Our reference: FOI 24/25-1480
OAIC Ref: MR25/00683
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
13 May 2025
ndis.gov.au
Me
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Me
Freedom of Information request - Notice of revised decision under section 55G of the
Freedom of Information Act 1982
Thank you for your correspondence of 8 March 2025, seeking access under the
Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to documents held by the National Disability Insurance
Agency (NDIA).
I apologise for the delay in processing your request.
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a revised decision on your request.
Scope of your request
You requested access to the following documents:
“1. Any documents in NDIA's possession provided to the media by the NDIA or its
ministers that include or relate to ADHD (including non-published parts such as 'on
background'), and
2. Any documents in NDIA's possession provided to a parliamentarian or their office that
include or relate to ADHD.
This request is limited to documents created, sent, received, or otherwise dealt with on or
after 1 January 2025.”
The purpose of this letter is to notify you of my decision on your application.
Processing period
The original due date for our access decision on your FOI request was 7 April 2025. We
have been experiencing processing delays and were not able to provide you with our
decision by the due date. Consequently, your application was regarded as a deemed refusal
under section 15AC of the FOI Act. We sincerely apologise for this.
We note that you have now applied to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) for a review by the Information Commissioner (IC) of our deemed refusal.
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Revised decision under section 55G
Section 55G(1)(a) of the FOI Act provides that at any time during an IC review, an Agency
may vary an access refusal decision in favour of the applicant by giving access to
documents in accordance with the request (revised decision).
Section 55G(2) provides that an Agency must notify the IC of the revised decision, and that
decision becomes the decision under review.
Search efforts
Staff in the NDIA’s Media Branch and Ministerial and Parliamentary Team conducted
searches for documents and advised they did not locate any documents relevant to the
scope of your request. I have set out the reasons for this outcome in
Attachment A to this
letter.
Decision on access to documents
In summary, I have decided to refuse
access to the information you have requested on the
basis that the documents are non-existent or unlocatable pursuant to section 24A of the FOI
Act.
I made this decision as an authorised FOI decision maker under section 23(1) of the FOI
Act.
I have provided a detailed statement of the reasons for my decision in Attachment A to this
decision notice.
In accordance with section 55G(2) of the FOI Act, I will be providing the IC with a copy of this
revised decision.
If you determine that you are satisfied with this revised decision and do not require this
decision to be reviewed further by the IC, please let the Agency and the OAIC know.
Rights of review
Your rights to seek a review of my decision, or lodge a complaint, are set out at
Attachment B.
If you have any enquiries about this matter, please contact me by email at xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Kate (KIM627)
A/Assistant Director – Freedom of Information
Non Personals Team
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Government, Risk & Legal – Complaints Management and FOI
General Counsel Division
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Attachment A
Statement of Reasons
FOI Application 24.25-1480
___________________________________________________________________
Refused information
I have refused
access to the information you requested under section 24A of the FOI Act on
the basis that documents containing such information 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
After reviewing the scope of your FOI application, I identified the need to make enquiries with
the NDIA’s Media Branch and Ministerial and Parliamentary Team for documents relevant to
the scope of your request.
For point 1 of your request, the NDIA’s Media Branch have advised that there are no
documents which match the scope of your request.
For point 2 of your request, the NDIA’s Ministerial and Parliamentary Team have advised that
there are no documents which match the scope of your request.
Conclusion
Based on the information I received from Media Branch and Ministerial and Parliamentary
Team, I consider there are reasonable grounds to be satisfied that documents containing the
information you seek do not exist. I therefore refuse access to the information under section
a 24A of the FOI Act on the basis that the information is does not exist.
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Attachment B
Your review rights
Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
The FOI Act also 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 review within 60
days of receiving this letter.
You can apply to the OAIC for review in the following ways:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Phone:
1300 363 992 (local call 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 the
NDIA took in relation to your request. The Ombudsman will consult with the OAIC before
investigating a complaint about the handling of an FOI request.
You can make a complaint to the OAIC using the contact details identified above, or to the
Ombudsman by:
Phone:
1300 362 072 (local call charge)
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Your complaint should set out the grounds on which you consider the OAIC or the
Ombudsman should investigate the NDIA’s handling of your FOI request.
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