Analysis of Historical Debts
Dear National Disability Insurance Agency,
Page 78 of your 2023-2024 Annual Report states as follows
"The Agency is reviewing the circumstances in which debts were historically raised against support claims from some participants and providers. As the Agency has identified that some historical participant and provider debts require further assessment, a provision for the estimated financial impact of these assessments has been reported. The financial impact is based on the results of actuarial analysis to date and is split between providers ($6.6m) and participants ($2.5m)."
Firstly, I would like to request the most recent document or data outlining the nature of the debts within the cohort, the progress and outcome of the 'review' or 'further assessment' process the annual report refers to.
Secondly, as a separate FOI request, I would like the actuarial analysis to which the annual report refers.
Yours faithfully,
Frank N Fearless
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Kind regards
Freedom of Information Team
Complaints Management & FOI Branch
General Counsel Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [11][NDIA request email]
The NDIA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
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Dear Frank N Fearless
Freedom of Information Request: Acknowledgement
Thank you for your request of 13 February 2025, made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), for copies of documents held by the
National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
Scope of your Request
You have requested access to:
“ ….Page 78 of your 2023-2024 Annual Report states as follows
"The Agency is reviewing the circumstances in which debts were
historically raised against support claims from some participants and
providers. As the Agency has identified that some historical participant
and provider debts require further assessment, a provision for the
estimated financial impact of these assessments has been reported. The
financial impact is based on the results of actuarial analysis to date and
is split between providers ($6.6m) and participants ($2.5m)."
Firstly, I would like to request the most recent document or data
outlining the nature of the debts within the cohort, the progress and
outcome of the 'review' or 'further assessment' process the annual report
refers to.
Secondly, as a separate FOI request, I would like the actuarial analysis
to which the annual report refers...”
Please be aware that we will will treat your request as a singular Freedom
of Information request.
Irrelevant Information
Section 22 of the FOI Act allows an Agency to redact information from
documents if that information would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant
to a request for access.
Given the nature of your request, it does not seem that NDIA staff
members’ surnames and contact details would be relevant to you. Can you
please send me a reply email confirming that such details are irrelevant
to your request for access?
Processing Timeframes
In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, a 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from 14 February 2025. This
30-day period expires on 15 March 2025.
The 30-day period can be extended in a number of ways, including with your
agreement.
Unfortunately, it is currently taking us a little longer than 30 days to
process FOI requests. I am therefore seeking your agreement to a 30-day
extension of time under section 15AA of the FOI Act. If you agree to this
extension, the new due date for us to decide on your request will be 14
April 2025.
If you do not agree and we are unable to process your request within the
30-day period expiring on 15 March 2025, we will be deemed to have refused
your request and you will not have a right to seek internal review of that
decision. You will, however, retain your right to external review by the
Australian Information Commissioner.
Please let us know if you agree by 26 February 2025.
Disclosure Log
Subject to certain exceptions, documents released under the FOI Act will
be published on the NDIA’s disclosure log located on our website.
If you have any concerns about the publication of the documents you have
requested, please contact me.
Next steps
Your request will be allocated to an authorised FOI decision-maker. The
decision-maker may need to contact you to discuss a range of matters,
including refining the scope of your request.
We will contact you using the email address you have provided. Please
advise if you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or need help, please contact us
at [1][NDIA request email].
Regards
Mykal
Freedom of Information Officer
Complaints Management & FOI Branch
General Counsel Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [2][NDIA request email]
[3]NDIA logo
[4]LGBTIQA+ rainbow graphic
The NDIA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present
and emerging.
[5]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags graphic
Dear Mykal
I have noticed the agency's recent inability to meet statutory timeframes.
To assist this, I make the following revisions to the scope of the request:
I no longer seek the actuarial analysis. I now seek only the most recent document describing "the nature of the debts within the cohort, the progress and outcome of the 'review' or 'further assessment' process". My request is now a straightforward request for factual information. You can also redact staff information. Given I have now substantially reduced the complexity of the request, I will not be consenting to any extension.
If, due to the failure to properly prioritise FOI processing within the agency, you require an extension, you should apply to OAIC under section 15AB. But given my revised scope, my request is neither complex nor voluminous. The NDIA clearly engaged with the Audit Office on this debt cohort, it also prepares estimates and senate briefs. It is easy to source cleared factual information on this cohort.
Just as a piece of feedback: I do fear that the communication I just received risks materially misleading FOI requesters by not expressly mentioning section 15AC of the FOI Act. The letter stated:
"If you do not agree and we are unable to process your request within the 30-day period expiring on 15 March 2025, we will be deemed to have refused your request and you will not have a right to seek internal review of that decision..."
In such circumstances I would expect you to apply under section 15AC(4). This would preserve my appeal rights and also subjects you to processing conditions by OAIC. It also saves the taxpayer from having two commonwealth institutions devote resources to delivering what is an everyday statutory entitlement.
