Mr Matthew Peos
via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Peos
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST: No. 2021/22-007
ACCESS DECISION
I refer to your request to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) on
12 October 2021 made under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), seeking access to:
•
Any official documents presenting the official information of the Sars 2/ Covid 19 virus. I
specifically request the documents relating to the isolation of the Covid 19 virus and sub
strains as presented to medical bodies for assessment in relation to any supposed vaccine
and their benefits and/or side effects.
•
I specifically wish to see the Department of Health's records or any other Departments
records of independent research into an isolated form of Sars2 and/or Covid 19 and sub
strains.
•
I specifically wish to see the Department of Healths or any other Departments
independent documentation relating to the isolation of the Sars 2 / Covid 19 biological
viral entity and the captured vision via electron microscope and/or any other method of
capturing vision of the Covid 19 virus at molecular level.
•
I specifically wish to see documentation related to the assessment of the Covid 19 Viral
biological entity in relation to the mandate of Covid 19 vaccines as recommended to
Business and/or advice given to business seeking to mandate vaccines for workers.
Timeframe for processing your request
The FOI request was received by NHMRC via email on 12 October 2021. The statutory timeframe
for processing a request is 30 days, starting from the day after the day on which your
application was received. Accordingly, the due date for a decision on your request is
11 November 2021.
I am an authorised decision-maker under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act and this letter sets out
my decision on your request for access.
Decision
In making my decision, I have had regard to the following:
• the terms of your request
• the content of the documents to which you have sought access
• advice from NHMRC officers with responsibility for the matters relating to the documents
to which you sought access
• the relevant provisions of the FOI Act (accessed vi
a: www.legislation.gov.au) • the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s FOI Guidelines published under
section 93A of the FOI Act (accessed via:
www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-
guidelines).
NHMRC conducted a detailed search of all electronic files and relevant email mailboxes within
the agency in line with the scope of your request. Particular focus was given to the files and
emails related to the work of t
he National COVID-19 Health and Research Advisory Committee.
The search for relevant documents and emails was conducted in the date range from 1 January
2020 to present, as the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 to be a Public Health
Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020. The key search terms used were
[SARS-CoV-2 and isolation and vaccination and efficacy/policy].
I will respond to your request in the following four parts, which correspond to the four dot
points of your request.
Part 1 – Documents relating to the isolation of the Covid 19 virus and sub strains as
presented to medical bodies for assessment in relation to any supposed vaccine and their
benefits and/or side effects
No documents were identified that described the isolation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and/or its
variants, to assess the benefits and side-effects of COVID-19 vaccines for presentation to
medical bodies for their consideration.
NHMRC does not conduct independent research, nor does it have a role in consulting with
medical experts for the purposes of assessing vaccine benefits and/or side-effects. The
assessment of vaccines for safety, quality and efficacy before they are approved for use in
Australia is undertaken by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) at the Department of
Health. Further information on the TGA’s processes and evidence requirements for vaccines is
available on its website
(www.tga.gov.au).
Accordingly, I have decided to refuse access to Part 1 of your request under subsection 24A(1)
of the FOI Act, on the basis that these documents do not exist within NHMRC. Subsection 24A(1)
of the FOI Act states that a request for access to a document may be refused if all reasonable
steps have been made to find the documents and the agency is satisfied that the documents,
inter alia, do not exist.
Part 2 – Records of independent research into an isolated form of Sars2 and/or Covid 19 and
sub strains
NHMRC does not conduct laboratory research so does not possess independent research
records on an isolated form of SARS-CoV-2 and/or its variants. This was confirmed by the
search for electronic files as outlined above that identified no relevant documents.
Accordingly, I have decided to refuse access to Part 2 of your request under subsection 24A(1)
of the FOI Act, on the basis that these documents do not exist within NHMRC. Subsection 24A(1)
of the FOI Act states that a request for access to a document may be refused if all reasonable
steps have been made to find the documents and the agency is satisfied that the documents,
inter alia, do not exist.
