Good Afternoon David,

Freedom of Information Request: Acknowledgement

Thank you for your request on 18 September 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:

"...FOI 24/25-1974, document 1 (page 6) states: ‘The NDIA has established
and implemented a Legal Service Provider Quarterly Performance Management
Framework that ensures regular reporting and feedback is provided to all
ART external Legal Service Providers. This ensures that our panel firms
embed continuous improvement on NDIA ART matters’

I request:

1)      A copy of this framework.

2)      Copies of all reporting and feedback provided to ART external
legal service providers under this framework...."

Processing Timeframes

In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, a 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from 19 September 2025. This
30-day period expires on 18 October 2025.

The 30-day period can be extended in a number of ways, including with your
agreement.

Extension of Time Request:

Unfortunately, it is currently taking us a little longer than 30 days to
process FOI requests due to a very high volume of incoming matters. 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 17 November 2025.

Please let us know if you agree by 5pm Wednesday 1 November 2025.

Explanation of Extension of Time Request:

The reason I am seeking an extension of time is to ensure I preserve your
review rights under the FOI Act.

FOI applicants are normally entitled to exercise a right of internal
review if they are unsatisfied with the outcome of an FOI decision.
However, this right of review lapses if a FOI decision is not made within
the statutory timeframe. This is because if an agency doesn’t issue their
decision within the statutory timeframe, they are deemed to have refused
the request for documents. If this situation happens, it will limit your
options for formal review to only contacting the OAIC.

You are not obligated to agree to this request, you would still retain
your review rights with our regulatory body OAIC (Office of the Australian
Information Commission).

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?

Action Required

Can I please request a response regarding our request for a 30-day
extension of time, by 5pm Wednesday 1 November 2025.

Next steps

I have completed some preliminary work on your request; however, your
matter will be allocated to an authorised FOI decision-maker for any
further action. 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].

Kind regards,

Beau

Freedom of Information Officer

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

show quoted sections

Dear David

Thank you for your request for information.

The line area have asked if you can please provide a timeframe for the
documents requested.

Kind regards

Carolyn (CJW205)

Senior FOI 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 

show quoted sections

Dear David

Freedom of Information request — Notification of Third-Party Consultation

Thank you for your correspondence of 18 September 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).

As your request includes documents which contain personal information, as
well as information about the business, commercial or financial affairs of
an organisation, or a person’s business or professional affairs, we are
required to consult with the person or organisation concerned before
making a decision on the release of the documents. As a result, the
timeframe for processing your request has been extended by 30 days.

Consultation

We are required to consult when we believe a person or organisation may
wish to contend that the requested documents are exempt because their
release would disclose personal information, trade secrets or commercially
valuable information or may adversely affect their business or financial
affairs. We will take into account any comments we receive from the person
or organisation, but the final decision about whether to grant you access
to the documents rests with us.

Consent to disclose your name

Your personal privacy is important to us, and we will only disclose your
name with your consent.

However, to assist us in conducting the consultation, we seek your consent
to disclose your name to the relevant person or organisation. If you do
not to consent to this, we will not be able to identify you as the
applicant of the FOI request. This may affect the responses given by the
person or organisation.

Can you please let us know whether you consent to the disclosure of your
name by 20 November 2025.

If we do not hear from you by this date, we will proceed on the basis that
you do not consent to us disclosing your name.

Please contact us at [1][NDIA request email] if you have any questions or
require help.

Kind regards

Carolyn (CJW205)

Senior FOI Officer 

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 

show quoted sections

Our reference: RQ25/07128

Agency reference: FOI 25/26-0741 (D Wright 15)

National Disability Insurance Agency
By Email: [1][email address]

David Wright
By Email: [2][FOI #13670 email]

Extension of time under s 15AB

Dear Parties,

Please find attached an extension of time decision relating to the above
referenced FOI request.

Kind Regards,

[3][IMG]   Sarveshcika Yuvaraj (she/her)

Assistant Review Advisor

FOI Case Management Branch

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

Sydney | GPO Box 5288 Sydney NSW 2001

P 1300 363 992  E [4][email address]
 
The OAIC acknowledges Traditional Custodians of Country across
Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and
communities. We pay our respect to First Nations people,
cultures and Elders past and present.  

[5]Subscribe to Information Matters

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References

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2. mailto:[FOI #13670 email]
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