OFFICIAL

Dear Sean

The Department of Health (the department) acknowledges receipt of the
below email, seeking access to records under the Freedom of Information
Act 1992 (FOI Act).

Please note that, to submit a valid application under the FOI Act, you
need to provide your full name, residential address (not a PO Box number),
and to pay the $30.00 statutory FOI application fee.   In order to raise
an invoice for this fee, the department requires further details of your
personal email address and phone contact details (mandatory requirements
of the invoice form).

I would also like to advise you that the current scope of the request you
have outlined in the below email, is not considered a reasonable request;
and will need to be significantly narrowed to enable it to be managed
within the limited resources of the department.

Regards

Nareen Burnell

Senior Freedom of Information (FOI) Coordinator

Technology and information Services | Corporate Services | Office of the
Deputy Director General

Department of Health | Royal Street East Perth 6004

Phone: 9222 6411  Email: [1][WA Department of Health request email]

The contents of this email or its attachments are intended only for the
use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this
email any use, interference with, disclosure, distribution or copying of
this material is unauthorised and prohibited. If you receive this in
error, please notify the sender by return e-mail, delete the email and
attachments from your system and destroy any copies you have taken of the
email and attachments.

From: Sean <[FOI #13520 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 20 August 2025 11:39 AM
To: DOH, FOI <[WA Department of Health request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Correspondence related to the
dire condition of WA's Hospitals

Dear WA Department of Health, Under the provisions of FOI legislation, I
seek copies of all correspondence and documentation between your
department and the various Ministers of Health related to the dire
conditions of hospitals in WA - for

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Dear WA Department of Health,

Under the provisions of FOI legislation, I seek copies of all correspondence and documentation between your department and the various Ministers of Health related to the dire conditions of hospitals in WA - for the period 1 January 2020 to present.

Yours faithfully,

Sean

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[3][FOI #13520 email]

Is [4][WA Department of Health request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to WA Department of Health? If so, please contact us using this form:

[5]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:

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Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

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OFFICIAL

Dear Sean

In direct response to your questions:

 1. You appear to have confused the word FREEDOM with the word FREE ??

Examples from the dictionary for FREEDOM include –

o the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants, e.g. "we do
have some freedom of choice" · "he talked of revoking some of the
freedoms"
o the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved, e.g. "the shark
thrashed its way to freedom"

Whereas,  FREE, which appears to be what you are referring to –

o without cost or payment, e.g. "ladies were admitted free"

 2. The $30.00 is a legislated fee for the submission of an FOI
application, as set out in Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information
Regulations 1993.  Payment of the fee is simply to enable the
validation of a submitted FOI application.

Regards

Nareen Burnell

Senior Freedom of Information (FOI) Coordinator

Technology and information Services | Corporate Services | Office of the
Deputy Director General

Department of Health | Royal Street East Perth 6004

Phone: 9222 6411  Email: [1][WA Department of Health request email]

The contents of this email or its attachments are intended only for the
use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this
email any use, interference with, disclosure, distribution or copying of
this material is unauthorised and prohibited. If you receive this in
error, please notify the sender by return e-mail, delete the email and
attachments from your system and destroy any copies you have taken of the
email and attachments.

From: Sean <[FOI #13520 email]>
Sent: Friday, 22 August 2025 12:37 PM
To: DOH, FOI <[WA Department of Health request email]>
Subject: Re: 20250820_to Sean_RE: FOI request - Correspondence related to
the dire condition of WA's Hospitals

Dear DOH, FOI, Before I even consider paying a $30 fee, can you address
these questions. 1. How can it be a FREEDOM of Information request if
there is a cost attached? 2. What does the $30 get me? If you're just
going to come back and deny my

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Dear DOH, FOI,

Before I even consider paying a $30 fee, can you address these questions.

1. How can it be a FREEDOM of Information request if there is a cost attached?

2. What does the $30 get me? If you're just going to come back and deny my request (hypothetically) what is the value of my payment?

Yours sincerely,

Sean

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OFFICIAL

Dear Sean

No, there is no provision to allow the statutory FOI application fee of
$30.00 to be waived.  

Only an application for specifically your own personal information (e.g.
medical record) does not require the application fee to be paid.

I suggest you refer to the Western Australian Freedom of Information Act
1992, as this is the legislation under which WA acts [1]Freedom Of
Information Act 1992 - [07-p0-00].pdf

There are, however, provisions for discounts of additional processing
charges which are also detailed in Schedule 1 to the FOI Regulations 1993
(page 5) [2]Freedom of Information Regulations 1993 - [02-n0-00].pdf

Regards

Nareen Burnell

Senior Freedom of Information (FOI) Coordinator

Technology and information Services | Corporate Services | Office of the
Deputy Director General

Department of Health | Royal Street East Perth 6004

Phone: 9222 6411  Email: [3][WA Department of Health request email]

The contents of this email or its attachments are intended only for the
use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this
email any use, interference with, disclosure, distribution or copying of
this material is unauthorised and prohibited. If you receive this in
error, please notify the sender by return e-mail, delete the email and
attachments from your system and destroy any copies you have taken of the
email and attachments.

From: Sean <[FOI #13520 email]>
Sent: Friday, 22 August 2025 3:35 PM
To: DOH, FOI <[WA Department of Health request email]>
Subject: 20250822_from Sean_Further query - RE: FOI request -
Correspondence related to the dire condition of WA's Hospitals

Dear DOH, FOI, Man, what a burn!!! Freedom vs Free. Maybe look at what the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says -
"Information is a valuable and powerful resource which is at the heart of
every government decision and

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Dear DOH, FOI,

Man, what a burn!!!

