Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Freedom of Information Act 1982 - SECT 51A

Conciliation by Health Services Commissioner

51A. Conciliation by Health Services Commissioner



(1) Subject to subsection (2), if a decision referred to in section 50(2) has
been made in relation to a document containing health information relating to
the applicant, the applicant, instead of making an application under section
51(1) in relation to the decision, may apply to the Health Services
Commissioner for conciliation under Division 3 of Part 6 of the
Health Records Act 2001 and that Division (except section 63) applies to the
conciliation as if it were a conciliation of a complaint made under that Act.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an exempt document (other than an exempt
document referred to in section 32, 33 or 38).

(3) An application under subsection (1) must be made within-

   (a)  in the case of a decision referred to in section 27(1)(da), 70 days;
        or

   (b)  in any other case, 28 days-

after the day on which notice in writing of the decision is given to the
applicant in accordance with section 27.

(4) If the Health Services Commissioner has attempted unsuccessfully to
conciliate a request, he or she must give notice in writing to the applicant
and the principal officer of the agency or the Minister to whom the request
was made.