National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) - NDIS Data on Chronic Pain Conditions
Dear Freedom of Information Officer,
I am writing to formally request access to information held by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) under the *Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).
I am seeking the following information for the last five (5) financial years (e.g., 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25), broken down on a yearly basis:
1. Application and Rejection Data
I request the following data, specifically for individuals who have listed one of the following conditions as their primary or secondary disability:
* Chronic pain
* Fibromyalgia
* Central Sensitivity Syndrome
* Central Regional Pain Syndrome
* Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
For each of these conditions, I request:
* The number of people who have applied for NDIS support.
* The number of people who have been accepted for NDIS support.
* The number of people who have been rejected for NDIS support.
I request this information in a machine-readable format, such as an Excel or CSV file, if possible. I understand that some of this information may be sensitive and I am not requesting any personal or identifying information about individuals. My request is for de-identified, aggregate data only.
I look forward to your response within the statutory 30-day period.
Yours faithfully,
Mae
Dear Mae,
Freedom of Information Request: Acknowledgement & Extension of Time
Request
Thank you for your request of 29 August 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:
“… data, specifically for individuals who have listed one of the following
conditions as their primary or secondary disability:
* Chronic pain
* Fibromyalgia
* Central Sensitivity Syndrome
* Central Regional Pain Syndrome
* Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
For each of these conditions, I request:
* The number of people who have applied for NDIS support.
* The number of people who have been accepted for NDIS support.
* The number of people who have been rejected for NDIS support…”
Processing Timeframes
In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, a 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from 30 August 2025. This
30-day period expires on 29 September 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 29 October 2025.
Please let us know if you agree by .
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 COB Wednesday 3 September 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,
Wendy (WTN314)
Triage Officer – Triage and Early Resolution
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
[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.
Dear Wendy,
Thank you for your email regarding my Freedom of Information ('FOI') request.
I agree to the 30-day extension of time as requested. I understand that this extends the due date for a decision on my FOI request to 29 October 2025.
I also confirm that NDIA staff members' surnames and contact details are not relevant to my request, and I agree to their redaction.
Thank you for the update and for preserving my review rights under the FOI Act.
Yours sincerely,
Mae
Dear FOI Internal Review Officer,
This is a formal request for an Internal Review of the handling of my Freedom of Information ('FOI') request concerning NDIS data on chronic pain conditions. This request is made pursuant to Section 54C of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) ('FOI Act').
Background of Original FOI Request (NDIS Data on Chronic Pain Conditions):
1. I submitted my original FOI request on 29 August 2025, seeking aggregate application and rejection data for specific chronic pain conditions.
2. The NDIA acknowledged the request and, by mutual agreement under section 15AA of the FOI Act, the statutory due date for a decision was extended to 29 October 2025.
3. As of today, 31 October 2025, the NDIA has not provided a formal decision in relation to my request.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/na...
Grounds for Internal Review:
The failure of the NDIA to notify me of a decision by the extended due date of 29 October 2025 constitutes a deemed refusal of my request, as provided for under Section 51DA of the FOI Act.
Accordingly, I am exercising my right under Section 54C of the FOI Act to seek an Internal Review of this deemed refusal. I request that the NDIA's principal officer, or an authorised person, conduct this review.
Action Required:
I request that you now immediately process the original FOI request and provide a formal decision on access to the requested data without further delay.
Please ensure the Internal Review is completed, and I am notified of the decision in writing, within the 30-day statutory period required by Section 54D(2) of the FOI Act.
Yours sincerely,
Mae
Good afternoon Mae,
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately, we are unable to complete an internal review of your FOI
request, as it is considered a deemed refusal. This means a decision was
not made within the statutory timeframe, and under section 15AC of the FOI
Act, the request is taken to have been refused.
As outlined in section 54E(b) of the FOI Act, internal reviews do not
apply to deemed refusals. Your review rights instead sit with the Office
of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
You can read more about this in the “Availability” section of the OAIC’s
Internal review process webpage: [1]Internal review process | OAIC
Although a decision was not made within the required timeframe, please be
assured that we are continuing to process your request. You will receive a
formal decision, and if appropriate, documents may be released in
accordance with that decision.
We apologise for the delay and appreciate your patience and understanding.
Kind regards,
Adam
Freedom of Information Officer – Triage and Early Resolution
Information Access and Privacy
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [2][email address]
[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 and
present.
[5]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags graphic
Dear Mae
I apologise for the delay in processing your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
I note that you have contacted the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) requesting an Information Commissioner (IC) review. We
will continue to communicate with yourself and the OAIC regarding the
progression of your request.
I am currently in the process of consulting with the Agency’s Analytics,
Data and Actuarial (ADA) Department regarding the scope of your request:
I am seeking the following information for the last five (5) financial
years (e.g., 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25), broken down on
a yearly basis:
1. Application and Rejection Data
I request the following data, specifically for individuals who have listed
one of the following conditions as their primary or secondary disability:
* Chronic pain
* Fibromyalgia
* Central Sensitivity Syndrome
* Central Regional Pain Syndrome
* Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
For each of these conditions, I request:
* The number of people who have applied for NDIS support.
* The number of people who have been accepted for NDIS support.
* The number of people who have been rejected for NDIS support.
ADA have responded and asked for some clarification and potentially
amending the wording of the scope.
The Agency publishes participant datasets on our data research website
here [1]Participant datasets | NDIS. As such they have advised that using
these datasets, they have only been able to locate three ICD codes that
relate to the conditions you have requested, those being; G89.4 – Chronic
Pain, M79.7 – Fibromyalgia and G90.5 – Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome.
As such, do you agree to limit the scope to these three conditions, or
alternatively, is there another ICD code you wish to include with your
request?
Additionally, ADA have advised that they are unable to facilitate your
request with the wording provided, alternatively, they have advised they
would be able to provide:
• The number of people with an access decision made
• The number of people with access met
• The number of people with access not met
Can you please advise if you agree to the above wording for your request.
Actions requested of you
1. Please advise by 24 November 2025 if you agree with the three ICD
codes used above, or if you wish to add any additional ICD codes.
2. Please advise by 24 November 2025 if you agree to the wording provided
by ADA
Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to
contact me at [2][NDIA request email]
Kind regards
Patrick (PHO293)
A/g Assistant Director – Information Access
Information Access & Privacy Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [3][NDIA request email]
[4]NDIA logo
[5]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.
[6]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags graphic
From: foi <[NDIA request email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 4 November 2025 11:45 AM
To: Mae <[FOI #13554 email]>
Subject: FOI 25/26-0527 (Mae 2) [LEXD 8720] – Your Request for Information
– Update
Good afternoon Mae,
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately, we are unable to complete an internal review of your FOI
request, as it is considered a deemed refusal. This means a decision was
not made within the statutory timeframe, and under section 15AC of the FOI
Act, the request is taken to have been refused.
As outlined in section 54E(b) of the FOI Act, internal reviews do not
apply to deemed refusals. Your review rights instead sit with the Office
of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
You can read more about this in the “Availability” section of the OAIC’s
Internal review process webpage: [7]Internal review process | OAIC
Although a decision was not made within the required timeframe, please be
assured that we are continuing to process your request. You will receive a
formal decision, and if appropriate, documents may be released in
accordance with that decision.
We apologise for the delay and appreciate your patience and understanding.
Kind regards,
Adam
Freedom of Information Officer – Triage and Early Resolution
Information Access and Privacy
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [8][email address]
[9]NDIA logo
[10]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 and
present.
[11]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags graphic
Mae left an annotation ()
FOI 25/26-0527 (Mae 2) [LEXD 8720]