Our reference: FOI 24/25-1638
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
ndis.gov.au
12 August 2025
Babi Adus
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Babi Adus
Freedom of Information request - Request consultation process
Thank you for your correspondence of 28 March 2025, in which you requested 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 following documents held by the NDIA:
…"How are participant files stored (electronic, physical, or both), and
what security measures prevent unauthorized access or alteration? Does
NDIA maintain an audit trail for electronic records? What are NDIA’s
record retention and deletion policies, including post-tribunal or court
case timelines? Can third-party agencies (e.g., legal firms, Independent
medical examiners, Technical advisory branch staff) store participant
files independently? If so, when must they return or destroy records, or
are they allowed to retain copies? What level of access do NDIA legal
representatives, external agencies, and TAB staff have? Are TAB staff NDIA
employees or external consultants? How does NDIA track and control
external access? What measures prevent unauthorized retention of records
after case finalization"
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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 28 March 2025, the original due date
for your request was 27 April 2025.
On 23 April 2025, you agreed via email to a 30-day extension of time under section 15AA of
the FOI Act, making 27 May 2025 the new date to provide you with a decision on access.
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
On 25 July 2025, I emailed you a request for consultation notice pursuant to section 24AB of
the FOI Act. I advised I intended to refuse access to the documents you were seeking on the
grounds that your request did not provide enough information that is reasonable or
necessary to identify documents.
To date, I have not received a response to this notice.
Decision on access to documents
In reaching my decision, I took into consideration:
• Your correspondence outlining the scope of your request
• the FOI Act
• the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act, particularly
paragraphs 3.110 & 2.47
• consultation with relevant NDIA staff
I have decided to refuse your request under section 24 of the FOI Act on the basis that a
practical refusal reason exists pursuant to section 24AA(1)(b). A detailed statement of
reasons for this decision can be found at
Attachment A.
I made this decision as a delegated decision maker under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
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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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link to page 4 link to page 4
Attachment A
Statement of Reasons
FOI 24/25-1638
_________________________________________________________________________
Practical refusal reason
Relevant law
A practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request for documents if the scope is too
broad or does not provide enough information concerning a document that is reasonable and
necessary for a responsible officer of the agency to identify it.
1
In determining whether a request provides enough information to reasonably locate
documents, I am required to take into consideration
2:
• A request can be described quite broadly and must be read fairly by an agency or
minister, being mindful not to take a narrow or pedantic approach to its construction.
• An applicant may not know exactly what documents exist and may describe a class
of documents, for example: all documents relating to a particular person or subject
matter; or all documents of a specified class that contain information of a particular
kind; or all documents held in a particular place relating to a subject or person.
Where the applicant has requested a class of documents, it may be useful for the
agency to explain to the applicant the information that is contained in those
documents, as this may assist the applicant to narrow the scope of his or her request
to a specific set of documents, resulting in less time spent on processing irrelevant
material.
• Although a request under the FOI Act must be for ‘documents’, rather than for
‘information’, a request may be phrased by reference to the information that a
document contains. This may in fact be an effective and concise way for an FOI
applicant to identify documents.
• A request does not need to quote a file or folio number.
On 4 July 2025, we advised you that part of your request may be satisfied through
documents already publicly available on our FOI disclosure log under reference 22/23-0487.
We also asked if you were agreeable to withdrawing your request, or required us to continue
processing, to which you responded that you did not wish to withdraw your request.
1 24AA(1) of the FOI Act.
2 Paragraph 3.110 of the FOI Guidelines published pursuant to 93A of the FOI Act
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link to page 5
In my request for consultation notice of 25 July 2025, I explained that your request did not
seek access to specific documents. The scope of your request is expressed in a series of
enquiries into the NDIA’s operational practices concerning the storage, handling and access
to participant files, rather than identifying documents that would assist in locating and
retrieving specific documents relevant to the subject matter.
Paragraph 2.47 of the FOI Guidelines published pursuant to section 93A of the FOI Act
advises:
The right of access under the FOI Act is to existing documents, rather than to
information, for example, answers to a series of questions on a topic. The FOI Act
does not require an agency or minister to create a new document in response to
an FOI request except in the limited circumstances set out in ss 17 and 20. These
circumstances arise when the FOI applicant seeks access in a different form (s 20) or
where it appears that the FOI applicant seeks information that is not available in a
discrete form in written documents but is stored in an agency computer system rather
than in a discrete form (see Part 3 of these Guidelines). An FOI request may
nevertheless be framed by reference to a document that contains particular
information.3
While I accept parts of your request are framed in a way that would allow the agency to
locate documents, a majority of points are a series of questions on a topic, and do not
provide enough information that would allow the agency to locate documents.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that a practical refusal reason exists and that your request does
not provide enough information that is reasonable and necessary to locate documents
relevant to the scope.
Further options for requesting documents
You are welcome to submit further freedom of information requests in the future. In doing so,
you may wish to contact the FOI Team directly on xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or advise a convenient
time for us to contact you, to engage assistance in developing a scope that does not attract
a practical refusal reason under the FOI Act.
3 Paragraph 2.47 of the FOI Guidelines published pursuant to 93A 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 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
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 call 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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