Our reference: FOI 25/26-0747 [LEXD 9785]
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
ndis.gov.au
10 April 2026
Jessica Hargreaves
By email: redacted: s47F- personal privacy
Dear Jessica Hargreaves
Freedom of Information request — Request consultation process
Thank you for your correspondence of 21 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).
Scope of your request
You have requested access to the following documents:
“…Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), I seek access to documents that identify the external law firms engaged by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to provide legal representation or legal advice.
Specifically, I request:
A list or schedule of all law firms engaged by the NDIA in the last two financial years (202324 and 202425 to date).
For each firm, the nature of services provided (e.g. legal representation, legal advice, or other legal services).
Where available, the dates or time periods of engagement for those firms.
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I do not seek access to the content of legal advice, invoices, or privileged communications. I am only seeking high-level information about the names of the firms and the scope/purpose of their engagement….“
Practical refusal
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
I am writing to advise that your request does not provide enough information about the documents you are seeking as is reasonably necessary to allow us to identify them. 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
On 31 March 2026, we advised you that your request did not satisfy section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act, as the terms of your request were too broad and we were unable to identify the specific documents sought. We sought further information from you about the documents you were requesting access to.
Request consultation process
You now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to proceed.
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.
To reduce the scope of your request, you might like to consider:
- a list of law firms engaged by the NDIA in relation to ART matters, for the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25
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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
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 redacted: s47F- personal privacy.
Alternatively, you can reply in writing to the following address:
Freedom of Information Section
Information Access and Privacy
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
GPO Box 700
CANBERRA ACT 2601
If you do not contact me within this period, that is by 24 April 2026, I will issue you a formal decision letter that confirms my reasons for refusing your request.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Yours sincerely
Mykal
Mykal (MJG094)
Freedom of Information Officer
Information Access and Privacy Branch
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