Part 3 – Other Departments independent documentation relating to the isolation of the
Sars 2 / Covid 19 biological viral entity and the captured vision via electron microscope
and/or any other method of capturing vision of the Covid 19 virus at molecular level
NHMRC does not conduct independent laboratory research so does not possess documentation
on the isolation or image capture of SARS-CoV-2 and/or its variants. This was confirmed by a
search for electronic files as outlined above that identified no relevant documents. In addition,
NHMRC does not have access to, or possession of, other Departments’ independent
documentation.
Accordingly, I have decided to refuse access to Part 3 of your request under subsection 24A(1)
of the FOI Act, on the basis that these documents do not exist within NHMRC. Subsection 24A(1)
of the FOI Act states that a request for access to a document may be refused if all reasonable
steps have been made to find the documents and the agency is satisfied that the documents,
inter alia, do not exist.
2
Part 4 – Documentation related to the assessment of the Covid 19 Viral biological entity in
relation to the mandate of Covid 19 vaccines as recommended to Business and/or advice
given to business seeking to mandate vaccines for workers
The roles and functions of the NHMRC do not include the development or implementation of
vaccination policy – this is the role of the Department of Health and the state and territory
health departments. NHMRC does not possess documents on the assessment of SARS-CoV-2,
and/or its variants, and the recommendations or advice for businesses on the mandatory
COVID-19 vaccinations of its workers. This was confirmed by a search for electronic files as
outlined above that identified no relevant documents.
Accordingly, I have decided to refuse access to Part 4 of your request under subsection 24A(1)
of the FOI Act, on the basis that these documents do not exist within NHMRC. Subsection 24A(1)
of the FOI Act states that a request for access to a document may be refused if all reasonable
steps have been made to find the documents and the agency is satisfied that the documents,
inter alia, do not exist.
You specified in your email of 12 October that the access request includes Department of Health
documentation. As NHMRC is an independent statutory agency we are not able to search
Health’s records. I am aware that you have lodged access requests on similar terms with both
the Department of Health and the TGA, so I have decided not to transfer Part 2 or 4 of your
request to these agencies under section 16 of the FOI Act.
About NHMRC
NHMRC is a statutory agency responsible for funding high-quality health and medical research,
building research capability and supporting the translation of health and medical research into
better health outcomes. NHMRC develops specific guidelines on various aspects of health, health
care, health research and environmental health, as part of its responsibilities for developing
evidence-based health advice for the Australian community, health professionals and
governments (see:
www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice). NHMRC also promotes the highest
standards of ethics and integrity in health and medical research.
NHMRC is committed to supporting the national and international response to the COVID-19
pandemic by funding high-quality research, as well as supporting the health and medical
research sector more broadly to address the multiple challenges posed by the COVID-19
pandemic. We provide information for the health and medical research sector in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, as well as information about NHMRC’s contribution to national and
international pandemic research on NHMRC’s website (see:
www.nhmrc.gov.au/research-
policy/COVID-19-impacts).
Charges
I have decided not to impose charges for processing this FOI request.
Your review rights
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for internal review or Information
Commissioner review of the decision.
Internal review
Under section 54 of the FOI Act, you may apply in writing to NHMRC for an internal review of
my decision. The internal review application must be made within 30 days of the date of this
letter. Where possible, please attach reasons why you believe review of the decision is
necessary. The internal review will be carried out by another officer within 30 days.
3
Information Commissioner review
Under section 54L of the FOI Act, you may apply to the Australian Information Commissioner to
review my decision. Such an application must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of
this letter, and be lodged in one of the following ways:
• online:
https://forms.business.gov.au/smartforms/servlet/SmartForm.html?formCode=ICR_10
• email
: xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx • post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW, 2001.
More information about Information Commissioner review is available on the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner website (accessed vi
a: www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
information/reviews-and-complaints/information-commissioner-review/).
Questions
If you have any queries or wish to discuss my decision, please contact the NHMRC FOI Unit at
xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Prue Torrance
Executive Director
Research Quality and Priorities
9 November 2021
4