Vaccine schedule

Renee made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Health

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was successful.

Dear Department of Health,

Where is each vaccine available in Australia manufactured?

Yours faithfully,
Renee

TGA FOI, Department of Health

1 Attachment

Dear Renee

 

I refer to your correspondence of 20 May 2019 to the Department of Health
(as below).

 

Section 15 of the FOI Act requires that a request for access meets certain
requirements. Your request, in its current form, does not constitute a
valid request as it is a request for information rather than documents.
The FOI Act provides for access to documents and not to 'information'.

 

In order for your request to be processed under the provisions of the FOI
Act we require further information to enable us to identify the document
or documents you are seeking.

 

For example, you may wish to consider submitting the following scope:

 

“For the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, I seek access to a
document which lists all vaccines available in Australia and where they
are manufactured.”

 

Please note that this scope is a sample only. At this early stage, a
search and retrieval has not been conducted and the TGA is unable to
advise on whether it may be too voluminous to process or if any documents
will be returned.

 

Alternatively, I would greatly appreciate if you could provide us with
more information on the specific documents that you require.

 

We would be grateful for your response by COB Wednesday 22 May 2019

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Team.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Freedom of Information
(02) 6232 8806

Reporting and Collaboration Services Section

Regulatory Engagement and Planning Branch

Therapeutic Goods Administration
Address: PO Box 100, Woden ACT, 2606
Email: [1][email address]

 

[2]cid:image001.png@01D1D5D9.7DDEADA0

 

 

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Dear TGA FOI,

For the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, I seek access to a
document which lists all vaccines available in Australia and where they
are manufactured

Yours sincerely,

Renee

TGA FOI, Department of Health

1 Attachment

Dear Renee

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – NOTIFICATION OF RECEIPT

I am writing to notify you that the Department of Health (Department) has
received your request for access to documents under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

                “For the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, I
seek access to a document which lists all vaccines available in Australia
and where they are manufactured.”

Under section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, the agency has 30 calendar days
after the date your request was received in which to provide a decision in
response to your request for access. A decision is currently due on or
before 20 JUNE 2019.

However, where there is requirement to undertake consultation with
affected third parties, this timeframe is extended by a further 30 days.
It may also be extended in certain circumstances, including with your
agreement or where the Department applies to the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner for an extension.

 

In addition, please note that if the decision maker decides that you are
liable to pay a charge in relation to your request then this timeframe is
extended pending payment of a deposit. You will be notified by the
Department if you are liable to pay a charge and/or if third party
consultation is required.

 

PROCESSING YOUR REQUEST

To assist us to streamline the processing of your request we ask you to
consider and respond to the following questions.

 

1.       Personal Information

Documents containing personal information, (e.g. the names and contact
details of any individuals, or any information that could reasonably
identify an individual) may require the Department to consult with the
identified individuals or parties. This consultation is likely to add to
the time taken to process your request, and potentially increase the
charge imposed on you.

 

We would therefore be grateful if you could confirm if you are seeking
access to personal information in the documents (e.g. names, contact
details, addresses) relating to:

·         third parties; and

·         Commonwealth staff (please note that unless you advise
otherwise, we will assume that you do not seek access to personal
information of Commonwealth employees below Senior Executive Service
level).

 

If you are not seeking access to any personal information, you can simply
reply: 'no personal information requested'.

 

If you are seeking access to specific types of personal information,
please specify the type of personal information you require.

 

2.       Duplicate Documents

Under section 4(1) of the FOI Act, the definition of a document includes
‘any copy, including an part of any copy, of a reproduction or duplicate’.
Confirmation that you are not seeking duplicate documents may enable more
timely and less costly processing of your request.

 

Can you please clarify if you are seeking duplicate copies, either in part
or in full, as part of your request?

 

If you are not seeking access to duplicate documents, you can simply
respond: ‘no duplicates requested’.

 

We look forward to hearing from you by COB Monday 27 May 2019.

If you have any queries, please contact the FOI team on (02) 6232 8806, or
via email at [1][email address].

