NORTH METROPOLITAN
HEALTH SERVICE BOARD — MEMBERSHIP
748. Hon PETER COLLIER to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
response to question without notice 730 asked on Thursday, 30 August 2018,
regarding six former board members of the North Metropolitan Health Service and
their formal resignation via letter to the Minister for Health.
(1) Why did a freedom
of information response released to the opposition seeking the resignation
letters of any North Metropolitan Health Service board members since 11 March
2017 result in only three resignation letters being identified and released
when the parliamentary secretary's response to part (3) indicated that
all six board members had resigned via letter?
(2) In relation
to part (4), with regard to the response on tabling the resignation documents
in this place, why did the minister indicate that consent is being sought from
each board member before they are tabled, given that consent had already been
given for at least three of these documents?
(3) Why were the
letters released under FOI heavily redacted, given that at least one former
board member has indicated publicly they consented to the letter being released
in its entirety?
(4) When will the
remaining resignation letters be tabled and will these letters be tabled un-redacted?
Hon ALANNA
CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for some
notice of the question. I am advised of the following.
(1) Following an
internal review of the FOI process by the North Metropolitan Health Service, it
was identified that one resignation letter was withheld inadvertently due to an
error. The final two resignation letters were not recorded on the NMHS record
management system and therefore did not appear in the original search.
(2) The
Department of Health sought consent from the author of each resignation letter
for the purpose of responding to the parliamentary question. The freedom of
information request was directed to the North Metropolitan Health Service, not
the Minister for Health.
(3) Schedule
1, clause 3, ''Personal Information'', provides that rights of
privacy of third parties may outweigh the applicant's rights for full
access. Personal information of the author and third parties was therefore
redacted.
(4) Yes. The resignation letters
will be tabled with the signatures and home addresses redacted.