Dear Toby,

I refer to your application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
Act) requesting access to:

"Please provide the number of injury hospitalisations due to contact with
venomous animals and plants, by type of contact and sex in Victoria by
year from 2020 - 2022."

Your application was received on 19 October 2023.

Invalid request – Application fee required

The Act provides that an application fee of $31.80 must accompany each
request. In the current circumstances, the department's preferred method
of payment is via the Victorian Government's online FOI portal at the
below link:

[1]https://online.foi.vic.gov.au/foi/reques...

Please quote your reference number (F23/2183) in the "Request Details"
section of the online form. You do not need to provide the wording of your
request again.

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 evidence of
how the payment of the application fee would cause you hardship. 

As stated on the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner’s
website, an applicant should provide evidence of hardship when they are
requesting an agency to waive or reduce the application fee:

‘If you request the application fee to be waived or reduced, you should
provide evidence of hardship – for example, a concession or health care
card, a bank statement, or statutory declaration outlining why payment
would cause you hardship.’

Please note your request cannot proceed until the application fee or
evidence of hardship has been received as it is not a valid request.

I would appreciate it if you would respond by 24 November 2023, otherwise
I will assume that you do not wish to proceed and no further action will
be taken by the department.

Please direct all correspondence relating to your request to
[2][Victorian Department of Health request email].

Kind regards,

Authorised Officer | Freedom of Information unit 
Legal, Privacy and Integrity 
Department of Health 

[3]www.health.vic.gov.au 

This email contains confidential information intended only for the person
named above and may be subject to legal privilege. If you are not the
intended recipient, any disclosure, copying or use of this information is
prohibited. The Department provides no guarantee that this communication
is free of virus or that it has not been intercepted or interfered with.
If you have received this email in error or have any other concerns
regarding its transmission, please notify [email address]

This email and/or attached documents may include Victorian protective
markings as set out by the Office of the Victorian Information
Commissioner (OVIC). More information on protective markings can be found
[4]here

References

Visible links
1. https://online.foi.vic.gov.au/foi/reques...
2. mailto:[Victorian Department of Health request email]
3. http://www.health.vic.gov.au/
4. https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/protective-m...

Dear Toby,

I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
submitted to the Department of Health on 19 October 2023.

On 2 November 2023, an email was sent to you seeking the relevant
application fee of $31.80 as per s 17 of the Act. It was requested at that
time that the fee be paid by 24 November 2023 or we would presume that you
no longer wished to continue with the request.

To date, no application fee has been received. In accordance with s 17(2)
of the FOI Act, I have closed your request. Should you wish to pursue this
again in the future, please feel free to submit a fresh request.

Kind regards,

Mike

Mike Cain (he/him) 

Manager | FOI & Legal Compliance
Legal, Privacy and Integrity Branch  

Department of Health | 50 Lonsdale St, Melbourne Victoria 3000 

t: 03 9500 4672 | e. [1][email address]  

[2]www.health.vic.gov.au 

I’m a member of the [3]Department of Health Pride Network 🌈 

This email contains confidential information intended only for the person
named above and may be subject to legal privilege. If you are not the
intended recipient, any disclosure, copying or use of this information is
prohibited. The Department provides no guarantee that this communication
is free of virus or that it has not been intercepted or interfered with.
If you have received this email in error or have any other concerns
regarding its transmission, please notify [email address]

This email and/or attached documents may include Victorian protective
markings as set out by the Office of the Victorian Information
Commissioner (OVIC). More information on protective markings can be found
[4]here

OFFICIAL

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.health.vic.gov.au/
3. https://dhhsvicgovau.sharepoint.com/site...
4. https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/protective-m...