TRIM Ref: D22-5315410
Alexander
Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Alexander
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST FOI 3673
Estimate of Charges
I refer to your request dated 7 March 2022 under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982
(the FOI Act) for access to the following documents:
“I am requesting copies of all infringement notices issued from TGA to Mundipharma
Pty Ltd since January 1 2012, including but not limited to the 24 notices mentioned in
this article: https://www.tga.gov.au/media-release/mundipharma-fined-misleading-
advertising-opioids-health-professionals
I am requesting that any access charges relating to this request be waived as this
request is in the public interest and is published on the righttoknow.org.au website.
No personal/third party information requested.”
Under the FOI Act, before a charge is imposed in respect of an FOI request, I am required
to notify you of certain matters including the amount of the estimated charge and the
grounds upon which you can request that a charge not be imposed. I am writing to notify
you of those matters. I note that you have already requested that the charge be waived.
However, as I have not yet notified you of the relevant matters, I will separately consider
your request for a waiver after you have had an opportunity to consider those matters
(which are detailed below) and provide any further submissions or information that you
may wish to provide.
Under the
Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 (the Regulations) a charge
can be imposed in respect of a request for access to documents under the FOI Act. The
charge is for the search and retrieval of documents, decision making and provision of
access.
I am an authorised decision maker under section 23 of the FOI Act and I have decided that
you are liable to pay a charge in respect of the processing of your request for access
(however, as noted above, I will consider separately your request that the charge should
be waived after you have had an opportunity to provide any further submissions or
information).
A search and retrieval of documents relevant to your request has been undertaken and a
preliminary estimate of charges has been calculated. It is set out in the table below.
1. Search and retrieval time (including 6 hours @ $15.00 per hour
$90.00
time spent locating relevant files and
collating relevant documents
contained on those files)
2. Decision making time (including
12.22 hours @ $20.00 per hour
PO Box 100 Woden ACT 2606 ABN 40 939 406 804
Phone: 1800 020 653 or 02 6232 8644 Fax: 02 6232 8112
Emai
l: xxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
https://www.tga.gov.au
time spent examining the
L ess first 5 hours which are free
$144.40
documents, considering exemptions,
undertaking consultation, writing
the decision and preparing any
documents for release)
3. Postage charges
$0.00
TOTAL
$234.40
Deposit required
$58.60
Under the Regulations where a charge is imposed and exceeds $100.00, a deposit of 25
percent may be sought. Based on the preliminary estimate of charges for your request
which is $234.40, I have decided you are required to pay a deposit of 25 percent, being
$58.60. Details of payment methods are outlined below.
Under subsection 29(1) of the FOI Act, I am required to notify you that you have 30
calendar days from receipt of this notice to do one of the following:
• pay the charge, being the deposit outlined above, and notify the FOI Team via the
email below; or
• notify the TGA that you wish to contend that:
- the charge has been wrongly assessed, giving reasons; or
- the charge should be reduced or not imposed (for instance, where payment of
the charge would cause you financial hardship or where you believe access to
documents is in the general public interest), with reasons; or
• notify the TGA that you withdraw your request.
We note in your email of 7 March 2022, you sought a full waiver of any fees associated
with the processing of your FOI request on the ground of public interest. Pursuant to
section 29(1)(f) of the FOI Act, you have 30 days after the issuing of this notice to seek a
waiver of charges. If you still intend to seek a full waiver of the charges, please confirm in
writing and provide any additional information you wish the TGA to consider in support of
your claim. Further information regarding charges can be found at the following link:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-guidelines/part-4-charges-for-
providing-access.
If you fail to notify the TGA within 30 days about what you propose to do, the FOI Act
provides under subsection 29(2) that you are taken to have withdrawn your request.
Timeframes
The time limit for processing your request is suspended, in accordance with section 31 of
the FOI Act, from the date you receive this notice and resumes on the day you pay the
charge or deposit (including any reduced charge or deposit), or the day on which the TGA
makes a decision not to impose a charge.
Once your FOI request has been processed, the TGA will determine the actual charge you
must pay before the documents can be provided to you. The final charge for processing
your request may be different from the estimate quoted in this letter. If I decide to grant
full access to all the documents within the scope of your request, you must pay the actual
charges for the time and disbursements involved in processing your request ascertained in
accordance with the table set out above (which may be greater or less than the estimate).
However, if you are only granted partial access to the documents you will only be required
to pay whichever amount is the lesser of the estimate quoted in this letter and the actual
charges.
Please note that the decision maker can make a decision to charge for search and retrieval
that the TGA has already undertaken for the purposes of your request in its current form,
but it may be possible to reduce the decision making charges that might be incurred by the
TGA in the future if you refine the scope of your request, for example, by limiting the date
range of documents sought or excluding a particular category of documents.
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If you agree to pay the charge, you are accepting liability for settlement of the debt upon
completion of processing the FOI request. Once your FOI request has been processed, the
outstanding amount of the charge becomes a debt to the Commonwealth. The TGA is
obliged to pursue recovery of the debt in accordance with the
Public Governance,
Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
Payment
If you accept liability for the estimated charge for your request, payment can be made via
one of the following options:
•
Credit card payment:
Complete the credit card payment authorisation form provided with this
correspondence
•
Electronic Funds Transfer:
Payment can be made in the form of electronic funds transfer to the following account:
Bank: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Account Name: Therapeutic Goods Administration
BSB: 062909
Account: 10215498
•
Cheque:
Please make cheques payable to Therapeutic Goods Administration, and post to
FOI Coordinator
Therapeutic Goods Administration
PO Box 100
WODEN ACT 2606
Please include reference to FOI 3673 in all forms of payment.
IMPORTANT: Once payment has been made, please notify the FOI Team via the following
email address
: xxx.xxx@xxx.xxx.xx. Failure to notify the FOI Team of payment may result in delays to the processing of your
FOI request.
Third Party Consultation
In the event your request relates to documents that include information about a person or
their business or professional affairs or about the business, commercial or financial affairs
of an organisation or undertaking, pursuant to section 27 and 27A of the FOI Act the TGA
will be required to provide that person or organisation the opportunity to make
submissions if it appears that they may wish to argue any document is exempt from
release.
The statutory time limit for processing an FOI request will be extended by 30 days under
subsection 15(6) of the FOI Act where a third party is to be consulted.
If you require clarification of any of the matters discussed in this letter, please contact the
FOI Team on (02) 6289 4630.
Yours sincerely
Authorised and electronically signed by
Nicole McLay
Assistant Secretary
Regulatory Compliance Branch
Therapeutic Goods Administration
28 March 2022
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