Good afternoon FOIDR,

Please see the below/attached for your action.

External review of NDIA FOI 25/26-0105

Kind regards,

Fern

Case Officer, Governance, Risk and Compliance (FOI)

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

Sydney NSW | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001

The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people, cultures and Elders past and present.

-----Original Message-----
From: David Wright <[FOI #14034 email]>
Sent: Monday, 24 November 2025 6:36 PM
To: OAIC - FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - External review of NDIA FOI 25/26-0105

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Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,

I hereby request an external review from the Office of the Australian Commissioner (OAIC) of the NDIA's response to my FOI request 25/26-0105 - see https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/briefings_by_matthew_swainson#incoming-44470

The agency has refused access to my request on the basis of section 24(1)(b) of the FOI Act - practical refusal – specifically on the grounds that it would take 4-5 hours to process each of the 68 documents requested.

I do not believe this to be a credible estimate.

One example of the type of briefing that I have requested has already been provided as part of a separate FOI request, being NDIS FOI 24/25-0251, document 2, which is available at this link – https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/foi_disclosure_log_foi_2425_0251#incoming-43107

This briefing, including attachments, is 11 pages in length. I do not accept that it would take the NDIA’s FOI unit 4-5 hours to process such a document type.

Advice previously given by the agency is that it reviews documents at a rate of 3 minutes per page. See here - https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/13015/response/41266/attach/3/FOI%20LEX%2053454%20Decision.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1

Based on this rate, each briefing that I have requested would need to be approximately 80-100 pages in length in order for the agency to take 4-5 hours to process it.

It should be noted that the NDIA’s decision letter states that of the sample of 7 documents reviewed, ‘5 documents contained more than 1 attachment’ and ‘each document was more than five pages’, but it does not disclose the total number of pages contained in the 7 sample documents.

I find it very hard to believe that the briefings of the type I have requested are all in the order of 80-100 pages.

The agency has therefore not validated and justified it’s claim, and I ask that OAIC investigates this matter and interrogates the basis of the NDIA’s estimate, which it cites as a basis for the practical refusal.

Yours faithfully,

David Wright

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