Freedom vs Free.

Maybe look at what the  Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says -

"Information is a valuable and powerful resource which is at the heart of every government decision and activity. Freedom of information (FOI) means the right of the public to access information Australian Government ministers and Australian Government agencies hold, including Norfolk Island agencies, with some exceptions. This right is promoted and enforced in the Freedom of Information Act 1982 - external site (FOI Act). The FOI Act recognises that the information government holds is a national resource and is managed for public purposes, and that public access to it should be prompt and at the lowest reasonable cost."

I would highlight those words "at the lowest reasonable cost" - $30 to submit a request is not reasonable, especially when there is no guarantee I will receive anything in response. We should not have to pay to understand what is happening within the departments our elected representatives have responsibility for. The charge is just an attempt to obstruct such requests.

Other jurisdictions have a $0 cost for FOI requests.WA - yet again - proves itself to be a backwards jurisdiction.

Are there any provisions under the quoted legislation to request a cost-fee submission?

Sean

Yours sincerely,

Sean

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OFFICIAL

Dear Sean

Please refer to the original response provided to you on 20 August 2025,
noting that, ‘the current scope of the request you have outlined in the
below email, is not considered a reasonable request; and will need to be
significantly narrowed to enable it to be managed within the limited
resources of the department’.

The scope is not specific enough for appropriate searches to be
undertaken, and the timeframe is not reasonable.

Regards

Nareen Burnell

Senior Freedom of Information (FOI) Coordinator

Technology and information Services | Corporate Services | Office of the
Deputy Director General

Department of Health | Royal Street East Perth 6004

Phone: 9222 6411  Email: [1][WA Department of Health request email]

The contents of this email or its attachments are intended only for the
use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this
email any use, interference with, disclosure, distribution or copying of
this material is unauthorised and prohibited. If you receive this in
error, please notify the sender by return e-mail, delete the email and
attachments from your system and destroy any copies you have taken of the
email and attachments.

From: Sean <[FOI #13520 email]>
Sent: Monday, 25 August 2025 4:35 PM
To: DOH, FOI <[WA Department of Health request email]>
Subject: 20250825_from Sean_Further query - FOI request - Correspondence
related to the dire condition of WA's Hospitals

Dear DOH, FOI, Hello again. Before I consider paying this $30 fee, can you
tell me what assurance there is that I will receive the requested
documents? If I pay $30 and get a response along the lines of "we can't
release anything to you". . . . that

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Dear DOH, FOI,

Hello again. Before I consider paying this $30 fee, can you tell me what assurance there is that I will receive the requested documents?

If I pay $30 and get a response along the lines of "we can't release anything to you"....that would be a shitty outcome.

Also, can you confirm that the scope of my request is adequate to allow for relevant documentation to be sourced?

Yours sincerely,

Sean

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OFFICIAL

Good afternoon Sean

Thank you for your email.

As it currently stands, a request for “all correspondence and
documentation between the Department of Health and the various Ministers
of Health related to the dire conditions of hospitals in WA from 1 January
2020 to 20 August 2025” could result in several hundred pages of material.
Under Section 20 of the Freedom of Information Act 1992 (WA), an agency
may refuse to deal with an access application if the work involved would
divert a substantial and unreasonable portion of its resources away from
other operations.  Processing such a broad request would require a
significant and unreasonable diversion of departmental resources from
other essential operations.

Each document must be carefully reviewed to determine whether it falls
within the scope of the request and whether it contains any exempt
information. Where exemptions apply, documents must be edited
accordingly—a process that can be both time-consuming and
resource-intensive. Additionally, the availability of staff and other
operational demands are important factors when assessing whether a request
is too large to manage.

We are keen to work with you to refine the scope of your request rather
than proceed to refuse it. To assist in narrowing it down to something
more manageable and useful, could you please provide further specifics
regarding the documents you are seeking?

Thank you and kind regards

Paula Casserly

Senior FOI Coordinator | Corporate Services

Department of Health

From: Sean <[FOI #13520 email]>
Sent: Monday, 1 September 2025 6:46 AM
To: DOH, FOI <[WA Department of Health request email]>
Subject: Re: 20250826_to Sean_Advice - FOI request - Correspondence
related to the dire condition of WA's Hospitals

Dear DOH, FOI, Ok, if the scope of the request is too broad, what do you
suggest? Aren't you meant to work with the applicant to clarify/narrow the
scope of the request? Yours sincerely, Sean

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OFFICIAL

Dear Sean

Thank you for your email.

I have withdrawn your application.

Thank you and kind regards

Paula Casserly

Senior FOI Coordinator | Corporate Services

Department of Health

Ground Level, 189 Royal Street, East Perth WA 6004

T: 9222 6411

E: [1][email address]

W:[2]www.health.wa.gov.au | W:[3]www.healthywa.wa.gov.au

From: Sean <[FOI #13520 email]>
Sent: Friday, 12 September 2025 9:41 AM
To: DOH, FOI <[WA Department of Health request email]>
Subject: RE: 20250826_to Sean_Advice - FOI request - Correspondence
related to the dire condition of WA's Hospitals

Dear DOH, FOI, I withdraw my FOI request. Yours sincerely, Sean
-----Original Message----- OFFICIAL Good afternoon Sean Thank you for your
email. As it currently stands, a request for “all correspondence and
documentation between the Department

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Dear DOH, FOI,

I withdraw my FOI request.

Yours sincerely,

Sean

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