My very best wishes to the agency FOI unit who are clearly operating under unacceptable constraints.
Yours sincerely,
Frank N Fearless
Dear NDIA,
I am just writing to confirm that this request was indeed deemed refused on March 17. If so, I will lodge an appeal with OAIC. I will note that the Agency did not respond to my revision of the request or take steps to secure an extension of time based on complexity or operational challenges.
As the first step OAIC usually take is to encourage the parties to collaborate on an outcome, can you please advise me as to whether you are continuing to effort my now revised request? Can I expect this request by your previously nominated extended deadline of April 14th for instance?
Yours sincerely,
Frank N Fearless
Dear Frank N Fearless
Thank you for your email, I apologise for the delay in processing your FOI
request.
I can confirm that your request is a deemed refusal as we did not provide
you with a decision by the due date of 15 March 2025. We did not seek a
further extension as our preliminary consults gave no indication that
there would be delays in progressing your request.
We are currently undertaking search consults with areas within the agency
who are currently managing competing priorities, including several other
FOI requests.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, we are continuing to
progress your request as a priority and will provide you with a decision
as soon as possible.
Kind regards
Kate
A/Assistant Director – Freedom of Information
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [1][NDIA request email]
[2][IMG]
The NDIA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present
and emerging.
Dear foi,
Just providing an update on the status of this request. With my matter joining the lake of unactioned requests, I lodged an OAIC review application for the deemed request as we were almost at 60 days, and my appeal rights were going to be exhausted. Making sure the case stays visibly books is also a gesture of solidarity with an FOI unit that is patently overwhelmed and deserves support.
As someone who operates under a pseudonym on this website - I now need to post the response I received from OAIC so I can prove I am a real-life human being. Able to exercise rights under the FOI Act. I've to do this within a week. I also wish OAIC included a 'requesting anonymity' question on its webform for applications.
So, here I am logging, yet another procedural step in this gloriously functional and productive process.
At this time, the Information Commissioner does not yet have sufficient evidence to be satisfied that you were the FOI applicant and, therefore, that you had the right to apply for IC review.
Section 54L(3) of the FOI Act provides that an IC review application may be made by, or on behalf of, the person who made the request to which the decision relates.
The Direction as to certain procedures to be followed by applicants in Information Commissioner reviews states:
‘…The IC may require information about the applicant’s identity to establish that they are the person who made the original FOI request or evidence that a third party is authorised to seek review of the decision by that person’ [2.12]
Action required by you before 15 May 2025:
Please provide a copy of any notification emails sent by the Right to Know website’s administrator about the FOI request, a screenshot of the ‘My requests’ page of your account on the Right to Know website (after you log into your Right to Know account) showing the FOI request in question or you may wish to upload this correspondence as plain text on Right to Know request and provide us with confirmation of this.
As you can see, I've chosen the upload the correspondence as plain text approach. Also allows me to nicely ask the NDIA as an institution: can I have the document so I don't have chase things please?
Yours sincerely,
Frank N Fearless
Dear foi,
My request for information is now 90 days old. It seems appropriate to check in - given 90 days is all the Agency gives participants when it issues a request for information. That information is often complex, expensive and difficult to assemble. I, on the other hand, asked for a simple factual summary of a debt remediation process the Agency has been reporting on to the Audit Office.
Can you offer any update on what actions you have been taking in relation to my request?
Yours sincerely,
Frank N Fearless
Dear Frank N Fearless
I apologise for the delay in providing you with a decision on your
request. We are continuing to progress your matter as a priority and will
hopefully be able to provide you with a decision shortly.
Kind regards
Patrick (PHO293)
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [1][NDIA request email]
[2]NDIA logo
[3]LGBTIQA+ rainbow graphic
The NDIA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present
and emerging.
[4]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags graphic
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the update, but I feel I deserve some level of reassurance on the progress that has been made. Is it possible for you to confirm that you have at least secured the primary document (and it only one document) from the relevant business area?
While OAIC recently declined a complaint about FOI delays in the Agency, I must confess my patience is being sorely tried here. Given the narrow scope of my request, the fact I have opened an appeal to OAIC, I am considering at what point I should put in a complaint. I do appreciate the agency is hiring to the FOI unit and has experienced a 33% rise in requests.
Yours sincerely,
Frank N Fearless
Dan Collins left an annotation ()
Frank, don’t worry about having too much sympathy for their situation. The increase in requests is a problem of their own making.
In the 2023-24 FY they received 1,381 requests, decided 1,346, and 117 were withdrawn.
But in the 2024-25 FY (Q1-Q3) they have received 1,579 requests, decided only 886 requests, and a whopping 363 have been withdrawn.
I’d wager to say the increase in requests is because people are making more than one request for the same information, because they haven’t received a response within a reasonable timeframe (or a response at all). This doubling up of requests would also help explain why the withdrawal rate is up from 8% to 29% of finalised requests.
