Our reference: FOI 24/25-2251 (LEXD 873)
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
ndis.gov.au
25 July 2025
Hannah
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Hannah
Freedom of Information request — Request consultation process
Thank you for your correspondence of 13 June 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).
Scope of your request
“I request access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to documents held by
the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
Specifically, I seek:
1. Al internal NDIA guidance documents, assessment tools, training materials, or
decision-making resources from 1 January 2020 to present that relate to the
assessment, interpretation, or eligibility determination of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (FASD) as a disability under the NDIS.
2. Any documents outlining how NDIA planners and delegates are instructed to
distinguish between behavioural or psychosocial impairments arising from FASD
(e.g. dysregulation, aggression, impulsivity, executive dysfunction) and those
considered the responsibility of mainstream mental health services.
3. Any internal policy or procedural documents regarding how risk indicators or
safeguarding needs—when directly linked to FASD-related impairments—are treated
in eligibility, plan reassessment, or funding decisions.
4. Any correspondence, briefing notes, or internal reports that discuss FASD
specifically in relation to:
- Interpretation of the six functional domains (communication, social interaction,
learning, mobility, self-care, self-management)
- Justification of funded supports (especially in relation to Section 24 and 34 of the
NDIS Act)
- Misattribution of FASD-linked impairments to mainstream services
This request is made in the public interest to improve transparency around how
participants with FASD are assessed and supported under the Scheme, and to
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ensure consistency with evidence-based guidelines such as the Australian Guide to
the Diagnosis of FASD and practice guidance provided by NOFASD Australia..”
Practical refusal
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
I am writing to advise that the work involved in processing your request in its current form
would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other
operations due to its broad scope. This is called a ‘practical refusal reason’ under section
24AA of the FOI Act.
On this basis, I intend to refuse your request. However, before I make a final decision, I am
writing to provide you with an opportunity to revise your request. This is called a ‘request
consultation process’ as set out under section 24AB of the FOI Act. You have 14 days to
respond to this notice in one of the ways set out below.
Why I intend to refuse your request
For ease of reading, I wil break down the points of your request where practical refusal
reasons exist and provide suggestions as to how the practical refusal reason can be
removed.
Timeframe
It is also suggested you clarify or limit the timeframe for your request to help limit the number
of documents located relevant to the scope of your request. Currently your request for ‘all
documents “from 1 January 2020 to present” is voluminous, and refining the date range
would significantly reduce the search time and volume of documents.
To remove the practical refusal reason for these points, I suggest you confirm if you want the
current version of these documents or the documents that were current on 1 January 2020.
Any Correspondence, Briefing Notes, or Internal Reports
A practical refusal reason exists for this point pursuant to section 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the FOI
Act, that is to mean the work involved with processing this point of your request would
substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other operations.
I therefore suggest either removing this point of your request or provide further details about
what these correspondences are regarding.
It is noted that a Senate Committee was held in September 2019 regarding FASD here
Effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis and support for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder – Parliament of Australia – Submissions can be located on the right hand side, with
the NDIA’s submission being number 67. On the right hand side you can also find a link to
the Government Response from December 2024 which includes responses to the
recommendations made in the report.
Request consultation process
You now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to proceed.
Revising your request can mean narrowing the scope of the request to make it more
manageable or explaining in more detail the documents you wish to access. For example, by
providing more specific information about exactly what documents you are interested in, the
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NDIA wil be able to pinpoint the documents more quickly and avoid using excessive
resources to process documents you are not interested in.
To reduce the scope of your request, you might like to consider:
• Remove the following from the scope of the request: “…Any correspondence, briefing
notes, or internal reports that discuss FASD specifically in relation to….”
• Limit the scope to
current guidance documents about FASD
You have 14 days from the date you receive this letter to contact me and do one of the
following:
a. withdraw your request
b. make a revised request
c. indicate that you do not wish to revise the request.
During this period, you are welcome to seek assistance to revise your request. If you revise
your request in a way that adequately addresses the practical refusal reason outlined above,
we wil recommence processing it.
Please note that the time taken to consult with you regarding the scope of your request is not
taken into account for the purposes of the timeframe for processing your request.
You can contact me by email at
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx. Alternatively, you can reply in writing to the following address:
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
If you do not contact me within this period, that is by 8 August 2025, your FOI request wil be
taken to have been withdrawn under subsection 24AB(7) and wil not be dealt with any
further.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Yours sincerely
Heather Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
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