COVID-19 Deaths by Age Group
Phillip Sweeney made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Health
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Department of Health,
The official death total from COVID-19 in Australia is 910 for all age groups.
The documents or documents I seek are records that break down these official deaths by age group.
For example fatalities for persons under the age of 10, for persons aged 10 to 20, for persons aged 21 to 30 etc.
The age bands do not necessarily have to be the same as the example.
Yours faithfully,
Phillip Sweeney
Dear Mr Sweeney,
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 Unit – 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][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.
Dear Mr Sweeney,
I refer to your request of 27 May 2021 to the Department of Health (the
department) seeking access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
(FOI Act) in the following terms:
The official death total from COVID-19 in Australia is 910 for all age
groups. The documents or documents I seek are records that break down
these official deaths by age group. For example fatalities for persons
under the age of 10, for persons aged 10 to 20, for persons aged 21 to 30
etc. The age bands do not necessarily have to be the same as the example.
The relevant line area of the department has reviewed your request and I
have been advised the department does not hold any documents relevant to
the scope of your request.
Publicly available information
I am able to provide you with the following link to publicly available
information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) which I trust
will be of assistance to you. Unlike our statistics at the department,
which are based on the data from the National Notifiable Diseases
Surveillance System (NNDSS), the mortality data published by the ABS is
based on death registrations processed by the Registry 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.
The following links will take you to webpages which show COVID-19
mortality statistics, including breakdowns by age and gender. Though the
first source is current as at 26 May 2021, the latter two are current
until 31 August 2020 and 28 October 2020 respectively:
· [1]Provisional Mortality Statistics, Jan 2020 - Feb 2021 |
Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)
· [2]https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/covid-19...
· [3]COVID-19 Mortality | Australian Bureau of Statistics
(abs.gov.au)
With regard to the first source, the ABS has noted that the next release
of information pertaining to mortality statistics is due to occur on 23
June 2021.
In addition, please see below a table from the COVID-19 Epidemiology
Reports (No.24) which is published on our website, the link for which is
attached below.
[4]cid:image001.png@01D75DDC.D208CF60
[5]https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2020.44.75
Again, please note that this report is not current and the data for which
dates to 30 August 2020, which does not delineate the breakdown of the 910
deaths which are currently recorded.
Next steps
On that basis, please confirm by COB Wednesday 16 June if you would like
to withdraw your request, or if you would prefer the department to
continue processing your request to a formal decision.
Please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Unit on (02) 6289 1666, or via
email at [6][email address] if you would like to discuss your request
further.
Kind regards,
FOI Officer
FOI Unit - FOI and Legislation Support Section
[7]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: [8][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.