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 health information

If you have a My Health Record, or you are an Authorised Representative for someone who has a My Health Record, you do not need to request any information contained in it under the FOI process as this information is already available to you online.

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 My Health 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 health information which may not be included in My Health Record.

Requests to access personal information outside of My Health Record

If your request is for documents outside of My Health Record that contain personal information (either yours or someone else’s), the Agency may require sufficient evidence of your identity to complete the application.

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
provide an address for reply

How to submit your FOI request

You can choose one of these 3 options to submit your FOI request:

Option 1: send an email to foi@digitalhealth.gov.au
Option 2: send an FOI Request Form by post or email
Option 3: submit the online webform (below)

Option 1: send an email

Send an email to foi@digitalhealth.gov.au - your email must state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act, provide information about the document(s) you wish to access, and provide an address for reply.

Option 2: send an FOI Request Form

Download and complete the FOI Request Form - choose either the PDF or Word format:

You can either email the completed form to foi@digitalhealth.gov.au

or post the completed form to:

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

Option 3: submit the online webform (below)

Complete and submit the online webform (below). After you submit the webform, the Agency will contact you regarding the next steps in the FOI request process.

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.

Lodging on behalf of someone else

If another party is acting on your behalf, you must include a letter of authorisation with their FOI request. If you are lodging a FOI request on behalf of a company or another person, you will be required to provide evidence to demonstrate that you are authorised to act on their behalf to:

make a FOI request
communicate with the Agency about the FOI request
receive copies of documents that the Agency may release.

For requests via email or post (Options 1 and 2) please attach a letter of authorisation (eg. on company letter head), signed by the person, confirming the above, or a copy of current power of attorney documentation.

For requests via the online webform (Option 3) please provide the company or person's details on the webform. After submitting the webform, at a later stage in the process, the Agency will contact you to request the evidence of authorisation.

Charges

There is no fee for making an FOI request and no charge for processing documents containing your personal information.

However, under the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 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 us (see below).

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.

Consultation with third parties

If the documents identified relate to an individual or organisation (other than you) the Agency may need to consult the individual or organisation to obtain their views about potential release of the documents. For requests via Method 1, the Agency will contact you to check your consent. For requests via Methods 2 and 3, you can provide consent via the form or webform.

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: 1300 901 001

Email: foi@digitalhealth.gov.au

Postal address:

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

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

FOI request - online webform

The purpose of this form, once it is fully and accurately completed by you (the applicant), is to make a FOI request to the Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth). Please note: The costs relating to FOI requests are determined by the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019. Charges will be applied to non-personal information. There is no charge to access your own personal information.

Privacy statement

The Agency is subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles. Personal information provided in this form will be used for the purposes of processing your FOI request, such as transferring your request to another Government agency where appropriate and otherwise as stated on this form.

Your details

Salutation (required)

First name (required)

Family name (required)

Postal address (required)

Phone number (required)

Email address (required)

Preferred method of receiving documents (required)

By post

By email

Inspect the documents in person at an Agency office

Company or person being represented - if applicable

Salutation

First name

Family name

Company - if applicable

Postal address

Phone number

Email address

Requested documents

Requested documents (required)

Please provide enough detail for us to identify the documents.

Consent to release of identity to third parties

If the documents identified relate to an individual or organisation (other than you), the Agency may need to consult the individual or organisation to obtain their views about potential release of the documents.

If this is necessary, do you consent to the disclosure of your identity for the purposes of third party consultation?

I consent to the disclosure of my identity for the purposes of third party consultation.