Decisions made within statutory timeframe:
91% in 2021-22 FY
71% in 2022-23 FY
49% in 2023-24 FY
34% in 2024-25 FY (Q1-Q3)
And they’re making less decisions total every year, so decisions are both late AND less frequent:
1,516 in 2021-22 FY
1,460 in 2022-23 FY
1,346 in 2023-24 FY
886 in 2024-25 FY (Q1-Q3)
Regardless, they should have anticipated an increase in requests due to the NDIS legislation amendments made in October 2024, because there was an almost identical bump surrounding the previous legislation amendments made in June/July 2022.
There was also a request made on here the other month that suggested a large number of FOI staff were laid off in December due to personal differences with the higher ups (or something along those lines).
The NDIA have been claiming increased FOI requests are the reason they can’t keep up for at least 3 years now. At some point they’ve just got to accept that’s the way it is and resource the department appropriately!
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor... (the percentages on some pages are incorrect, watch out for that).
Dear NDIA,
We are now almost at six months since I first lodged this request. I never received a first instance decision. I also received no assurance that the document is in fact in the possession of the FOI unit and being analysed for disclosure. As you are aware, this matter is also now before OAIC.
Once more, I ask for an update, and a 55G decision. This debt cohort was recently discussed by the Audit Office and in the media. It remains of significant public interest for you to process this request.
Yours sincerely,
Frank N Fearless
Cat left an annotation ()
The Agency's take on the historical debt review outcome has now been quietly published - but does not yet appear on the 'Recent Content' or 'Latest News' pages, which curiously seem to only be getting manual updates in recent months. Has the Agency forgotten that the Robodebt Royal Commission terms of reference included whether the government "sought to prevent, inhibit or discourage scrutiny of the Robodebt scheme, whether by moving departmental or other officials or otherwise", and that FOI was a significant topic in the final report and recommendations? Because I've been watching this request since it was made, and the length of the delay has certainly given me the impression the Agency feels very uncomfortable about external scrutiny of such topics. Will Frank just get a link to the webpage now? If the Agency was serious about its learnings and owning its mistakes, it would have published the full report, preferably on the same page. But for now, here is that page: https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/10858-debt-...
The Agency has also published some information about its debt processes at the same time, including how you can ask for what amounts to an unofficial internal review (in the absence of formal review rights to dispute whether you should owe a debt in the first place):
"Requesting a revocation of a debt decision: We do regular checks to improve our processes. We have and will continue to consider whether a debt should be revoked due to an error in our debt processes. If you believe we have made an error and want us to reconsider our debt decision, please email..." https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/improvi...
Dear Frank N Fearless
I apologise for the delay in providing a decision regarding your Freedom
of Information request.
Please find attached a decision and document in relation to your request.
If you require these in a different format, please let us know.
Please contact us at [1][NDIA request email] if you have any questions or
require help.
Regards
Peter
Director – Information Access
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [2][NDIA request email]
[3]NDIA logo
[4]LGBTIQA+ rainbow graphic
The NDIA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present
and emerging.
[5]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags graphic
Emily Lacey left an annotation ()
Funny how their FOI decision doesn’t actually provide any breakdown of the outcome of their investigations into the participant debts like you requested…
The webpage Cat linked does: https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/10858-debt-...
“The Agency reviewed 475 participant debts, issued between 2017 and early 2024. The Agency has revoked 115 of these debts.
In most cases, no money had been paid by the participant and the debt has been extinguished and removed from client records.
Repayments to participants have been made in 26 cases totalling about $145,000 in paid debt and interest.
There are 2 more participants eligible for a refund and the NDIA is engaging with them or their families.
The Agency has apologised for any distress caused.
Where debts are proceeding and are not subject to criminal proceedings, the Agency will contact participants to check on their circumstances and wellbeing and explain available options to commence repayment.”
So 24% of the participant debts raised were found to be incorrect or unjustified?????
Good news is they said “sorry” though! (sarcasm)
I wonder if the agency reinstated self management or plan management for all of those people, or if they are still stuck on agency managed plans.
I wonder how many were harmed or died as a result of the invalid debt being raised against them.
I wonder how many of the 76% the agency decided were valid shouldn’t be.
I wonder how many of the 26 participants who paid a total of $145,000 to the agency were financially ruined because of making that debt repayment. How many lost their homes, went without food, went without medical care, how many had to take out loans that now they have piles of interest owing on… is an apology going to fix that?
The National Disability Insurance Agency are criminals. Their “the NDIS isn’t like Robodebt” claims are a bloody joke, that’s clear as day now.
24%…
Cat left an annotation ()
One certainly wonders why simple requests about such important topics are taking so long. The ANAO has just scheduled their report on the NDIA's management of claimant compliance for tabling tomorrow (Wed 25 June 2025). Perhaps that will shed some light, or just raise more questions.