Regulatory documents about exposure of a worker at ANSTO Health, Lucas Heights on 22 August 2017
Dear Comcare FOI Officer ,
This is a formal access application made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (Cth) 1982. Requested are all records including but not limited to:
o documents,
o diaries,
o electronic communications,
o fax transmissions,
o transactions,
o information including that generated by information systems,
o incident reports,
o notes made from any telephone conversations
That relate to the accident that exposed a worker at ANSTO Health, Lucas Heights, on 22 August 2017 to radioactive Molybdenum-99. These records should include all communications from ANSTO to Comcare regarding the incident and Comcare's regulatory response. Also requested are all records that relate to communications made under the Memorandum of Understanding between Comcare and The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Tremblay
Thank you for your email to Freedom of Information (FOI) at Comcare. If
your request meets the requirements for a valid FOI request, an
acknowledgement letter will be sent to you within 14 days. Otherwise, FOI
staff will contact you to discuss your request.
NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments may contain confidential,
personal or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use or disclose any information in the message or
attachments. If received in error, please notify the sender by return
email immediately, if possible, or [email address].
Comcare does not waive any confidentiality or privilege. For information
about how we handle personal information, please visit
www.comcare.gov.au/privacy or contact us on 1300 366 979 and request a
copy of our Privacy Policy.
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Tremblay,
Thank you for your email of 17 April 2018, seeking access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the following:
all records including but not limited to:
o documents,
o diaries,
o electronic communications,
o fax transmissions,
o transactions,
o information including that generated by information systems,
o incident reports, o notes made from any telephone conversations
That relate to the accident that exposed a worker at ANSTO Health, Lucas
Heights, on 22 August 2017 to radioactive Molybdenum-99. These records
should include all communications from ANSTO to Comcare regarding the
incident and Comcare's regulatory response. Also requested are all records
that relate to communications made under the Memorandum of Understanding
between Comcare and The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety
Agency.
Your request has been assigned reference number #228284-2018/4139 and you
are asked to cite that number in any communication you have with Comcare
concerning the request. Information on processing of your request is set
out below.
Timeframe for receiving your decision
The statutory timeframe for processing your request is 30 days from the
date on which it was received by Comcare, which makes the due date for the
decision on your request 17 May 2018.
This timeframe may be extended where:
a) charges are levied as prescribed by the Freedom of
Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations 1982 (the FOI Regulations)(see
charges below);
b) consultation with third parties is necessary (see
consultation with third parties below);
c) by agreement from you, under section 15AA of the FOI Act; or
d) by approval of the Information Commissioner, under section
15AB of the FOI Act.
Disclosure Log
Please note that information released under FOI Act may be published in a
disclosure log on the Comcare’s website. Section 11C of the FOI Act
requires this publication, however it is subject to certain exceptions,
including where publication of personal, business, professional or
commercial information would be unreasonable.
Exclusion of employee details
Where the full name and contact details of staff members are included in
the scope of a request, this may add to processing time and applicable
charges as it may be necessary to consider whether the details are exempt
under the FOI Act. On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will
assume that these details are out of scope of your request and they will
be redacted under section 22 of the FOI Act.
Consultation with third parties
The FOI Act requires Comcare to undertake consultation prior to making any
decision to grant access to documents (subject to exemptions) that
contain:
• information that originated with, or was received from, a
State or an authority of a State;
• information that originated with, or was received from, a
foreign government, an authority of a foreign government or an
international organisation;
• information concerning a person's business or commercial
affairs, or the business, commercial or financial affairs of an
organisation or undertaking; or
• personal information about a person (including a deceased
person).
You will be advised as soon as possible if external consultation is
required.
Charges
The department will advise you if a charge is payable to process your
request. No charge is payable for providing a person with their own
personal information.
Contact
Should you require clarification of any of the matters discussed in this
email, or have any queries throughout the process, please contact us by
email to [Comcare request email] or by telephone 1300 366 979.
Yours sincerely
The FOI Team
FOI & Privacy
1300 366 979 | [email address]
GPO Box 9905, Canberra, ACT, 2601 | www.comcare.gov.au
NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments may contain confidential,
personal or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use or disclose any information in the message or
attachments. If received in error, please notify the sender by return
email immediately, if possible, or [email address].
Comcare does not waive any confidentiality or privilege. For information
about how we handle personal information, please visit
www.comcare.gov.au/privacy or contact us on 1300 366 979 and request a
copy of our Privacy Policy.
Our reference: RQ18/01271
Agency reference: 228284-2018/4139
Mr Mike Tremblay
By email: [FOI #4509 email]
Dear Mr Tremblay
Extension of time under s 15AB
On 8 May 2018, Comcare applied for further time to make a decision on your
FOI request of 17 April 2018.
This application was on the basis that the processing period is
insufficient to deal adequately with your request, because it is complex
and voluminous.
