Good afternoon Kath,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST 4904 – NOTIFICATION OF RECEIPT AND REQUEST
FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME

Acknowledgement of receipt

I am writing to notify you that the Department of Health (department)
received your FOI request on 21 December 2023 for access to the following
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act):

All correspondence, including briefs, emails, meeting records and other
documents between the Department of Health and Aged Care Technology
Assessment and Access Division and the Therapeutic Goods Administration
regarding Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) devices in 2022, and 2023

Request for 9 day extension

The FOI Act requires the department to provide you with an access decision
by 20 January 2024 (30 days).

Many areas of the department, including the FOI Section, were closed from
23 December 2023 to 2 January 2024.

To ensure the department has sufficient time to process your request and
provide access to all relevant documents, we are seeking your agreement to
extend the period for completing your FOI request by 9 days (under section
15AA of the FOI Act). If you agree to this extension, the department would
be required to provide you with an access decision by 29 January 2024.

If you agree to this extension, could you please let us know by return
email to [1][Health request email] by close of business 4 January 2024.

FOI processing charge

The department may impose a charge for the work involved in providing
access to documents. The amount of the charge depends on how many
documents are relevant to your FOI request and the amount of work involved
in processing your request.

If the department decides to impose a charge for this FOI request, we will
notify you in writing and you will have an opportunity to ask for the
charge to be reduced or waived.

Draft and duplicate documents

The department considers draft and duplicate documents generally
irrelevant to FOI requests under section 22 of the FOI Act.

Unless you advise us otherwise, the department will not process draft and
duplicate documents when processing your FOI request.

Departmental staff names and contact details

Names and other personal information about employees may also be subject
to protection under the Privacy Act 1988.

In addition, the department considers the names and contact details of
junior Commonwealth employee (below Senior Executive Service level) and
the mobile telephone numbers of all employees are generally irrelevant
under section 22 of the FOI Act.

Unless you advise us otherwise, those details will be excluded from any
documents provided to you in response to your FOI request.

Contact

You can contact the FOI Unit via email at [2][email address], should you
have any questions.

Kind regards,

Riley

FOI Support Officer – Freedom of Information Section

Legal Advice and Legislation Branch

Legal and Assurance Division

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [email address]

PO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

The Department of Health and Aged Care acknowledges First Nations peoples
as the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia, and their
continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to
them and their cultures, and to all Elders both past and present.

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From: Kath [3][FOI #10983 email]
Sent: Thursday, 21 December 2023 9:16 PM
To: FOI [4][email address]
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Spinal Cord Stimulation

REMINDER: Think before you click! This email originated from outside our
organisation. Only click links or open attachments if you recognise the
sender and know the content is safe.

Dear Department of Health,

Please provide all correspondence, including briefs, emails, meeting
records and other documents between the Department of Health and Aged Care
Technology Assessment and Access Division and the Therapeutic Goods
Administration regarding Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) devices in 2022,
and 2023.

Yours faithfully,

Kath

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[5][FOI #10983 email]

Is [6][Health request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of Health? If so, please contact us using this
form:

[7]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:

[8]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

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.

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Dear Kath,

I refer to your FOI 4904 to the department seeking access to:

All correspondence, including briefs, emails, meeting records and other documents between the Department of Health and Aged Care Technology Assessment and Access Division and the Therapeutic Goods Administration regarding Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) devices in 2022, and 2023.

The statutory due date for request is currently 29 January 2024.

Section 15AA of the FOI Act permits the department to extend the statutory processing timeframe, with your agreement, for a period of up to 30 calendar days.

Request for a 10-day extension

To ensure that department has undertaken all reasonable steps to identify all documents relevant to your request, the department is seeking your agreement to an extension of 10 calendar days.

If you agree to this extension, the statutory due date will then be 8 February 2024. The department will, however, continue to process your request as quickly as possible.

It would assist if you could please advise by COB 23 January 2024 if you agree to this extension of time. We thank you for your ongoing patience and cooperation as we continue to process your request.

If you have any questions regarding any of the matters discussed in this email, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Section at [email address].

Kind regards,

Alanah
Case Officer – Freedom of Information Section
Legal Advice and Legislation

Legal and Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [email address]
PO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health and Aged Care acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present

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Dear Kath,

Thank you for your email.

Apologies it appears there may have been some confusion with the below email, the department was seeking an extension for 10 days extending to the statutory due date from 29 January 2024 to 8 February 2024.

Could you confirm if you are agreeable with this request.

Kind regards,
Alanah
Case Officer – Freedom of Information Section
Legal Advice and Legislation

Legal and Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [email address]
PO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health and Aged Care acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present

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Good morning Kath

I refer to your request of date to the Department of Health and Aged Care (department), seeking access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) to the following documents:

All correspondence, including briefs, emails, meeting records and other documents between the Department of Health and Aged Care Technology Assessment and Access Division and the Therapeutic Goods Administration regarding Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) devices in 2022, and 2023.

Notice of Third Party Consultation

A document has been identified in the scope of your request which contains information relating to third parties. It has been determined that it would be appropriate to consult with the affected third parties under sections 27 and 27A of the FOI Act prior to a decision on access to those documents being made.

Section 15(6) of the FOI Act allows the timeframe for processing your request to be extended by 30 days to facilitate this consultation. Accordingly, the statutory due date for your request is now 28 February 2024.

The department will continue processing your request and provide you with a decision on access as soon we are able to do so.

Relevant provisions

The FOI Act, including the provisions referred to in this email, can be accessed from the Federal Register of Legislation website: www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562.

If you require clarification of any of the matters discussed in this email you should contact the department’s FOI Section by email at [email address].

Kind regards,
Alanah
Case Officer – Freedom of Information Section
Legal Advice and Legislation

Legal and Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group
Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care
T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [email address]
PO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
The Department of Health and Aged Care acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present

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Dear Kath,

I refer to your FOI request 4904 received on 21 December 2023.

Please see attached a decision on access and documents referred to in that
decision.

Should you have any questions, please contact FOI on the below details.

Kind regards,

Alanah

Case Officer – Freedom of Information Section

Legal Advice and Legislation

Legal and Assurance Division | Corporate Operations Group

Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care

T: 02 6289 1666 | E: [1][email address]

PO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

The Department of Health and Aged Care acknowledges the traditional owners
of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land,
sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to
elders both past and present

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