Dear Mr Bellows

Thank you for your email below.

 1. We have now had an opportunity for consider your request.

 2. Generally speaking, an applicant under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (Vic) (the FOI Act) cannot request information that does not
exist in an existing document or requires answers to questions. An FOI
request must be for information contained in documents held by an
agency (see [1]Find and request access to information).

 3. The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) also
recommends that applicants consider telling the agency why they are
seeking access to a document or information, or if they plan to use
the document or information for a specific purpose.

 4. Your request below comprises questions regarding the Agency’s (i)
provider, (ii) spend, and (iii) “contract times” for duress, panic
buttons and “lone worker”. You do not provide any information about
the specific documents you are requesting so that the RMH can identify
or locate the documents (see [2]Freedom of Information Act 1982 - SECT
5 Definitions for the definition of a document). Similarly, aspects of
the information you seek (e.g., “spend”, “contract times” and “lone
worker”) lack specificity or clarity. Otherwise, we have no details as
to your role or organisation or why you seek the information which has
been requested.

Prerequisites for a valid request

 5. A FOI request is deemed valid if it is in accordance with section 17
of the FOI Act. That is: 

 a. it is in writing;  
 b. it outlines the information you seek; and
 c. payment of the application fee has been received by the agency. 

 6. Attached is an FOI request form which we ask you to complete
identifying specific documents you seek. The RMH will deem your
application valid in accordance with section 17 of the FOI Act once
you have met the criteria above. This includes payment of the
application fee of $32.70 (non-refundable). As your application is
processed, additional charges may apply, calculated in accordance with
a schedule of fees. If additional charges apply, we will invoice you
as the request is processed.  More details on the applicable fees and
charges and payment options can be found at [3]The FOI application
form. Information more generally on the FOI process can be found at
our website [4]Freedom of Information (FOI).

Preliminary comment on the type of information sought

 7. Even if your request is deemed valid, that does not necessarily mean
that the RMH will provide you with the information you have requested
(in full or part). If you ultimately identify documents you wish to
access, we are still required to assess each relevant document (if it
exists) to determine whether an exemption applies to it in full or in
part. For example, a document or information is exempt: 
 

 a. under section 34(1) of the FOI Act – if the information was
obtained/acquired by the RMH from a company in the context of a
commercial relationship and the information contains trade secrets or
commercial, financial or business information about that other
company and the disclosure of that information would unreasonably
expose that company to disadvantage; and

 b. under section 34(4) of the FOI Act – if the document or information
contains (i) a trade secret of the RMH or, (ii) if the RMH is engaged
in trade or commerce, the document or information contains
commercial, financial or business information of the RMH, and in
either case disclosure of that information is likely to expose the
RMH to disadvantage.

Consultation 

 8. We invite you to identify the documents you seek so that:

 a. the RMH has sufficient information about the documents you request to
enable the RMH to identify the documents you seek; and

 b. so that processing your request will not be a substantial and
unreasonable diversion of the RMH’s resources from its other
operations. 
 

 9. We note that we are unable to process your request further until the
requirements of s17 of the Act (including payment of the application
fee) are met.  

10. In the usual course of an FOI application, we have 30 days from the
date on which we determine your request is valid under section 17 of
the FOI Act to provide you a decision about your requests. If we
receive a valid request which we can process, as we mentioned at
paragraph 7, we still will need to consider each document which may be
responsive to your request and consider if any exemptions apply to
those documents. You may not necessarily be provided with any
documents or information.  

11. Please note, if you do not pay the application fee your FOI request
will not be considered valid and we will not provide you a response to
any of your requests. If you do pay the application fee, but do not
respond to the requests in this email within 30 days of paying that
application fee, we may issue a decision letter about your requests
and may refuse some or all of your requests. 

Kind regards,

[5]A logo of a hospital  
Description automatically Andrew Mariadason | Legal Counsel – Manager
generated Medico-Legal Services

The Royal Melbourne Hospital – Elizabeth Street
635 Elizabeth Street | Melbourne, Victoria 3000
M: 0436 336 653 T: 9342 8659 E:
[6][email address] |
[7]thermh.org.au

 
The Royal Melbourne Hospital acknowledges the
Kulin nations as the Traditional Custodians of
the land on which our services are located. We
are committed to improving the health and
wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples.

This email, including any attachments, is
confidential. It may contain legally privileged
material and/or personal information. If you
have received this email in error, please
contact the writer immediately and delete the
email. You must not use, copy or disclose any
information contained in it or its attachments.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital does not waive any
legal professional privilege that may exist in
such information.

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