aggregate report of COVID-19 Co-morbidities
Dear Department of Health,
Under the FOI Act I am requesting a summary report of all Covid-19 (SARS Coronavirus nCoV-2) deaths with ANY co-morbidities listed on death certificates and what those co-morbidities were, and additional summary of those where covid-19 was listed as the only cause.
This is for the specific reason of analytical data extrapolation to segregate those who are most at risk and subsequent help this will provide the public when making seemingly trivial but life-threatening decisions while going about their business.
I am unable to find this information online anywhere, and i believe the requested information is more than likely already available for usage, but not made public as of yet.
I am seeking the aforementioned information with a request to waive all fees due to the immense public interest this information pertains to, furthermore due to these pressing and unprecidented times - it would not be ethical on the part of the Australian Government to impose a fee on what is considered public information during a public emergency, health crisis, economic recession and financial collapse - with ramifications not seen since World War 2, as stated by public officials and media representitives in recent months, not to mention the recent findings that millenials (a group which i categorically belong to) are the MOST affected financially by this current crisis. I am willing to provide links to these statements - although I would hope that we are all on the same page with this determination of leniency as "we are all in this together" and nothing expresses this sentiment better than having an understanding that we Australian citizens are ALL unsure and anxious about the future of our beautiful nation's wellbeing, and whether our savings will ride out the waves of this economic financial burden. With honor, persistence, dignity and respect, I strongly believe we can help one another get through this.
Regarding public interest specifically - this country has never before seen as widespread as this pandemic. The full transparent cooperation of all Government agencies in these profound times is absolutely neccesary to sustain a free and democratic society.
Yours faithfully,
n. a.
Dear J M
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – NOTIFICATION OF RECEIPT
I am writing to notify you that the Department of Health (department) has
received your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
The department will take all reasonable steps to notify you of a decision
no later than 30 calendar days after the date your request was received.
You will be contacted where a charge is applied for processing your
request or if we need to consult a third party.
Unless you advise otherwise, duplicate documents and Commonwealth employee
names and contact details below Senior Executive Service level and mobile
telephone numbers of all staff will be excluded from the scope of your
request under s22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act.
You can contact the FOI Unit on (02) 6289 1666, or via email at
[1][email address], should you have any enquiries.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
FOI and Legislation Section
[2]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [3][Health request email]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
Dear J M
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request to the
Department of Health.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
FOI Unit – FOI and Legislation Support Section
[1]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal and Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice and Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [2][Health request email]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
Dear FOI,
Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, I am dissatisfied with the outcome of my request. Furthermore, the links provided were not an alternative source of the information requested.
I am choosing to clarify the nature of my request as the following sentence from your reply implies incorrectly that I am requesting a specific document for release:
"the department does not hold THE DOCUMEMT referred to in your request."
Referring back to my original request:
"I am requesting a SUMMARY REPORT of all.."
I recognise that my request may have implied that a document may already exist, but I was actually asking for a summary that did not, unless it did exist.
As a consequence of this mix-up, I am now clarifying my request to access all, or as many of the following as possible:
1. Any internal documents regarding co-morbidities pertinent to COVID-19 death/s.
2. Any internal documents regarding contributing factors pertinent to COVID-19 death/s.
3. Any internal documents regarding aggregated statistics pertinent to contributing factors AND/OR co-morbidities related to COVID-19 deaths.
4. Any internal documents regarding aggregated statistics pertinent to COVID-19 deaths.
5. Any internal documents regarding statistical analysis of COVID-19 deaths.
6. Any internal documents regarding the analysis of COVID-19 deaths.
If any or all of the above are not available to this department, I would respectfully ask that you transfer this request to the most relevant department.
Again, I would like to reiterate the importance of this request to the public. Citizens are dying - and the analytics currently available to the public regarding deaths are not sufficient enough for an individual to personally assess their own risk of death due to contraction and subsequent infection of the COVID-19 virus.
It is imperative that every Australian citizen know as much as possible about the lifestyles of the individuals who have died as a result of the virus for them to be able to modulate and amend their own lifestyles in a way that can statistically reduce their chances of death - none of this is possible without knowing what other diseases/health problems/contributing factors were attributed to the unfortunate deaths of the citizens which have already died from the virus.
I find it hard to believe the Health Department do not have documents relating to the contributing factors in COVID-19 deaths - this would imply that The Health Department are incompetent in regards to warning the public, which they are obligated to protect, as to which demographic of citizens are most vulnerable to dying as a result of contraction.
With this in mind, i feel it is necessary to release ANY and ALL publicly available information related to Covid-19 deaths so the public may aggregate and analyse the co-morbidity data themselves, but I am understanding that this request may out of the scope of a FOI request to this department.