Decision
I have decided to grant Comcare an extension of time to process your
request to 16 June 2018. This decision has been made under s 15AB(2) of
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
By granting further time it is anticipated that Comcare will provide a
well-reasoned and better managed decision.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this email please contact me on 02
9284 9745 or via email [email address]. Please quote OAIC
reference number RQ18/01271 in all correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Carl English | Assistant Review and Investigation Officer | Freedom of
Information Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY NSW 2001| [1]www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: +61 2 9284 9745 | E-mail: [email address]
References
Visible links
1. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
Our reference: RQ18/01548
Mr Mike Tremblay
Sent via email to: [FOI #4509 email]
Dear Mr Tremblay
Extension of time request by Comcare
I write to advise that on 8 June 2018 the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (the OAIC) received a request from Comcare for an
extension of time, to process your freedom of information request.
The Department has applied for an extension of time under s 15AB of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) because your request is considered
to be voluminous and complex.
The Department has requested an extension to 26 June 2018. I will take
any comments you may have to make into account when deciding the
application.
Please respond to this email by close of business 15 June 2018. If I do
not hear from you by this date, I will proceed to make a decision on the
basis of the information provided to me by the Department.
You will be notified of the decision once the matter has been finalised.
Further information about extension of time requests may be found on our
website at [1]FOI Fact Sheet 16 - Extensions of time.
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact me on 02 8231 4292 or via email
[2][email address]. In all correspondence please include
reference number RQ18/01548.
Yours sincerely
Megan McKenna | Assistant Review Officer | Freedom of Information Dispute
Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, SYDNEY NSW 2000
GPO Box 5128 SYDNEY NSW 2001| [3]www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: +61 2 8231 4292| E-mail: [4][email address]
Protecting information rights – advancing information policy
[5]cid:image001.png@01D3D328.F52FA7D0
References
Visible links
1. http://www.oaic.gov.au/publications/fact...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
4. mailto:[email address]
Our reference: RQ18/01548
Mr Mike Tremblay
By email: [FOI #4509 email]
Dear Mr Tremblay
Extension of time application under s 15AB
On 8 June 2018, Comcare applied for further time to make a decision on
your FOI request of 17 April 2018.
This application was on the basis that the processing period is
insufficient to deal adequately with your request, because it is complex
and voluminous.
Consultation
On 12 June 2018, I contacted you to seek your views on Comcare’s request.
I have not received a response from you.
Decision
I have decided to grant Comcare an extension of time to process your
request to 26 June 2018. This decision has been made under s 15AB(2) of
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
By granting further time it is anticipated that Comcare will provide a
well-reasoned and better managed decision.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this email please contact me on 02
8231 4292 or via email [email address]. Please quote OAIC
reference number RQ18/01548 in all correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Megan McKenna | Assistant Review Officer | Freedom of Information Dispute
Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, SYDNEY NSW 2000
GPO Box 5128 SYDNEY NSW 2001| [1]www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: +61 2 8231 4292| E-mail: [2][email address]
Protecting information rights – advancing information policy
[3]cid:image001.png@01D3D328.F52FA7D0
References
Visible links
1. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
2. mailto:[email address]
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Tremblay,
Please see the attached decision letter in response to your FOI Request. Can you please provide an individuals email address for transfer of the documents through our secure dropbox or a physical address if you would prefer the documents via post. The documents are too large to provide via email.
Thank you and kind regards,
The FOI Team
FOI & Privacy
1300 366 979 | [email address]
GPO Box 9905, Canberra, ACT, 2601 | www.comcare.gov.au
Dear FOI Officer,
Thank you for providing me with a decision for my FOI request 2018 4139.
You requested provision of a physical mail address or a direct e-mail address so that the granted documents of the request may be supplied by secure dropbox. It is my understanding that you are able to upload the files directly to the "RightToKnow.org.au" server.
The following instructions are quoted from the FOI Officer Questions page of "RightToKnow.org.au" and will hopefully solve your problems with the submission of the documents.
Instructions: "How can I send a large file, which won't go by email? #
Instead of email, you can respond to a request directly from your web browser, including uploading a file. To do this, choose "respond to request" at the bottom of the request's page. Contact us if it is too big for even that (more than, say, 50Mb). "
Yours sincerely,
Mike Tremblay
Thank you for your email to Freedom of Information (FOI) at Comcare. If
your request meets the requirements for a valid FOI request, an
acknowledgement letter will be sent to you within 14 days. Otherwise, FOI
staff will contact you to discuss your request.
NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments may contain confidential,
personal or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use or disclose any information in the message or
attachments. If received in error, please notify the sender by return
email immediately, if possible, or [email address].
Comcare does not waive any confidentiality or privilege. For information
about how we handle personal information, please visit
www.comcare.gov.au/privacy or contact us on 1300 366 979 and request a
copy of our Privacy Policy.
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr Tremblay,
Please see the smaller file attached. I will attempt to upload the larger file (the verification investigation) directly to the website as mentioned in your email.
