Our reference: FOI 25/26-0019
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
25 September 2025
ndis.gov.au
Stuart
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Stuart
Freedom of Information request — Notice of Decision
Thank you for your correspondence of 1 July 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 following documents:
“…I request access to this information under the Freedom of Information Act.
1. The total number of access requests and/or persons that are currently awaiting an
access decision, and;
a). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for 21
days or less.
b). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
111 days.
c). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
112 days.
d). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
113 days.
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e). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
114 days or more.
2. Please indicate how the system determines day 1; ie. Is the day an access case is
opened on a person file considered day 1 or day 0 in your calculation...”
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 1 July 2025, the original due date for
your request was 31 July 2025.
On 4 July 2025, the FOI Team wrote to you requesting your agreement to a 30-day
extension of time under section 15AA of the FOI Act. On 4 July 2025 you responded to our
request stating you did not agree to an extension of time; therefore, the original due date stil
stands.
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.
Searches conducted
Searches were conducted by the Analytics, Data and Actuarial Division for documents
relevant to the scope of your FOI request.
Section 17(1)(c) of the FOI Act provides that an agency can produce a writ en document
containing the requested information, by the use of a computer or other equipment that is
ordinarily available for retrieving or collating stored information. We have been able to
produce a document containing the information you requested. I have, therefore, treated
your request as if it were a request for access to this document in accordance with section
17(1)(c) of the FOI Act.
As a result, one (1) document was created, this search was undertaken between 15 July and
8 September 2025 and was overseen by senior staff.
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Decision
I am the authorised officer pursuant to section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make a decision on
this FOI request.
I have decided to grant access in full to one (1) document.
In addition, I can advise no documents were located during searches relevant to:
“a). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
21 days or less.
b). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
111 days.
c). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
112 days.
d). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
113 days.
e). The number of access requests/persons that have been awaiting a decision for
114 days or more.
2. Please indicate how the system determines day 1; ie. Is the day an access case is
opened on a person file considered day 1 or day 0 in your calculation...”
Therefore, I have also decided to refuse access to information relevant to the above scope
pursuant to 24A of the FOI Act on the basis that this information does not exist.
As previously explained in my email to you on 11 September 2025 for your FOI matter
25/26-0021, data is captured in real time at the end of a quarters. The data you have
requested is not regularly captured during this process, nor does the agency have an
operational need for this information.
The data you have requested is different to Participant Service Guarantee (PSG) 2 as it is
asking how many requests were stil awaiting a decision at a certain point in time and how
long ago had the agency received those access requests. Whereas PSG 2 looks at access
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requests where a decision has been made and can therefore measure the start and end
point of a request to determine whether a decision was made within the 21-day PSG.
ADA do however report how many access requests are currently awaiting a decision at the
end of each quarter and are therefore able to provide this information, but the raw data from
this number does not include individual records with open dates that would allow us to
calculate the number of days it has remained open as of the end of Q4.
As such, ADA are unable to generate the data you are seeking. We did also consult the
Scheme Eligibility Branch as to whether they were able to generate the data you are
seeking, they have explained that they also cannot generate the historical figures you are
seeking but can access numbers from their real-time dashboard.
While I do not consider this information within the scope of your request as the data is after
the date you submitted your FOI request, I am providing it to you administratively below:
Extracted 3 September 2025
1. 8982
a. 8982
b. 0
c. 0
d. 0
e. 0
2. The base system does not calculate a day 0 or day 1. It starts a count at the time of
day the item is created in the system (or the time of day the staff member enters the
submit ed date). The adaption to the legislative requirement for a day 0 or a day 1
count is done on top of base system parameters and based upon the applicable
legislation applying to the work type.
The decision in relation to the document is detailed in the schedule of documents 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.
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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
Schedule of Documents for FOI 25/26-0019
Document
Page
Description
Access Decision
Comments
number
number
1
1
Section 17 Document – Data and Analytics –
FULL ACCESS
Document created under
Access Requests
section 17 of the FOI Act
Date: 30 June 2025
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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
Complaints Management & FOI Branch
General Counsel 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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