Our reference: FOI 24/25-1088
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
20 May 2025
ndis.gov.au
Elias
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Elias
Freedom of Information request — Notice of Decision
Thank you for your correspondence of 12 January 2025
(your correspondence), seeking
access under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to documents held by the
National Disability Insurance Agency
(NDIA).
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request.
Scope of your request
You have requested access to the fol owing documents:
“Al current internal policies, knowledge articles, standard operating procedures,
checklists, and templates pertaining to:
1. Plan reassessment
2. Plan variation
3. ‘Check-in’ meetings/conversations
Please include all identified documents in full, I consider all parts of a document to be
relevant. This also includes the 'version control' information for every document.”
Processing Timeframes
The FOI Act provides 30 calendar days for the processing of an FOI request after it is
received. As your valid FOI request was received on 12 January 2025, the original due date
for your request was 11 February 2025.
As we were unable to provide you with a decision on your request by the legislated due date,
your application is regarded as a deemed refusal under section 15AC of the FOI Act.
Despite this, I have continued to process your application. I apologise for the delay and
confirm that you retain your right to seek external review of this decision. Details are set out
in
Attachment B to this letter.
Request Consultation Process
On 24 March 2025, I issued you a 24AB request for consultation notice, explaining that a
search conducted by the Service Design Division had resulted in 163 documents being
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identified as potentially falling within the scope of your request, it would take the Division
approximately 13-25 hours to compile the information you have requested, and an estimated
26 hours to review and collate the information by FOI staff.
You responded to my notice on 26 March 2026 proposing the following scope:
“1. The title, file name and date published for each of the 163 documents identified
during the preliminary search in FOI 24/25-1088”
I consider this to be the new scope of your request.
After further consultation with the Service Design Division, I was advised that searches were
performed, and no document was located relevant to the scope of your request. Further,
they also advised that while it would be possible to create a document under section 17(1) of
the FOI Act, doing so would substantially and unreasonably divert resources of the agency.
Decision on Access to Documents
I made this decision as a delegated decision maker under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
I have decided to refuse access to information relevant to the scope of your request
pursuant to section 24A of the FOI Act on the basis that documents cannot be located or do
not exist. A detailed statement of reasons for my decision can be found at
Attachment A.
Rights of review
Your rights to seek a review of my decision, or lodge a complaint, are set out at
Attachment B.
Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me
by email
at xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Patrick (PHO293)
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
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Attachment A
Statement of Reasons
FOI 24/25-1088
_________________________________________________________________________
Refusal Under s24A
I have refused access to the information you requested under section 24A of the FOI Act on
the basis that documents are unlocatable or do not exist.
Relevant Law
Under the FOI Act, a person has a right to be given access to documents of an agency.
However, the right of access is subject to limitations, including grounds for refusal of access.
Section 24A of the FOI Act states that an agency may refuse a request for access to a
document if all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document and the agency is
satisfied that the document cannot be found or does not exist.
Searches for documents
Searches were conducted by the following business area for documents relevant to the
scope of your FOI request:
• Service Design
As a result of this search, one hundred and sixty-three (163) documents were identified as
potentially falling within the scope of your original request, this search was undertaken
between 22 February and 12 March 2025.
As a result of this search, on 24 March 2025, I issued a 24AB request for consultation notice
explaining that your request had captured too many documents, and it was estimated that it
would take the Service Design Division 13-25 hours to compile the information you
requested and an FOI officer over 26 hours to review and collate the information.
You responded to this notice advising you wished to revise the scope of your request to a list
of the 163 documents located, including the title, file name and date published. I have
considered this to be the new scope of your request.
The Service Design Division have advised me that they have conducted a search, and no
such document exists.
I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to locate documents relevant to the
current scope of your request, and that a discrete document containing the information you
are seeking does not exist.
Production of a document pursuant to section 17
When reviewing the scope of your request it appears to be for the creation of a document
pursuant to section 17 of the FOI Act.
Section 17(1)(c) of the FOI Act provides that, in circumstances where it appears to an
Agency that an applicant seeks access to information that is not available in a discrete form
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in a written document held by the Agency, but the Agency could produce a written document
containing the information by use of a computer or other equipment ordinarily available to
the Agency, the Agency shall deal with the request as if it were a request for access to a
document so produced.
However, section 17(2) of the FOI Act states that an Agency is not required to produce a
document where it would substantial y and unreasonably divert the resources of the Agency
from its other operations.
Following the 24AB request for consultation process, I again consulted with the Service
Design Division whether it was possible to create a document pursuant to section 17(1) of
the FOI Act. They advised that it would be possible to create a document, however, to do so
would be a substantial and unreasonable diversion of resources.
They advised that:
• It would take a staff member 13-25 hours to extract the relevant documents
• There is only one person in the business area that is trained to extract/compile
documents from the relevant systems
• Processing your request would create significant delays in their ordinary work
including other FOI requests and correspondence
A FOI officer would then also be required to produce a document using those extracted
documents, and it is estimated this would take an additional 5 hours of work.
Decision
In making my decision, I have considered the following:
• Your correspondence of 12 January 2025 in relation to your original request
• Your correspondence of 26 March 2025 in response to my 24AB request for
consultation notice
• The FOI Act, particularly sections 17 and 24A
• The FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act, in particular parts
2.47 – 2.48
’Documents in existence’ and 3.210 – 3.216 regarding
‘Information stored
in electronic form’
• Consultation with relevant NDIA staff
• The NDIA’s operating environment and functions
Based on the above, I am satisfied that the work required would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the agency, therefore pursuant to section 17(2) of the
FOI Act, we are not required to produce a document.
I am also satisfied that a discrete document containing the information you have requested
does not exist. As such, I have decided to refuse access to your request in accordance with
section 24A of the FOI Act.
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Attachment B
Your review rights
As this matter was a deemed refusal, internal review of this decision is not an option.
However, if you have concern with any aspect of this decision, please contact the NDIA FOI
team by email
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or by post:
Freedom of Information Section
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
GPO Box 700
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
The FOI Act gives you the right to apply to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) to seek a review of this decision.
If you wish to have the decision reviewed by the OAIC, you may apply for the review, in
writing, or by using the online merits review form available on the OAIC’s website at
www.oaic.gov.au, within 60 days of receipt of this letter.
Applications for review can be lodged with the OAIC in the following ways:
Onli
ne: www.oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Phone: 1300 363 992 (local cal charge)
Complaints to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or the
Commonwealth Ombudsman
You may complain to either the Commonwealth Ombudsman or the OAIC about actions
taken by the NDIA in relation to your request. The Ombudsman wil consult with the OAIC
before investigating a complaint about the handling of an FOI request.
Your complaint to the OAIC can be directed to the contact details identified above. Your
complaint to the Ombudsman can be directed to:
Phone: 1300 362 072 (local cal charge)
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Your complaint should be in writing and should set out the grounds on which it is considered
that the actions taken in relation to the request should be investigated.
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