Department issued 'Communications Plans'
Dear Victorian Department of Health and Human Services,
I hereby make a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Information pertaining to the circumstances in which the DHHS issues 'Communication Plans,' to the guardians of an individual residing in a group home and under what DHHS policy a 'Communications Plan' comes under.
Yours faithfully,
Benjamin Ansell
Graduate Student at The University of Melbourne
Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information unit at the Department
of Health and Human Services.
Your email has been received and you will receive a response regarding your
Freedom of Information or subpoena enquiry as soon as possible.
If you are seeking further information regarding Freedom of Information,
please refer to our website at
<http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/for-individual...>
In response to:
Freedom of Information request - Department issued 'Communications
Plans'
Ben Barrels
to:
FOI requests at Victorian Department of Health and
Human Services
30/0
8/20
17
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Dear Victorian Department of Health and Human Services,
I hereby make a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Information pertaining to the circumstances in which the DHHS issues
'Communication Plans,' to the guardians of an individual residing in a
group home and under what DHHS policy a 'Communications Plan' comes under.
Yours faithfully,
Benjamin Ansell
Graduate Student at The University of Melbourne
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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #4061 email]
Is [Victorian Department of Health and Human Services request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Victorian Department of Health and Human Services? If so,
please contact us using this form:
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Dear Mr Ansell,
I refer to your application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
requesting access to:
"Information pertaining to the circumstances in which the DHHS issues
'Communication Plans,' to the guardians of an individual residing in a
group home and under what DHHS policy a 'Communication Plan' comes under."
Your application was received on 30 August 2017.
The Act provides that an application fee of $28.40 must accompany each
request. Please forward a cheque or money order for $28.40, made payable
to the Department of Health and Human Services at GPO Box 4057.
The Act also provides that the application fee may be waived or reduced if
payment of the fee would cause financial hardship. If you consider this to
be the case the fee may be waived or reduced on production of a statement
of how the payment of the application fee would cause you hardship. I have
included a copy of the statement of hardship form that you need to
complete if you would like the application fee waived.
Please note your request cannot proceed until the application fee or your
statement of hardship has been received as it is not a valid request. We
would appreciate it if you would respond by Thursday 28 September 2017,
otherwise we will assume that you do not wish to proceed with your request
and no further action will be taken by the department.
We can be contacted via email at [Victorian Department of Health and Human Services request email] or on (03) 9096 2004.
Please quote our reference number (F17/1217) in any correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Authorised Officer
Freedom of Information unit | People, Capability and Oversight
Department of Health and Human Services
50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000
t. 9096 8449 | f. 9096 8848 | e. [Victorian Department of Health and Human Services request email]
w. [1]www.dhhs.vic.gov.au
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.dhhs.vic.gov.au
Good morning Mr Ansell,
I refer to your application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
requesting access to:
"Information pertaining to the circumstances in which the DHHS issues
'Communication Plans,' to the guardians of an individual residing in a
group home and under what DHHS policy a 'Communication Plan' comes under."
I also refer to our previous correspondence dated 31 August date in which
we advised that your application in its current form is subject to
refusal, as an application fee of $28.40 has not been paid or an
application for a fee waiver on the grounds of financial hardship has not
been made to accompany your request. Therefore, your request does not meet
the criteria established in section 17(2A) the Act, and constitutes an
invalid request.
As you have not attempted to make contact with the department to resolve
this issue by the 28 September 2017 deadline provided in the previous
correspondence, I formally advise you of my decision to refuse to process
your application under section 17(2A) of the Act, as it is not a valid FOI
request.
Please be advised that this request is now finalised as a refusal, and
cannot be re-opened. If in the future you wish to continue to request
these documents, you are welcome to make a new request to the department.
Please note that an application fee of $28.40 will be required to be
submitted with your application, or grounds for a fee waiver duly made.
If you are not satisfied with my decision you have the right to apply to
the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (the Commissioner)
and make a complaint. A complaint needs to be made in writing within 60
days.
I have enclosed a fact sheet providing further information on making a
request for a complaint to the Commissioner.
Kind regards,
Authorised Officer
Freedom of Information unit | People, Capability and Oversight
Department of Health and Human Services
50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000
t. 9096 8449 | f. 9096 8848 | e. [Victorian Department of Health and Human Services request email]
w. [1]www.dhhs.vic.gov.au
From: FOI/HeadOffice/DHS
To: [FOI #4061 email]
Date: 31/08/2017 01:14 PM
Subject: F17/1217 - Acknowledgement of FOI Application - application fee
required
Locutus Sum left an annotation ()
The applicant has not told Right to Know the status of this request and I have been asked to update the status.
Note 1: Mostly I classify a response like this one to say "clarification requested" because the agency has told the applicant that some more information (or money!) is needed before the request will be processed. With this request, I have put the response in the category of "refused" because it is some time since the agency responded and the applicant does not appear to have made a follow-up. It is possible that a follow-up has been made by the ordinary post or by private email but Right to Know has not heard anything about this. Even if the applicant did not follow-up agency questions, it does not mean that the agency will refuse the request when an application is made in the correct (required) manner.
Note 2: Although an application under the Freedom of Information Act 1983 of the Commonwealth of Australia does not require an application fee, this is not the case with applications in the states and territories of Australia. Then an applicant must usually pay a fee, or the request is not valid. Also, the Commonwealth agencies might demand payment of a fee to cover extra processing costs. If the fee is not paid, the request will not be processed.