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2 October 2025
Private and Confidential
Clancy
By email only: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Clancy
Decision about your request for documents
I am writing about your request for documents made under under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (Cth) (FOI Act). We received your request on 12 August 2025 by email. On 2 September 2025,
you wrote to Ahpra by email with an amended FOI request.
As an authorised decision maker,
1 this letter sets out a summary of my decision and outlines:
2
•
a summary of your request
•
a list of the materials used to reach the decision
•
the reasons for the decision, and
•
information about your review rights.
The detail of my reasons is set out in this letter.
Your request
In your email of 2 September 2025, you requested information in the following terms:
1. Documents Containing Cost Records for Complaint Management Processes:
I request access to documents that contain records of costs incurred by AHPRA or its boards for
dealing with complaints about practitioners, specifically for matters that progressed to Health or
Performance assessments, Panel hearings, or Tribunal hearings.
•
Reporting Period: These documents should cover the financial years 2023/24 and/or
2024/25.
•
Cost Categories (Overall Aggregated Costs):
I am seeking documents that contain overall, consolidated records of the total costs incurred in these
areas for the specified reporting period, rather than individual, itemised costs for each specific
hearing or assessment. This includes documents detailing the total for the financial years 2023/24
and/or 2024/25, for but is not limited to:
•
Legal costs in presenting a matter: Documents summarizing total expenditure on legal work
(e.g., external legal services, internal legal staff time) related to Health/Performance
assessments, Panel hearings, or Tribunal hearings. "Presenting a matter" refers to the
1 Under section 23 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
2 In accordance with section 26 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency | National Boards
GPO Box 9958 Melbourne VIC 3001 Ahpra.gov.au 1300 419 495
Ahpra and the National Boards regulate these registered health professions: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice, Chinese
medicine, chiropractic, dental, medical, medical radiation practice, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathy,
paramedicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry and psychology.
actions undertaken by AHPRA's legal representatives or internal legal staff in relation to
these processes.
•
Remuneration for assessors, panel or tribunal members: Documents summarizing total
remuneration paid to individuals serving as assessors, panel members, or tribunal members
for their involvement in these specific stages.
•
Costs for facilities in undertaking a hearing: Documents summarizing total expenditure on
facility hire, equipment, or other direct facility costs for conducting Panel or Tribunal hearings.
•
As stated in my original request and point 2 of this revision, data provided as averages or
total costs for the financial year is acceptable, and while separated costs by specific
categories (e.g., staffing, legal costs, facilities) would be appreciated, it is not strictly required
if providing it in that granular detail is overly onerous.
2. Data Separation and Format:
Where such documents exist, I request them to be provided in a manner that allows for the
separation of costs by profession (e.g., Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Practitioners, Dental) and state,
where such distinctions are recorded within the documents.
I reiterate that data provided as averages or total costs for the financial year would be acceptable.
While separated costs by specific categories (e.g., staffing, legal costs, facilities) would be
appreciated for clarity, it is not strictly required if providing it in that granular detail is overly onerous.
3. Scope Limitation (if necessary):
If providing these documents for all sub-boards proves to be overly onerous (constituting a practical
refusal reason under section 24AA(1)(a) of the Act), I would be wil ing to limit the request to the
professions of Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Practitioners, and Dental.
4. Duty to Assist:
I draw your attention to section 17(1) of the Act, which provides that if the desired information is not
available in discrete written form but can be produced using computer equipment to retrieve or
collate stored information, the agency should deal with the request as if it were a request for access
to such a document.
The time limit for processing your request expires
today, 2 October 2025.
How I made my decision
In reaching my decision I referred to:
•
the terms of your request
•
searches conducted in relation to your request
•
the documents held by Ahpra
•
enquiries with the relevant Ahpra business units
•
the FOI Act
•
the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as enforced in each state and territory (the
National Law)
•
FOI Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner
Decision
In relation to your request, I have located three documents held by the Australian Health
Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) in relation to your request. It is my decision to release the
documents to you in full.
The first document is the total expenditure on Health and Performance Assessments for the
2023-2024 and 2024-2025 financial years. The information in this document is the total amount
spent on external costs regarding these assessments (for example, assessor fees, pathology
testing, etc.).
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The second document is the total panel fee costs of maintaining a list of panel members for
2023-2024 and 2024-2025 financial years. This line item only reflects part of the panel hearing costs.
Panel hearings are run in-house by Ahpra over video-link and Ahpra does not record ongoing
running costs broken down by regulatory function. For example, a meeting room or computer will be
used for many purposes, some of which may include being used to conduct a panel. Similarly, Ahpra
does not keep time sheets for staff broken down by the processes that they are working on.
The third document is the total fees paid to Tribunals for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 financial
years.
I am satisfied that a discrete document containing the remaining specific information that you
seek does not exist or cannot be located under section 24A(1) of the FOI Act. In response to
your request, I have searched of Ahpra’s information holdings and conducted internal
consultation with relevant business units. The outcome of these searches and enquiries is that
Ahpra does not hold a discrete document which would meet the particular terms of your request.
The FOI Act does not generally require agencies to create a new document or provide
bespoke information, except where it could be easily produced through computerised means,
such as by generating a pre-programmed report.
