Our reference: FOI 21/22-0667
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
14 July 2021
ndis.gov.au
Karen Reynolds
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Karen Reynolds
Freedom of Information request — Request consultation process
Thank you for your correspondence of 16 April 2021, 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
You have requested access to documents about the National Disability Insurance Scheme
(NDIS). Specifical y, you requested access to:
“…a copy of the fol owing documents:
- Correspondence relating to the tender process that resulted in Konekt becoming an
independent ATHM Assessor organisation
- Documents, emails, notes and reports relating to the evaluation of the ATHM of the trial
- The total cost of the trial
- The rationale or business case for the trial”
On 29 April 2021, we formal y consulted with you under section 24AA of the FOI Act, on the
basis that your request for information did not provide enough information about the
documents you sought access to, and would likely to result in a substantial and
unreasonable diversion of resources.
On 7 May 2021, you revised the scope of your request to be for the fol owing documents:
“I request a copy of any confirmation of tender between Konekt and the NDIA in relation
to appointments as independent ATHM assessors;
I request a copy of any reports relating to the evaluation of the ATHM trial
I request a copy of the evaluation itself (that was sent to participants) as wel as details of
the numbers of participants who a) completed the trial and b) provided feedback
I request the total cost of the trial; and the tender documentation between Konekt and
NDIA in relation to the ATHM trial.”
On 1 June 2021, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner granted the NDIA an
additional 30 days to process your request, due to its complex and voluminous nature.
As our team continued to conduct searches and receive documents from relevant business
areas in relation to your request, it was identified that the business information of a third
party was contained in the documents you requested. As a result, on 24 June 2021, we
advised you that we would be consulting with the third party regarding the release of such
information.
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Practical refusal
I am authorised to make decisions under the FOI Act.
I am writing to advise that the work involved in processing your request in its current form
would continue to substantial y and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its
other operations due to its size. This is cal ed 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 cal ed 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 –
We have conducted preliminary searches for documents which are likely to be relevant to your
request, based on the revised scope provided. These search has revealed that the NDIA is in
possession of more than 290 individual documents matching the scope of your request, not
including any attachments which may be contained within those documents.
As a result, I am of the view that the work involved in the processing of this request would
substantial y and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other operations.
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
NDIA wil be able to pinpoint the documents more quickly and avoid using excessive resources
to process documents you are not interested in.
You have 14 days from the date you receive this letter to contact me and do one of the
fol owing:
a. withdraw your request;
b. make a revised request; or
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 fol owing address:
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Freedom of Information Section
Parliamentary, Ministerial & FOI Branch
Government Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
GPO Box 700
CANBERRA ACT 2601
If you do not contact me within this period, that is by 5:00pm 28 July 2021, 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
Ausilia Woodhead
Assistant Director FOI
Parliamentary, Ministerial & FOI Branch
Government Division
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