Yours sincerely,
J M
Dear J M
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – NOTIFICATION OF RECEIPT
I am writing to notify you that the Department of Health (department) has
received your request (in your below email) for access to documents under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
The department will take all reasonable steps to notify you of a decision
no later than 30 calendar days after the date your request was received.
You will be contacted where a charge is applied for processing your
request or if we need to consult a third party.
Unless you advise otherwise, duplicate documents and Commonwealth employee
names and contact details below Senior Executive Service level and mobile
telephone numbers of all staff will be excluded from the scope of your
request under s22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act.
You can contact the FOI Unit on (02) 6289 1666, or via email at
[1][email address], should you have any enquiries.
Regards
FOI Officer
FOI and Legislation Section
[2]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [3][Health request email]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
Dear JM
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request to the
Department of Health.
Kind regards
FOI Unit – FOI and Legislation Support Section
[1]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal and Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice and Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [2][Health request email]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
Dear FOI,
You have sent me the exact same information. This
In my last inquiry, I very clearly stated:
"If any or all of the above are not available to this department, I would respectfully ask that you transfer this request to the most relevant department."
Under section 19 of the FOIA act, it is not unreasonable to expect the department of health to transfer this request to the most relevant department of which this request can be actioned.
You have chosen not to transfer this request.
The implication of this outcome as such has me wondering why the Department of Health has not done ANY statistical analysis of COVID-19 deaths.
Which department is able to action my request? Please transfer this request to them.
I will ask this next question as clearly and articulated as I can, and I do requilest a formal response:
Has the department of Health done ANY statistical analysis of COVID-19 deaths?
Lastly, as a result of the outcome of this request:
I will now require ALL communications pertinent to this request. This includes, but is not limited to: internal/external messages & emails, transcripts, phone conversations, etc.
Yours sincerely,
J M
Dear J M
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) does not authorise a
Commonwealth entity to transfer an FOI request to a State or Territory
entity. It is open to you to make a request to the relevant State or
Territory entity.
Please advise by COB Thursday 12 November 2020, whether you would like the
department to treat the following comment in your email below as a new FOI
request under the FOI Act:
I will now require ALL communications pertinent to this request. This
includes, but is not limited to: internal/external messages & emails,
transcripts, phone conversations, etc.
Kind regards,
Jack
FOI and Legislation Section
[1]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [2][Health request email]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
Dear J M
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – NOTIFICATION OF RECEIPT
I am writing to notify you that the Department of Health (department) has
received your request (in your below email) for access to documents under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
The department will take all reasonable steps to notify you of a decision
no later than 30 calendar days after the date your request was received.
You will be contacted where a charge is applied for processing your
request or if we need to consult a third party.
Unless you advise otherwise, duplicate documents and Commonwealth employee
names and contact details below Senior Executive Service level and mobile
telephone numbers of all staff will be excluded from the scope of your
request under s22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act.
You can contact the FOI Unit on (02) 6289 1666, or via email at
[1][email address], should you have any enquiries.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
FOI and Legislation Section
[2]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [3][Health request email]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
Dear J M
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your Freedom of
Information request to the Department of Health.
Kind regards
FOI Unit – FOI and Legislation Support Section
[1]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [2][email address]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
"Important: This transmission is intended only for the use of the
addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or
dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you
receive this transmission in error please notify the author immediately
and delete all copies of this transmission."
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Department of Health,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Health's handling of my FOI request 'aggregate report of COVID-19 Co-morbidities'.
My request has been avoided in its entirety, furthermore, an outcome to an unrelated FOIA request was coupled along with my request - in affect rendering my request unanswered and effectively was avoided.
I am unhappy with my response on the grounds that while looking through liasing material, its clear that not a single attempt had been made to fulfil my inquiry/gather the relevant documents and therefore believe the response given was unacceptable and the conduct of the officers pertinent to my request acted with utmost disregard to the intentions of FOIA responsibilities.
It is clear that my request was not fulfilled, nor was it in any way, shape or form investigated to the extent that the mission of the FOIA requires.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...
Yours faithfully,
J M
This is the mail system at host righttoknow.org.au.
I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not
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Sent a follow up to Department of Health again.
Attention: J M
We refer to your following request for internal review. We note you have
submitted the following three Freedom of Information requests in relation
to COVID-19 co-morbidities:
1958 submitted 10 September 2020
2033 submitted 13 October 2020
2045 submitted 8 February 2021
Could you please advise which FOI request you are seeking the department
to review.
Please provide a response to the department by COB 10 May 2021.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
FOI and Legislation Support Section
[1]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [2][Health request email]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
Dear FOI,
In response to your question - all of which bare relevance to this email chain.
This includes:
1958 submitted 10 September 2020
2033 submitted 13 October 2020
2045 submitted 8 February 2021
If the department requires seperate lodgement for review for each of the preceeding FOIA requests - I kindly ask that the department take all steps reasonable required to lodge each request for review seprately. That is - the department has permission on my behalf to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure all requests are reviewed either individually or as a whole.
