FOI 22.23 0871 Decision Notification of Decision.pdf

Our reference: FOI 22/23-0871
GPO Box 700
Canberra   ACT   2601
1800 800 110
29 August 2023
ndis.gov.au
Florence
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Florence

Freedom of Information request — Notification of Decision
Thank you for your correspondence of 14 November 2022, in which you requested access to
documents held by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
I sincerely apologise for the delay in finalising your request.
Scope of your request
In your original request, you requested access to the following documents:

1. Since the NDIS was created (2013) how many NDIA people, contractors or staff have
applied for or requested police check waivers? This includes those made on their behalf,
like senior (EL, SES, CEO, etc) positions. If any, how many were approved or granted?
2. Since the NDIS was created (2013) how many NDIA people, contractors or staff have
applied for or requested security clearance waivers? This includes those made on their
behalf, like senior (EL, SES, CEO, etc) positions. If any, how many were approved or
granted?
3. What grounds, reasons or justifications were provided? Which were accepted, if any?

I confirm my email to you on 17 August 2023 where I sought clarification of your scope and
refined the wording as fol ows to ensure it meets the terms of a valid request.1

•  all documents that confirm a request for waiver of a police check or a security check;
•  all documents that detail the reason for the request or waiver provided by the
requestor; and
•  all outcomes of requests for waiver.

I also sought clarification of terms used in your scope. I advised that by NDIA people, I take
it you are referring to all APS staff employed by the NDIA regardless of level, and by
contractors, you are referring to those engaged by Labour Hire arrangements.

On 20 August 2023, you responded agreeing to above and requested I proceed on that
basis.

The purpose of this letter is to notify you of my decision on your application.

1 Section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act.

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Search efforts
Searches for documents were conducted by the Security Team located within the Chief
Information Office (CIO) of the NDIA and no responsive documents were located.

Decision on access to documents
In summary, I have decided to refuse access to the information you have requested on the
basis that the documents are non-existent pursuant to section 24A of the FOI Act.
I made this decision on 29 August 2023 as an authorised Freedom of Information decision
maker under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.

A  detailed  statement  of  reasons  explaining  my  decision  is  Attachment  A  to  this  decision
notice.

Rights of review
Your rights to seek a review of my decision, or lodge a complaint, are set out at Attachment B.
Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me
by email at xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.

Yours sincerely

Jennifer
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Parliamentary, Ministerial & FOI Branch
Government Division

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Attachment A

Statement of Reasons
FOI Application 22/23-0871
_________________________________________________________________________

Refused information

I have refused access to the information you have requested on the basis that the documents
do not exist under section 24A of the FOI Act.

Relevant law
Under  the  FOI  Act,  a  person  has  a  right  to  be  given  access  to  documents  of  an  agency.
However, the right of access is subject to limitations, including grounds for refusal of access.
Section  24A  of  the  FOI  Act  states  that  an  agency  may  refuse  a  request  for  access  to  a
document  if  all  reasonable  steps  have  been  taken  to  find  the  document  and  the  agency  is
satisfied that the document cannot be found or does not exist.

After reviewing the scope of your FOI application, I determined that NDIA needed to undertake
searches to assess whether the documents you requested existed.

Following these searches, it was determined that the information you have requested access
to did not exist. The advice provided via the CIO was that the NDIA Security Team only
commenced processing and conducting Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks
(NCCHC) for the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) as of 27 September 2021.

The NDIA Security Team have zero waivers recorded in relation to APS staff or Labour Hire
staff for police/security checks between 27 September 2021 – 14 November 2022.

As per the Shared Service Agreement with Services Australia, all NCCHS’s (police/security
checks) prior to 27 September 2021 were conducted by Services Australia.

I have reviewed the searches undertaken by the NDIA and I am satisfied that if the information
existed,  the  searches  performed  would  have  located  it.  I  consider  that  NDIA  has  taken  all
reasonable  steps  to  locate  the  documents  and  accept  the  submissions  from  CIO  as  to  the
existence of the information.

Conclusion

For these reasons, I consider there are reasonable grounds to be satisfied that the documents
do  not  exist,  and  that  the  NDIA  has  taken  all  reasonable  steps  to  locate  the  information.  I
refuse access to the information under section 24A of the FOI Act on the basis that it does not
exist.

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Attachment B
Your review rights

Internal Review
The FOI Act gives you the right to apply for an internal review of this decision. The review will
be conducted by a different person to the person who made the original decision.

If you wish to seek an internal review of the decision, you must apply for the review, in writing,
within 30 days of receipt of this letter.

No particular form is required for an application for  internal review, but to assist the review
process,  you  should  clearly  outline  your  grounds  for  review  (that  is,  the  reasons  why  you
disagree  with  the  decision).  Applications  for  internal  review  can  be  lodged  by  email  to
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or sent by post to:

Freedom of Information Section
Parliamentary, Ministerial & FOI Branch
Government 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  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:

Online:
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 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 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 Division.

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