R33654295
FOI 329/17/18 STATEMENT OF REASONS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION ACT
1.
I refer to the application by Mr Stuart McCarthy under the
Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act), for access to:
“… documents relating to tafenoquine neurotoxicity testing on monkeys by AMI or affiliated
organisations, from 1999 to 2017, including:
a. proposals for tafenoquine neurotoxicity testing on monkeys, including requests to relevant
ethics committees;
b. approvals or rejections of such proposals, including memos, emails or minutes of meetings
discussing or considering the proposals; and/or
c. results of any such neurotoxicity testing.
Please note the very specific nature of this request, i.e. tafenoquine neurotoxicity testing on
monkeys. I am not requesting documents relating to:
a. efficacy of tafenoquine or other antimalarial drugs,
b. testing on humans or animal models other than monkeys, or
c. safety testing other than neurotoxicity testing.
excluding personal email addresses, signatures, PMKeys numbers and mobile telephone
numbers, contained in documents that fall within the scope of the FOI request. In addition,
excluding duplicates of documents.”
FOI decision maker
2.
I am the authorised officer pursuant to section 23 of the FOI Act to make a decision on
this FOI request.
Documents identified
3.
No documents were identified as matching the description of the request.
Decision
4.
I have decided to refuse access to documents of the request under subparagraph
24A(1)(b)(ii) -
Requests may be refused if documents cannot be found, do not exist or have
not been received of the FOI Act.
Material taken into account
5.
In making my decision, I had regard to:
a. the terms of the request;
b. relevant provisions in the FOI Act;
c. the Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (the Guidelines); and
2
d. advice received from the Australian Defence Force Malaria and Infectious
Disease Institute (ADFMI).
Reasons for decision
6.
ADFMIDI has advised that no neurotoxicity testing has been performed on primates at
the (then) Australian Malaria Institute (AMI), now ADFMIDI. Neurotoxicity testing in
animals requires euthanizing the animal after drug dosing and examining the brain for
histological changes. Further, as a matter of policy ADFMIDI does not conduct lethal
experiments in animals.
7.
ADFMIDI is the centre for management of primate testing and as such is the only
repository and originator for documentation that may relate to the applicants request. As a
consequence no further searches beyond ADFMIDI were conducted.
paul.n Digitally signed
by paul.naveau1
Date: 2018.03.28
aveau1 13:19:48 +11'00'
P. Naveau
Accredited Decision Maker
Defence Capability Group
March 2018
Document Outline