I'm under the assumption that the aforementioned requests have a unique inherent value when treated amalgam, related to my personal experience whilst liasing with the department.
Furthermore, as far as I'm aware, the "righttoknow.org.au" website, of which I am, and have been using, to communicate, treats the previously mentioned requests as a singular request, not as a multiple, and therefore I believe all aforementioned requests hold significant value pertinent to my experience with the department and its FOIA office relating to this email chain & all inclusive requests.
Yours sincerely,
J M
Attention: JM
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION INTERNAL REVIEW REQUEST – NOTIFICATION OF RECEIPT
I am writing to notify you that the Department of Health (department) has
received your Internal Review requests (in your attached email) for access
to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
The department will take all reasonable steps to notify you of a separate
decision for each request, no later than 30 calendar days after the date
your requests were received.
You can contact the FOI Unit on (02) 6289 1666, or via email at
[1][email address], should you have any enquiries.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
FOI and Legislation Support Section
[2]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [3][Health request email]
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
"Important: This transmission is intended only for the use of the
addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or
dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you
receive this transmission in error please notify the author immediately
and delete all copies of this transmission."
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[Health request email]
Dear J M
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your Freedom of
Information request to the Department of Health.
Kind regards
François
FOI Unit - FOI & Legislation Support Section
[1]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [2][email address]
Location: 260 Elizabeth Street, Sydney
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
"Important: This transmission is intended only for the use of the
addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or
dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you
receive this transmission in error please notify the author immediately
and delete all copies of this transmission."
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear J M
I refer to your application for an internal review in respect of FOI 1958,
FOI 2033 and FOI 2045.
I also refer to your clarification in the email below to the effect that
the department may review the primary decisions in FOI 1958, FOI 2033 and
FOI 2045 either individually or as a whole.
As discussed with you, as the three requests were different in scope, we
are reviewing the decisions on the three requests separately.
This email relates to your application for internal review of the decision
for FOI 2033 (contributing factors and comorbidities and COVID-19).
Internal review application out of time
Pursuant to section 54B of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, an
application for internal review must be made within 30 days after the day
the decision is notified to the applicant or such further period as the
agency allows.
As you were notified of the initial decision in relation to FOI 2033 on 6
November 2020, the statutory period for applying for an internal review
expired on 7 December 2020.
In considering whether to provide you with leave to make your internal
review application out of time, the department may consider the reasons
you provide for the delay in making the application, the length of time
that has elapsed since the primary decision was made and any
administrative difficulty or prejudice to the department in granting
leave.
I note that a period of six months has elapsed since the initial decision
in FOI 2033 was made.
Scope of the internal review application
Please also note that if the department gives you leave to make your
internal review request for that decision, the internal review would be
confined to documents in scope at the time you made your original FOI
application on 13 October 2021. You are able, however, to make a fresh FOI
request now for the same documents, noting that your request, if made now,
will capture more recent documents.
Publications on COVID-19 deaths and comorbidities
Please note that the following information on COVID 19 deaths and
contributing factors has been published by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS).
The ABS reports on mortality data are based on death registrations
processed by the Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages of the states
and territories as well as information on the cause of death sourced from
Medical Certificates of Cause of Death.
[1]COVID-19 Mortality | Australian Bureau of Statistics
[2]Provisional deaths data for measuring changes in patterns of mortality
during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period
You may also be interested in the following Griffith University research
analysis on comorbidities associated with COVID deaths.
[3]Comorbidities in SARS-Cov-2 Patients: a systemic Review and
Meta-Analysis
You may also be interested in the RACGP articles on the ABS data on COVID
and pre-existing conditions and on the Comorbidities study referred to
above:
[4]RACGP - More than 70% of Australian COVID deaths had pre-existing
conditions
[5]RACGP - Study identifies four main comorbidities associated with COVID
deaths
Having regard to the above information, please advise by close of business
on Wednesday 16 June 2021, whether you wish to proceed with your internal
review request for FOI 2033. If we have not heard from you by then, we
will treat request as withdrawn.
Kind regards
François
FOI Unit - FOI & Legislation Support Section
[6]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [7][email address]
Location: 260 Elizabeth Street, Sydney
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
Dear J M
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your Freedom of
Information request to the Department of Health.
Kind regards
François
FOI Unit - FOI & Legislation Support Section
[1]cid:image003.png@01D51610.1D98D220
Legal & Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Legal Advice & Legislation Branch
Australian Government Department of Health
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [2][email address]
Location: 260 Elizabeth Street, Sydney
GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of
Australia and their continued connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to all Elders past and present.
If you receive this email in error, please delete it and contact the
sender immediately.
"Important: This transmission is intended only for the use of the
addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or
dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you
receive this transmission in error please notify the author immediately
and delete all copies of this transmission."
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[email address]