Our reference: FOI 20/21-0853
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
ndis.gov.au
9 July 2021
Shirley
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Shirley
Freedom of Information request — Request consultation process
Thank you for your correspondence of 9 June 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). Specifically, you requested access to:
“…a copy of the NDIA's current Investigations Policy/ies [sic] and Procedure along with
all prior versions. That is, all NDIA Investigations Policies and Procedures since 2013
until Jun 2021…”
Practical refusal
I am authorised to make decisions under the FOI Act.
I am writing to advise that 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 size. 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
I have conducted a preliminary search for documents which are likely to be relevant to your
request. This search has revealed that the NDIA is in possession of more than 16,000
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
substantially 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.
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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 will 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
following:
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 will 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
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 23 July 2021, your FOI request
will be taken to have been withdrawn under subsection 24AB(7) and will 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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