Although a discrete document within the scope of your request does not exist, or cannot otherwise
be reasonably located I am required to consider whether a document could be produced by
Ahpra in accordance with section 17 of the FOI Act:
17 Requests involving use of computers etc.
(1)
Where:
(a)
a request (including a request in relation to which a practical refusal reason exists)
is made in accordance with the requirements of subsection 15(2) to an agency;
(b)
it appears from the request that the desire of the applicant is for information that is
not available in discrete form in written documents of the agency; and
(ba) it does not appear from the request that the applicant wishes to be provided with a
computer tape or computer disk on which the information is recorded; and
(c)
the agency could produce a written document containing the information in discrete
form by:
(i)
the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the
agency for retrieving or collating stored information; or
(i )
the making of a transcript from a sound recording held in the agency;
the agency shall deal with the request as if it were a request for access to a written
document so produced and containing that information and, for that purpose, this Act
applies as if the agency had such a document in its possession.
(2)
An agency is not required to comply with subsection (1) if compliance would substantially
and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations.
Production of a document under section 17 is dependent on an agency being able to produce a written
document containing the requested information in discrete form by using a computer in a manner that
is ‘ordinarily available’ to it to retrieve or collate stored information. In
Collection Point Pty Ltd v
Commissioner of Taxation3 (referenced in the Australian Information Commissioner’s FOI Guidelines),
4
the Full Federal Court of Australia held that the reference in section 17(1)(c)(i) to a ‘computer or other
equipment that is ordinarily available’ means:
5
‘a functioning computer system including software, that can produce the requested document
without the aid of additional components which are not themselves ordinarily available … [T]he
computer or other equipment … must be capable of functioning independently to collate or
3
Collection Point Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2013] FCAFC 67.
4 Australian Information Commissioner,
FOI Guidelines (combined April 2025) 3.237-3.239.
5
Collection Point Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2013] FCAFC 67 [43]-[44].
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retrieve stored information and to produce the requested document.’
In that case, the Court found that this wil be a question of fact in the individual case and may require
consideration of ‘the agency’s ordinary or usual conduct and operations’.
6
Following my enquiries into the practicality of producing documents in accordance with section 17, I
have been advised by the relevant business units that Ahpra’s computer systems do not currently
enable us to produce a report or other discrete document detailing the information you seek at the level
of specificity required.
Ahpra’s financial data is captured and reported at an aggregate level, without delineation by specific
subject matter. Based on my enquiries, producing a document containing the requested information
would require individual invoices or other cost records to be described by subject matter, or stage of
legal proceedings, to allow them to be categorised according to a new taxonomy that does not
already apply, and has not previously been reported on. The creation of a bespoke document
containing the requested information would require Ahpra officers to perform a manual inspection of
potentially relevant data, apply a degree of subjectivity in assessing the relevance of the data to the
scope of the request, and compile a new document. A manual validation process would then be
required to ensure the information was accurate. Currently, there is no automated or otherwise pre-
programmed way to collate the specific information that you have requested.
Consequently, I find that the system is not capable of functioning independently to collate or retrieve
the stored information or produce the requested information in a document. Production of documents
in the terms you have requested would require manual intervention in a manner which, under the FOI
Act, constitutes use of a computer in a way that is not ordinarily available to Ahpra and is outside of
Ahpra’s ordinary or usual conduct and operations.
Accordingly, I find that section 17(1) does not apply to your request, and the FOI Act does not require
the creation of a new document. As all reasonable searches have been conducted, and no discrete
documents within the scope of your request can be located, it is my decision to refuse access under
section 24A(1) of the FOI Act.
Charges
No charges have been imposed for processing your request.
Review rights
If you disagree with my decision, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed.
You may apply to Ahpra for a review of this decision.
7 Your application must be made by whichever
date is the later between:
•
30 days of you receiving this notice, or
•
15 days of you receiving the documents to which you have been granted access.
This review would not be conducted by me. To apply, it would help your case to explain why you
believe the original decision is not correct.
An application for a review of the decision should be addressed to:
Mailing address:
The Proper Officer
Ahpra
GPO Box 9958
MELBOURNE VIC 300
1
Email address:
xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
6
Collection Point Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2013] FCAFC 67 [48].
7 Under section 54 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
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If you choose to seek a review and disagree with that decision, you would subsequently have a right
to apply to the National Health Practitioner Privacy Commissioner (the Commissioner) for a review of
our decision. However, if you wish, you may choose to instead apply directly for review of this
decision to the Commissioner, as I describe below.
You can apply to the Commissioner to review an FOI decision made by Ahpr
a.8 Your application
must be made within 60 days of receiving our decision.
The Commissioner is an independent office holder who may review decisions of Ahpra under the FOI
Act. You can contact them to seek review of this decision at the details listed below. An FOI review
application form is available on the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman (the Ombudsman)
website:
https://nhpo.gov.au/
Complaints about the way we’ve managed your matter
If you want to provide feedback or make a complaint about Ahpra or a National Board then you can
contact our Complaints and Feedback team. Information about how to do this can be found on our
website:
https://www.ahpra.gov.au/About-AHPRA/Complaints.aspx
If you’re unhappy with our response to your complaint, you can contact the Ombudsman. Their
details are:
Mailing address:
National Health Practitioner Ombudsman
GPO Box 2630
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Email address:
xxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Telephone enquiries: 1300 795 265
Contact
If you have any questions about anything in this letter or in the attachment, please contact me on
xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx. If you do this, please tell me the reference number below.
Yours sincerely
Katie Burns
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
National Information Release Unit
Reference Number:
FOI54126
8 Under section 54L of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
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