Our reference: FOI 25/26-1463 (LEXD 13083)
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
27 January 2026
ndis.gov.au
David Wright
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear David Wright
Freedom of Information request — Notice of Decision
Thank you for your correspondence of 3 December 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 requested access to the following documents:
I refer to an article published in the Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser, Daily
Telegraph and other newspapers on 30 November 2025 by Julie Cross, entitled
'‘They didn’t speak to me’: This NDIS stuff-up nearly cost me my life'.
The article states: "A spokeswoman for the agency said it does not use algorithms in
developing or approving plans"
I request copies of all correspondence in relation to this article, between the NDIA
and the journalist (or between the NDIA and the media company for whom the
journalist works), including copies of any request for information made by the
journalist/media company to the NDIA for this news article, and all information
supplied by the NDIA to the journalist/media company.
Processing period
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 3 December 2025, the original due date
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for your request was 2 January 2026. We have been experiencing processing delays, and
were unable to provide you with our decision by this date. During this period, the NDIA
operated under a Christmas reduced-activity period (RAP), which resulted in significantly
lower staff availability across the Agency. While the RAP does not pause or extend the
statutory processing timeframe under the FOI Act, it did affect the NDIA’s operational
capacity to progress FOI matters at the usual rate.
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 C to this letter.
Search efforts
I consulted with NDIA staff in the Strategic Communications Division to locate documents
relevant to your request.
The documents were identified by conducting searches of NDIA’s systems, using all
reasonable search terms that could return documents relevant to your request, and
consulting with relevant NDIA staff who could be expected to be able to identify documents
within the scope of the request. As a result of these searches, two (2) documents were
located. One of the documents is publicly available at the following link: Parliament of
Australia – Submission to Joint Standing Committee.
Decision on access to documents
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act. I have decided to
grant access to one document in part and one document in full.
In reaching my decision, I took the following into account:
your correspondence outlining the scope of your request
the nature and content of the documents falling within the scope of your request
the FOI Act
the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act
FOI case law
consultation with relevant NDIA staff.
A detailed statement of reasons for my decision can be found at
Attachment B.
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Release of documents
The documents for release, as referred to in the schedule of documents at
Attachment A,
are enclosed.
Rights of review
Your rights to seek a review of my decision, or lodge a complaint, are set out at
Attachment C.
Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me
by email at xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Carolyn (CJW205)
A/g Assistant Director – Information Access
Information Access and Privacy Branch Reviews and Information Release Division
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Attachment A
Schedule of Documents
FOI 25/26-1463
Document
Page
Description
Access Decision
Comments
number
number
1 1-4
Email
PARTIAL ACCESS
Subject: RE: Media request,
deadline Tuesday 5pm.
Exemption claimed:
s47F – personal privacy
Date: 27 November 2025
2 5-16
Submission to Joint Standing
FULL ACCESS
Document publicly available
Committee on the National Disability
Insurance Scheme
Not Dated
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Attachment B
Statement of Reasons
FOI 25/26-1463
Forms of access
Access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant material deleted (section 22)
I have decided that Document 1 contains material that is exempt from disclosure under the
FOI Act, in accordance with section 47F (personal privacy) of the FOI Act.
In accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act, I have considered whether it is possible to
delete the exempt material from the documents and have concluded that it is reasonably
practicable to do so. Accordingly, I have prepared an edited copy of the documents with the
exempt material removed.
Reasons for decision
Personal privacy (section 47F)
Section 47F of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document if its disclosure would involve
the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased
person).
I have identified material in the documents falling within scope of your request which
contains staff names and contact details which are not commonly known to you, as well as
personal information about a participant.
Paragraph 6.122 of the FOI Guidelines provides that The FOI Act shares the same definition
of 'personal information' as the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act), which regulates the handling
of personal information about individuals.