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information
(02) 6232 8806

Reporting and Collaboration Services Section

Regulatory Engagement and Planning Branch

Therapeutic Goods Administration
Address: PO Box 100, Woden ACT, 2606
Email: [2][email address]

 

[3]cid:image001.png@01D1D5D9.7DDEADA0

 

 

 

 

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TGA FOI, Department of Health

Dear Renee

Thank you for your FOI request received 21 May 2019.

We recommend you search the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) for the information you are seeking. You can find the ARTG here: https://www.tga.gov.au/artg

Here you will find publicly available information that does not need to be accessed under the FOI Act. Anyone can find all registered medicines, including vaccines, that are approved for supply in Australia. Noting however, not all registered medicines are necessarily being supplied regardless of approval.

Based on this, you may wish to withdraw your FOI request.

In relation to manufacturing details, we advise that in past FOI requests of a similar nature, documents of the type you are seeking have been exempted from disclosure under the FOI Act (ie. not released) on the basis that the documents would disclose trade secrets or commercially valuable information (section 47(1) of the FOI Act). The reason for exemption under section 47(1) of the FOI Act is disclosure of information having a commercial value that would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, destroyed or diminished if the information were disclosed.

Based on this, you may wish to withdraw your FOI request.

Should you wish to proceed with your FOI request or if you decide to withdraw your request, please let us know by Tuesday 28 May 2019.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information
(02) 6232 8806
Reporting and Collaboration Services Section
Regulatory Engagement and Planning Branch
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Address: PO Box 100, Woden ACT, 2606
Email: [email address]

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TGA FOI, Department of Health

1 Attachment

Dear Renee

 

Thank you for your FOI request which was received by the Therapeutic Goods
Administration on 21 May 2019.

 

I am writing to seek further clarification regarding the scope of your
request. In its current form, it may be too voluminous for the TGA to
process.

 

Current scope:

“For the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, I seek access to a
document which lists all vaccines available in Australia and where they
are manufactured.”

 

Due to the nature in which vaccines are manufactured, there may be
multiple steps involved in the manufacture covering multiple sites and
there remains a requirement to consult all manufacturers of each vaccine.
As such, as your request relates to the personal, professional, business,
commercial or financial affairs of third parties, pursuant to section 27
and 27A of the FOI Act, the TGA is required to consult with the affected
third parties and provide them an opportunity to make submissions
regarding the release of the documents.

 

On this basis, access may be refused under section 24(1)(b) of the FOI Act
on the basis that it would be an unreasonable diversion of the
department’s resources to process your request.

 

As previously advised, documents disclosing manufacturing details have, in
the past been exempt from disclosure (ie. not released) on the basis that
it would disclose trade secrets or commercially valuable information
(section 47(1) of the FOI Act). The reason for exemption under section
47(1) of the FOI Act is disclosure of information having a commercial
value that would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, destroyed or
diminished if the information were disclosed.

 

Given this clarification, we would be grateful if you could you please
specify if you still seek the place of manufacture for all vaccines
available in Australia.

 

We would be grateful for your response by COB Friday 7 June 2019. If we do
not hear from you by this date, we will continue to process the request
based on your current scope (as outlined above).

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team.

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information
(02) 6232 8806

Reporting and Collaboration Services Section

Regulatory Engagement and Planning Branch

Therapeutic Goods Administration
Address: PO Box 100, Woden ACT, 2606
Email: [1][email address]

 

[2]cid:image001.png@01D1D5D9.7DDEADA0

 

 

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TGA FOI, Department of Health

3 Attachments

Dear Renee

 

Please find attached correspondence in relation to your Freedom of
Information request.

 

As set out in the attached correspondence, we seek your response within 14
days, being 26 June 2019.

 

Pursuant to section 24AB(8) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the
statutory timeframe for processing your request is set aside during this
consultation process.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Team.

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of Information
(02) 6232 8806

Reporting and Collaboration Services Section

Regulatory Engagement and Planning Branch

Therapeutic Goods Administration
Address: PO Box 100, Woden ACT, 2606
Email: [1][email address]

 

[2]cid:image001.png@01D1D5D9.7DDEADA0

 

 

 

 

 

 

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