Freedom of Information (FOI)

The two main objectives of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) are to provide access to, and encourage proactive disclosure of, information created and held by the Commonwealth Government and its agencies.

We are committed to transparency and accountability. Under the FOI Act, you can request access to documents by making a FOI request.

You have a right to access documents unless exemptions apply under the FOI Act to protect essential public interest and the private and business affairs of people.

Seeking medical information

If you are seeking access to your health information in My Health Record you do not need to use the FOI process. You can access this information now by signing in to your record via myGov. Find out more about My Health Record and what's inside. You can also call our Helpline on 1800 723 471 to speak to someone who can assist you.

If you are looking for information that is not currently included in your record you will need to speak to your healthcare provider. The Australian Digital Health Agency does not hold health information outside My Health Record.

The OAIC can assist you to access your historical medical information which may not be included in My Health Record.

How to make an FOI request

Your FOI request must:

  • be in writing
  • state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
  • provide information about the document(s) you wish to access so that we can process your request
  • provide an address for reply

Form: Freedom of Information (FOI)

Download and complete the the following form made available in PDF or Word formats:

Phone: (02) 6223 0780
Email your FOI request to [email protected] 

Or mail your FOI request form to:

Freedom of Information Officer
Australian Digital Health Agency
Scarborough House
Level 7, 1 Atlantic Street
Woden ACT 2606 Australia

Processing your FOI request

We will tell you within 14 days that we have received your request. We will give you our decision within 30 days unless that time has been extended. If a document contains information about a third party, we will need to consult them and may need to extend the time to give you our decision by another 30 days. We may also seek your agreement or ask the Information Commissioner to extend the time by up to 30 days if your request is complex.

Transfer of requests

If we received the documents that you request from another department or agency, or documents are more closely connected with the functions of another department or agency, we may transfer your request in full or in part to that department or agency. The other department or agency must agree to the transfer. If a request, or part of a request, is transferred, we will notify you.

Requests to access personal information

If your request is for documents that contain personal information (either yours, or another person’s, on their behalf), you must include sufficient evidence of your identity with your application. If your request is for documents containing personal information on behalf of another person, both you and the other person must provide evidence of identity.

FOI requests made on behalf of another person

If another party is acting on your behalf, you must include a letter of authorisation with their FOI request.

Charges

There is no fee for making an FOI request and no charges for processing documents containing your personal information. However, under the FOI Act (Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulation 1982), we can charge to process other requests. We will let you know if charges apply and give you an estimate of the charges. We will not process your request until we receive a response to the charges estimate.

We may cancel, reduce or not impose processing charges for any reason.

If you have further questions about charges, please contact our FOI Officer at [email protected] or at the above address.

Review rights

If you want an internal review of our decision about your FOI request, you must write to us within 30 days of being notified of our decision.

Alternatively, you may write to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) asking for a review of our original or internal review decision. You must apply to the OAIC within 60 days of being notified of our decision.

Information Publication Scheme (IPS)

The 2010 reforms to the FOI Act included the introduction of the [Information Publication Scheme (IPS)][3] that requires Australian Government agencies to provide a broad range of information on their websites, and to make it available for downloading where possible. The IPS enhances the amount of government information that is available to the public and underpins a pro-disclosure culture across government.

Discover more about the Information Publication Scheme.

FOI disclosure log

Under the FOI Act, we must publish a disclosure log on our website, listing information which we have released in response to FOI Act access requests (subject to some exceptions).

View the disclosure log

Contact us

If you would like further information about making an FOI request, please contact our FOI officer:

Phone: (02) 6223 0780
Email:   [email protected]

The OAIC website at www.oaic.gov.au provides useful information about the FOI process, publications and resources.