Paragraphs 6.123 and 6.124 state that: Personal information means information or an
opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
a. whether the information or opinion is true or not and
b. whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
In other words, personal information:
is information about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably
identifiable
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says something about a person
may be opinion
may be true or untrue
may or may not be recorded in material form.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has released guidance to
agencies when considering whether to release staff names as part of an FOI request. The
guidance provides that
A public servant’s name, and information about where they work and
how they can be contacted, is personal information. It is information about an identified
individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable… Section 19 of the Work Health
and Safety Act 2011 requires employers to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the
health and safety of their workers. This means employers must eliminate risks to health and
safety so far as it is reasonably practicable to do, or minimise the risks if it is not reasonably
practicable to eliminate them (section 17).
In
Warren; Chief Executive Officer, Services Australia and (Freedom of information) [2020]
AATA 4557 (9 November 2020), Deputy President S A Forgie found (at [130]):
An individual may include his or her direct telephone number in correspondence directed to
other persons. Unless published on an agency’s website or made public in some other way,
such as on a pamphlet or report available to the public, I consider that disclosure of an
individual’s telephone number in his or her place of employment is unreasonable. Its
disclosure will provide an avenue by which others may choose to express their displeasure
with the individual or with that for which he or she is responsible but its disclosure does not
make any positive contribution to increasing public participation in Government processes or
in increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of the Government’s activities.
With this in mind, I am of the view that the following factors do not support the release:
the relevant information will identify the third parties
the information is not well known, nor is it available from publicly available sources
the information will not advance or contribute to the information sought as part of this
request
the information will not advance scrutiny of the decision
disclosure could expose the individuals to unsolicited and inappropriate contact from
third parties
disclosure may cause distress to the identified individuals
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disclosure would prejudice the individuals’ right to privacy.
Accordingly, I have formed the view that it would be unreasonable to publicly disclose the
relevant personal information, and it is, therefore, conditionally exempt under section 47F of
the FOI Act.
Public interest considerations – section 47F
Section 11A(5) of the FOI Act provides that access to a document covered by a conditional
exemption must be provided unless disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.
I have not considered any of the irrelevant factors as set out under section 11B(4) of the FOI
Act in making this decision.
In favour of disclosure, I have considered the factors outlined in section 11B(3) of the FOI
Act, and I have determined that disclosure of the relevant information in Document 1 would
promote the objects of the FOI Act by providing access to documents held by the
government.
Against disclosure, I consider that release of the relevant information in Document 1 would
not:
contribute to the publication of information of sufficient public interest to justify the
likely harm caused by release
enhance Australia’s representative democracy in the ways described in section
11B(3) of the FOI Act
inform any debate on a matter of public importance, or promote oversight of public
expenditure.
While there is limited public interest in the disclosure of conditionally exempt information, I
find that disclosure of the personal information identified under section 47F of the FOI Act
would, or could reasonably be expected to cause harm if disclosed by:
affecting an individual’s right to privacy by having their personal information in the
public domain
leading to unwarranted approaches to the individuals which would adversely impact
their ability to perform their role and functions
adversely impact the Agency’s obligation to protect staff members in accordance with
workplace health and safety measures.
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In summary, I am satisfied that the factors against disclosure of the information outweigh the
factors in favour of disclosure and that, on balance, it would be contrary to the public interest
to release this information to you. Accordingly, I have decided that the relevant information in
Document 1 is exempt under section 47F of the FOI Act.
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Attachment C
Freedom of Information request – Your review rights
As your request is deemed to have been refused under section 15AC of the FOI Act
because of processing delays, you are unable to apply for an internal review of the decision.
However, if you have concern with any aspect of this decision, please contact the NDIA FOI
team by email at
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx, or by post to:
Freedom of Information Section
Information Access and Privacy 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 also gives you the right to apply for the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) to seek a review of this decision.
If you wish to have the decision reviewed by OAIC, you may apply for the review in writing,
or by using the online merits review application form which is available on the OAIC’s
website, within 60 days of receiving this letter:
OAIC Review Application Form.
Applications for review can be lodged with the OAIC in the following ways:
Online:
OAIC Review Application Form
Post:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Phone:
1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Website:
www.oaic.gov.au
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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 the actions
taken by the NDIA in relation to your request. The Ombudsman will 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 provided above.
Your complaint to the Ombudsman can be directed to:
Phone:
1300 362 072 (local call charge)
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
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Document Outline
