FOI Health (HEALTH)
From:
FOI Health (HEALTH)
Sent:
Friday, 3 September 2021 10:37 AM
To:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Subject:
Freedom of Information - F21/1720 - Invalid request - Application fee required
Dear Mr Castro
I refer to your application under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) requesting access to:
"The DHHS provides Covid‐19 data downloads on its website www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/victorian‐
coronavirus‐covid‐19‐data including all Victorian cases by acquired source. This shows the date of diagnosis
and the source for each case. I request details for each case in this dataset that has the source “Contact with
a confirmed case”, including the following: • Date of diagnosis • Details of the setting in which contact with a
confirmed case occurred (e.g. own home, other residence, workplace, exposure site, other indoor setting, other
outdoor setting). •Relationship between the new case and the confirmed case •Any other relevant information
about how the case acquired Covid‐19. This request is for the period from 11 March 2020 until the date this
FOI request is processed,"
Your application was received on Thursday 2 September 2021.
Invalid request – Application fee required
The Act provides that an application fee of $30.10 must accompany each request. In the current circumstances, the
department's preferred method of payment is via the Victorian Government's online FOI portal at the below link:
https://online.foi.vic.gov.au/foi/request.doj
Please quote your reference number (
F21/1720) in the "Request Details" section of the online form. You do not need
to provide the wording of your request again.
The Act also provides that the application fee may be waived or reduced if payment of the fee would cause financial
hardship. If you consider this to be the case the fee may be waived or reduced on production of evidence of how the
payment of the application fee would cause you hardship.
As stated on the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner’s website, an applicant should provide evidence
of hardship when they are requesting an agency to waive or reduce the application fee:
‘If you request the application fee to be waived or reduced, you should provide evidence of hardship – for
example, a concession or health care card, a bank statement, or statutory declaration outlining why
payment would cause you hardship.’
Please note your request cannot proceed until the application fee or evidence of hardship has been received as it is
not a valid request.
I would appreciate it if you would respond by
Monday 4 October, otherwise I will assume that you do not wish to
proceed and no further action will be taken by the department.
Anticipated delays in processing
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Please also note that, due to a high volume of requests, we are currently experiencing significant delays in processing
times. Once you have made your request valid, you may be contacted in the course of processing your request to seek
an extension of time for providing a decision on your request.
Thank you very much for your patience and understanding.
If you have any questions in relation to your request, please direct all correspondence relating to your request to
xxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx.
Kind Regards,
Authorised Officer | Freedom of Information unit Legal, Privacy and Integrity
Department of Health
www.health.vic.gov.au
OFFICIAL
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