Response to NICNAS Report on MCS research needs
Dear Department of Health and Human Services - Victoria,
In 2010 NICNAS released a report into the research needs of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: https://www.nicnas.gov.au/chemical-infor...
Could you please provide me with any information that the Department of Health and Human Services holds that relates to this report and its recommendations.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
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 - Response to NICNAS Report on MCS
research needs
Paul Swain
to:
FOI requests at Department of Health and Human
Services - Victoria
19/0
4/20
16
18:1
9
Show
Deta
ils
Dear Department of Health and Human Services - Victoria,
In 2010 NICNAS released a report into the research needs of Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity:
https://www.nicnas.gov.au/chemical-infor...
Could you please provide me with any information that the Department of
Health and Human Services holds that relates to this report and its
recommendations.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #1880 email]
Is [Victorian Department of Health and Human Services request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of Health and Human Services - Victoria? If so,
please contact us using this form:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More
information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
Good afternoon Mr Swain,
I am contacting you in relation to your FOI request that you submitted to
the department below.
I have conducted enquiries and I can confirm that you have not provided me
with enough information in relation to the documents for me to ascertain
what area of the department I need to liaise with. I have been advised to
check whether you had intended to put a request into the federal
Department of Human Services in stead of this department, is this in fact
the case?
In any event, you have also not paid an application fee of $27.20 to make
a request valid.
Please contact me on the number listed below so we can discuss your
request further.
If you do not respond by the 2 July 2016, your request will be self
executing and be finalised on that date.
Regards
Melissa Zarif
Freedom of Information unit | People, Capability & 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: Paul Swain <[FOI #1880 email]>
To: FOI requests at Department of Health and Human Services -
Victoria <[Victorian Department of Health and Human Services request email]>
Date: 19/04/2016 06:19 PM
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Response to NICNAS Report on MCS
research needs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Department of Health and Human Services - Victoria,
In 2010 NICNAS released a report into the research needs of Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity:
[2]https://www.nicnas.gov.au/chemical-infor...
Could you please provide me with any information that the Department of
Health and Human Services holds that relates to this report and its
recommendations.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #1880 email]
Is [Victorian Department of Health and Human Services request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of Health and Human Services - Victoria? If so,
please contact us using this form:
[3]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
[4]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
Dear Department of Health and Human Services - Victoria,
You've asked for more information.
I've already spoken to you and emailed you some information directly. I don't know what more I can tell you.
This is a very simple request. Other organisations have had no problem with it. Please specify what else you need to know to complete it.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
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:
Re: Freedom of Information request - Response to NICNAS Report on MCS
research needs
Paul Swain
to:
FOI
28/0
7/20
16
01:0
1
Show
Deta
ils
Dear Department of Health and Human Services - Victoria,
You've asked for more information.
I've already spoken to you and emailed you some information directly. I
don't know what more I can tell you.
This is a very simple request. Other organisations have had no problem
with it. Please specify what else you need to know to complete it.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
Dear Mr Swain,
Thank you for your email regarding your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (the Act) for:
'In 2010 NICNAS released a report into the research needs of Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity:
[1]https://www.nicnas.gov.au/chemical-infor...
Could you please provide me with any information that the Department of
Health and Human Services holds that relates to this report and its
recommendations.'
I refer to our correspondence of 2 June 2016 in which you were advised
that your request was not valid as it was not accompanied by an
application fee, which is required under section 17(2A) of the Act. At the
time you made your request, this amounted to $27.20. The application fee
may be waived or reduced under section 17(2B) on the grounds that payment
of the fee would cause hardship, however you did not request a fee waiver
on these grounds. Based on this, your request is not valid under the Act.
In our same correspondence we sought clarification from you about whether
you application was intended for our department or for the Federal
Department of Health. We also requested further details about the nature
of the documents sought.
Although you contacted the department on the 15 June 2016 and confirmed
that you intended your application to be for our department, you did not
provide an application fee or further detail regarding the document types
you were seeking. On this basis no further action was taken on your
application, pursuant to section 17 of the Act.
If you are dissatisfied with the department's handling of this matter, you
have the right to make a complaint to the Freedom of Information
Commissioner (the Commissioner). A complaint needs to be made in writing
within 60 days.
I have attached a fact sheet which outlines your rights of complaint with
the Freedom of Information Commissioner should you wish to take this
course.
Regards,
Authorised Officer
Freedom of Information unit | People, Capability & 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. [2]www.dhhs.vic.gov.au
From: Paul Swain <[FOI #1880 email]>
To: [email address]
Date: 28/07/2016 01:01 AM
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Response to NICNAS Report on
MCS research needs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Department of Health and Human Services - Victoria,
You've asked for more information.
I've already spoken to you and emailed you some information directly. I
don't know what more I can tell you.
This is a very simple request. Other organisations have had no problem
with it. Please specify what else you need to know to complete it.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Swain
Paul Swain left an annotation ()
I was holding off on deciding on the status of this request until I'd decided whether to request an internal review, but as someone else has decided that it's been refused, I guess that I'll take that as a sign that it's not worth the bother.
That said, I think that Victorian Department of Health and Human Services have done a pretty bad job here. I sent the same request to a number of other organisations and they were all able to interpret it without problems, and were much more co-operative.