Freedom of Information request - Request consultation process

Thank you for your correspondence of 10 December 2024, in which you requested access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to documents held by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a decision on your request.

Scope of your request

You have requested access to the following documents held by the NDIA:

All articles on “case types” (“After you record comments, continue working through the case using the articles relevant to the case type.”)
Article “View the Person Account Timeline” Case activity/note:
All possible selections for the “Case” form field when logging “an activity or internal note to the case”.
All possible selections for the “Activity Type” form field when logging “an activity or internal note to the case”.
All possible selections for the “Outcome” form field for each individual Activity Type, when logging “an activity or internal note to the case”.
All possible selections for the “Subject” form field when logging “an activity or internal note to the case”. Person account activity/note:
All possible selections for the “Activity Type” form field when logging “an activity or internal note to the person account”
All possible selections for the “Subject” form field when logging “an activity or internal note to the person account”
All possible selections for the “Category” form field when logging “an activity or internal note to the person account”

Request Consultation

On 27 February 2025, I sent you an email/letter initiating a consultation process under section 24AB of the FOI Act. I advised I intended to refuse access to your request on the grounds that substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA due to its size.

To 17 March 2025 I have not had a response from you.

I note that the time taken to undertake this consultation process is not taken into account for the purposes of the timeframe for processing your request.

Decision on access to documents

I have decided to refuse your request on the grounds that you did not respond to my request consultation process and thereby the practical refusal reason remains.

I made this decision as a delegated decision maker under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.

Reasons for decision

A detailed statement of reasons for my decision can be found at Attachment A.

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 fox@xxxx.xxx.xx.

Yours sincerely

Kate (KIM627) A/Assistant Director – Freedom of Information Non Personals Team Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch Reviews and Information Release Division

Attachment A

Statement of Reasons

FOI 24/25-0930

Practical refusal reason

Relevant law

A practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request for documents if the work involved in processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations¹

In determining whether processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the agency’s resources, I am required to have regard to the resources that would have to be used for the following:

identifying, locating or collating the documents within the Agency
deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document including resources used for examining the document and consulting with any person or body in relation to the request
making a copy or an edited copy of the document
notifying the decision on the request

Accordingly, I am satisfied that a practical refusal reason still exists and that the work involved in processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations.

Further options for requesting documents

You are welcome to submit further freedom of information requests in the future. In doing so, you may wish to contact the FOI Team directly on foi@ndis.gov.au or advise a convenient time for us to contact you, to engage assistance in developing a scope that does not attract a practical refusal reason under the FOI Act.

¹ 24AA(1)(a) of the FOI Act.

ATTACHMENT B

Your review rights

Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

The FOI Act gives you the right to apply to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for a review of this decision.

If you wish to have the decision reviewed by the OAIC, you may apply for review within 60 days of receiving this letter.

You can apply to the OAIC for review in the following ways:

Online: www.oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
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 the NDIA took in relation to your request. The Ombudsman will consult with the OAIC before investigating a complaint about the handling of an FOI request.

You can make a complaint to the OAIC using the contact details identified above, or to the Ombudsman by:

Phone: 1300 362 072 (local call charge)
Email: ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.au

Your complaint should set out the grounds on which you consider the OAIC or the Ombudsman should investigate the NDIA’s handling of your FOI request.