If not delivered return to PO Box 7820 Canberra BC ACT 2610
4 September 2019
Our reference: LEX 46629
RK Crosby
Only by email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx Dear RK Crosby
Freedom of Information Request - Charges
I refer to your request received by the Department of Human Services (
department) on 10 August
2019, for access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (
FOI Act), made in the following terms:
I would like to know how many people disabled by migraine are currently in receipt of Disability
Support Pension.
Please provide any document or documents that detail the number of people with Migraine listed
as their disability or illness, currently in receipt any Centrelink benefit, broken down by type of
benefit. If the document can indicate the percentage of DSP or Centrelink clients affected by
migraine, or if additional documents (such as the entire number of clients) can be provided in
order that we can calculate percentages, that would also be very useful.
If such a document does not exist, please provide any document you have (if any) that indicates
the prevalence of migraine among Centrelink clients.
Note I am only looking for numbers (in order to try and calculate fiscal impact of new migraine
prevention drugs currently being blocked by PBAC), not the personal details of any Centrelink
client.
Preliminary Assessment of the Charge
In accordance with section 29 of the FOI Act, I have decided that you are liable to pay a charge for
the processing of your request. Please note that the payment of the charge does not guarantee
access to the requested document, in full or in part, it is a charge to process the request under the
FOI Act. My preliminary assessment of that charge is $45.00 calculated as follows:
Search and retrieval time: 3.5 hours, at $15.00 per hour:
$45.00
Decision-making time (*after deduction of 5 hours): 0.0 hours, at
$20.00 per hour
$0.00
TOTAL
$45.00
*The FOI Act provides that the first five hours of decision-making time are free of charge and this is reflected in the
calculation.
I am advised that the department will need to collate the relevant data (to the extent that it is holds
the relevant data) in order to provide it in a discrete form. This has added to the search and retrieval
time.
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Required Action
If you would like the department to continue processing your request, you must notify the
department in writing within 30 days of receiving this notice that you:
a) agree to pay the charge;
b) wish to contend that the charge:
i. has been wrongly assessed; or
ii. should be reduced or not imposed; or
iii. both
Alternatively, you may wish to withdraw your request for access.
If you do not provide a written response in accordance with one of options a) or b) above within 30
days of receiving this notice, your request will be taken to have been withdrawn under section 29(2)
of the FOI Act.
Further information on options a) and b) are set out below.
Option a) - pay the charge
As the charge exceeds $25, you are required to pay a deposit of $20.00 within 30 days of receiving
this notice. You may, of course, elect to pay the charge in full at this point.
You may select from one of the following payment methods:
1. Online payment via Government EasyPay - follow
this link and enter the relevant details.
You will need your FOI LEX reference number,
LEX 46629; or
2. Cheque made out to the Collector of Public Monies and posted to Freedom of Information,
Department of Human Services, PO BOX 7820, Canberra BC, ACT 2610; or
3. Money order made out to the Collector of Public Monies and posted to Freedom of
Information, Department of Human Services, PO BOX 7820, Canberra BC, ACT 2610.
If you elect to pay the charge, please email
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx to advise us
of your payment. Please quote reference number
LEX 46629 in this correspondence.
Option b) - seek reduction or non-imposition of the charge
You may contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be reduced or not
imposed. Section 29(5) of the FOI Act provides that, in deciding whether to reduce or not to impose
a charge, the decision-maker must take into account any relevant reasons, including whether
payment of the charge, or part of it, would cause you or your organisation financial hardship, and
whether the giving of access to the documents is in the general public interest or in the interest of a
substantial section of the public.
If you wish to contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed or should be reduced or not
imposed, please set out your reasons and the evidence in support of your reasons as clearly as
possible. If you believe that payment of the charge would cause you or your organisation financial
hardship, please provide sufficient details of your financial circumstances to enable the
decision-maker to make a well-informed decision in this regard.
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Department of Human Services
Time limits for processing your request
Section 31 of the FOI Act provides that where a notice is sent to an applicant regarding the payment
of a charge in respect of a request, the time limit for processing the request is suspended from the
date the notice is received until either:
a) the day following payment of the charge (in full or the required deposit); or
b) if applicable, the day following the notification to the applicant of a decision not to
impose the charge.
Address for correspondence
Please send all correspondence regarding your FOI request to me at the following address:
Freedom of Information team
Department of Human Services
PO Box 7820
CANBERRA ACT 2610
Or by email to
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Publication of information in the FOI disclosure log Information released under the FOI Act may be published in a disclosure log on the department's
website. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication, subject to certain exceptions,
including where publication of personal, business, professional or commercial information would be
unreasonable.
Further assistance
Total figures for current payment recipients (by payment type and other variables) are provided on a
regular basis on the data.gov.au website. Relevant information can be found at the following web
address:
https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/dss-payment-demographic-data . For example the web
address contains the number of payment recipients on the Disability Support Pension.
The department’s annual report also contains some information concerning payment recipients:
https://www.humanservices.gov.au/organisations/about-us/annual-reports If you have any FOI questions please email
xxx.xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely
Robert
Authorised FOI Decision Maker
Freedom of Information Team
FOI and Litigation Branch Legal Services Division
Department of Human Services
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Department of Human Services