Kind regards,
The FOI Team
FOI & Privacy
1300 366 979 | [email address]
GPO Box 9905, Canberra, ACT, 2601 | www.comcare.gov.au
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon again Mr Tremblay,
The website is telling me that the second document is too large to upload although it isn't more than 50 MB (it's 38.1 MB). Please advise how you would like me to proceed.
Kind regards,
The FOI Team
FOI & Privacy
1300 366 979 | [email address]
GPO Box 9905, Canberra, ACT, 2601 | www.comcare.gov.au
Dr Michael Cole left an annotation ()
FOI ComCare. Is it possible to split the big file into two files? Then download each one, one at a time?
Sun Shine left an annotation ()
It should be simple for them to split up the document so that the information can be made available to all.
Dear FOI Officer,
I am still waiting for the upload of the documents granted in the decision regarding my request.
As suggested in above annotation, you may want to try uploading the documents by splitting the 38 MB file into several smaller files The smaller files may then be accepted by the upload function of "RighTtoKnow.org.au
I am looking forward to your prompt response in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Mike Tremblay
Thank you for your email to Freedom of Information (FOI) at Comcare. If
your request meets the requirements for a valid FOI request, an
acknowledgement letter will be sent to you within 14 days. Otherwise, FOI
staff will contact you to discuss your request.
NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments may contain confidential,
personal or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use or disclose any information in the message or
attachments. If received in error, please notify the sender by return
email immediately, if possible, or [email address].
Comcare does not waive any confidentiality or privilege. For information
about how we handle personal information, please visit
www.comcare.gov.au/privacy or contact us on 1300 366 979 and request a
copy of our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information team at Comcare. If
you have lodged a valid FOI request, an acknowledgement will be sent to
you within 14 days. Otherwise, a member of the FOI team will respond to
your email within three business days.
NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments may contain confidential,
personal or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use or disclose any information in the message or
attachments. If received in error, please notify the sender by return
email immediately, if possible, or [email address].
Comcare does not waive any confidentiality or privilege. For information
about how we handle personal information, please visit
www.comcare.gov.au/privacy or contact us on 1300 366 979 and request a
copy of our Privacy Policy.
Ben Fairless left an annotation ()
Hi All,
The Right to Know team are working with ComCare to understand the issue here - Please bear with us!
Thanks,
Ben
Dear Comcare,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Comcare's handling of my FOI request "Regulatory documents about exposure of a worker at ANSTO Health, Lucas Heights on 22 August 2017".
Although two tranches of documents were approved to this day I was not provided tranche 2 by the agency. This review request is in pursuit of the second tranche of documents that had been approved but had due to apparent technical issues not been provided.
Tranche 1: with a file size ~1.5 MB contains 179 pages of documentation was received.
Tranche 2: Has yet to be provided. The apparent issue I was informed was that the file is too large to be submitted to the 'RightToKnow' web page although I pointed out that the file could be split up into a number of smaller files which would then allow to be submitted to the file upload system of 'RightToKnow' and this had been confirmed also by the System Administrator as well as other users, Comcare still failed to provide the 38 MB file. As these documents fall into the ambit of my request and were approved I would like to request that with this review I am provided the documents with urgency via the portal of 'RightToKnow'.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/r...
Yours faithfully,
Mike Tremblay
From: Mike Tremblay
Delivered April 17, 2018
Dear Comcare FOI Officer ,
This is a formal access application made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (Cth) 1982. Requested are all records including but not limited to:
o documents,
o diaries,
o electronic communications,
o fax transmissions,
o transactions,
o information including that generated by information systems,
o incident reports,
o notes made from any telephone conversations
That relate to the accident that exposed a worker at ANSTO Health, Lucas Heights, on 22 August 2017 to radioactive Molybdenum-99. These records should include all communications from ANSTO to Comcare regarding the incident and Comcare's regulatory response. Also requested are all records that relate to communications made under the Memorandum of Understanding between Comcare and The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Tremblay
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/r...
Thank you for your email to Freedom of Information (FOI) at Comcare. If
your request meets the requirements for a valid FOI request, an
acknowledgement letter will be sent to you within 14 days. Otherwise, FOI
staff will contact you to discuss your request.
NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments may contain confidential,
personal or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use or disclose any information in the message or
attachments. If received in error, please notify the sender by return
email immediately, if possible, or [email address].
Comcare does not waive any confidentiality or privilege. For information
about how we handle personal information, please visit
www.comcare.gov.au/privacy or contact us on 1300 366 979 and request a
copy of our Privacy Policy.
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Tremblay,
The decision on your internal review is attached.
Kind regards,
Elizabeth
Ben Fairless left an annotation ()
Hi Everyone,
The delay in releasing the documents was caused by Right to Know, not the authority. We sincerely apologise for the delay in fixing this.
The authority can now upload their response using the "Respond to Request" function on the site.
Thanks,
Ben
Sun Shine left an annotation ()
Documents should be made available to all. I too am interested in the information, and I reckon many others are as well.
We Australians should have trust in our government. We should all desire a participatory democracy, which is promoted when the public have a better understanding of how government makes decisions and administers programs.