001.png@01D0027A.1DAB84F0
References
Visible links
Dear Department of Veterans' Affairs,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans' Affairs's handling of my FOI request 'Gold card costs'.
I note your refusal to issue, "the total additional cost to the Government of veterans and
war widows in receipt of a Gold Card) under section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act, on the basis
that the documents do not exist."
May I respectively challenge the desision that the documents do not exist. I say this as immediately following the conclusion of the Secretary's Round Table, (SRT), in August 2019 one of DVA's First Assistant Secretary's approached Mick Quinn and I about this matter that we had earlier raised in the meeting.
The First Assistant Secretary showed us a one page document that detailed the exact information I requested and you claim does not exist. This First Assistant Secretary then arranged to meet with him when next in Melbourne but we never heard from him again.
Should you be unable or unwilling to release the requested document you will leave me with no alternative but to write to the Minister.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/g...
Yours faithfully,
Alan ASHMORE
Dear Mr Ashmore
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (the department) has received your
request for internal review of the Department’s decision (LEX 53717) under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Your internal review
request reads as follows:
‘I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Veterans'
Affairs's handling of my FOI request 'Gold card costs'.’
Your request for internal review was received by the department on 15
November 2022 and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request
commenced from the day after that date.
Where possible, your request for internal review will be handled by a FOI
officer who was not involved in the original decision.
Your address
The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address that we can send
notices to. You have advised your email address is
[1][FOI #9359 email]. Unless you tell us
otherwise, we will send all notices and correspondence to this address.
Further assistance
If you have any questions about your request, please email
[2][DVA request email]
Regards
Fiona Position Number – 62211034
Senior Registrations Officer
Information Access Unit / Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Client Engagement and Support Services Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[3][DVA request email]
[4]www.dva.gov.au
[5]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[6]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[7]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[8]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590
[9]cid:image008.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
[10]cid:image009.jpg@01D8EA24.8F7FA8A0
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #9359 email]
2. mailto:[DVA request email]
3. mailto:[DVA request email]
4. http://www.dva.gov.au/
5. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
6. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
7. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
8. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus
Good morning Mr Ashmore,
Can you please clarify what you mean by:
: The total additional cost to Government of a veteran in receipt of a
Gold Card, and
: The total additional cost to Government of a war widow in receipt of a
Gold Card.
I am reaching out to multiple areas to try to locate any records for this
request.
Kind regards
Brett | Director a/g
Position Number 62331110
Information Access Unit I Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Client Engagement and Support Services Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Tel 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
information.access @dva.gov.au
[1]www.dva.gov.au
[2]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[3]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[4]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[5]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590
References
Visible links
1. http://www.dva.gov.au/
2. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
3. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
4. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
5. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus
Dear INFORMATION.ACCESS,
I am responding to your message received this morning.
"Can you please clarify what you mean by:
: The total additional cost to Government of a veteran in receipt of a
Gold Card, and
: The total additional cost to Government of a war widow in receipt of a
Gold C."
I thought this would have been self explanatory but I will spell it out in more detail for you and will use my example as a Gold Card veteran.
Nearly every medical issue I have to seek a medical and specialist appointment/treatment for is for a war accepted medical condition and is paid for by DVA gold card. It is a specific DVA cost but incorrectly included as a 'cost' of the Gold Card. I estimate that of the annual costs DVA pay for my gold card is that 90% is specifically related to my war accepted medical conditions and 10% is the additional cost to Government for example dental costs which are not specifically war related. In my case the ADDITIONAL cost to Government in my case is around 10% and not 100%.
In addition there are many costs DVA include as the total cost of a Gold Card that would otherwise be paid by:
: Medicare.
: The Public Hospital system, and
: Chemist costs to name a few.
I hope this gives you some direction that I am looking for the ADDITIONAL cost to Government by the issue of a Gold Card.
As noted previously Mick Quinn and I saw a one page document in 2019 of the information I am seeking so I know such a document DOES exist.
Yours sincerely,
Alan ASHMORE
Good morning Mr Ashmore,
Please see your decision letter attached.
Regards
Brett | Director a/g
Position Number 62331110
Information Access Unit I Client Access and Rehabilitation Branch
Client Engagement and Support Services Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Tel 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
information.access @dva.gov.au
[1]www.dva.gov.au
[2]cid:image002.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[3]cid:image003.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[4]cid:image004.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590[5]cid:image005.png@01D7B6E3.69D49590
References
Visible links
1. http://www.dva.gov.au/
2. https://www.facebook.com/DVAAus
3. https://twitter.com/DVAAus
4. https://au.linkedin.com/company/australi...
5. https://www.youtube.com/DVATVAus
OAIC reference: MR24/00884
Our reference: LEX 53717 (LEX 68270)
Dear Mr Ashmore
I refer to the attached notice of Information Commissioner review in
relation to a decision by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (Department)
on 15 December 2022 in relation to your FOI request LEX 53717.
The Department’s submissions to the OAIC are attached.
Please note that Attachments F to J are not provided to you as they
contain personal information of Departmental employees that is otherwise
exempt under sections 47E and 47F of the FOI Act.
In accordance with the procedures set out in Annexure A of the attached
Notice of IC review, you have 10 business days from the date of receiving
this email to provide your submissions in response. Please email your
response to the Department at [1][email address] and the
Information Commissioner at [2][email address]. Please include a
reference to MR24/00884 in both of your emails.
If you do not make submissions, the OAIC may make a final decision without
giving you a further opportunity to make submissions.
For more information about the OAIC’s IC review process, please visit the
OAIC’s website at: [3]Direction as to certain procedures to be followed by
applicants in Information Commissioner reviews | OAIC.
Kind regards
Joshua | Assistant Director
Position Number: 62336362
Information Access Unit
Client and Information Access Branch
Ministerial, Engagement & Communication Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
[4][DVA request email]
[5]www.dva.gov.au
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
4. mailto:[DVA request email]
5. http://www.dva.gov.au/