NDIA Accountability Project

NDIS — FOI 25/26-1024: Notification of Decision

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Freedom of Information request — Notice of Decision

Our reference: FOI 25/26-1024 (LEXD 11161)

GPO Box 700\nCanberra ACT 2601\n1800 800 110\ndis.gov.au\n 14 September 2026\n Bob Buckley\nBy email: foi+request-13880-cf4b673b@righttoknow.org.au\nDear Bob Buckley\n

Scope of your request\nYou requested access to the following documents:\n\n> “..Dear National Disability Insurance Agency,\n>

In your recent response to FOI 25/26-0132 you provided a table in response to part 2 of\n> the request showing\n>

  1. the most recent reporting of the numbers of NDIS participants with “mild autism” as\n> their primary disability broken down by age or age groups,\n> And you included cost data requested in part 3 of that request. I very much appreciate\n> your response to that request.

I hereby request the summary of autistic NDIS participant numbers (autism is primary\n> disability type) as at 30 June 2025 in the same age bands for three separate bands of\n> NDIS “levels of functioning” where the bands are 1-5 (as in the FOI 25/26-0132\n> response), 6-10, and 11-15.

Please also include

the average committed supports and the 12-months payments data

in each summary.

Rather than providing them in PDF format, please provide them in CSV or a MS Excel

format…"
  • Your correspondence outlining the scope of your request

    • The nature and content of the documents falling within the scope of your request

    • The FOI Act

    • The FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act

    • Consultation with relevant NDIA staff and business areas

    • Factors relevant to my assessment of whether or not disclosure of information would

      be in the public interest

    • The operating environment and functions of the NDIA

Release of documents

The document for release, as referred to in the schedule of documents at Attachment A, is

closed.

Rights of review

Your rights to seek a review of my decision, or lodge a complaint, are set out at

Attachment C.

Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at foi@ndis.gov.au.

Yours sincerely

Kate G [KGN680]

Senior Freedom of Information Officer Information Access and Privacy Branch Reviews and Information Release Division National Disability Insurance Agency

Attachment A

Schedule of Documents

FOI 25.26-1024

Document Page Description Access Decision Comments
number
1 1 Participant Data FULL ACCESS

Attachment B

Statement of Reasons

FOI 25.26-1044

Forms of access

Access to information not available in discrete or written form (section 17)

Section 17(1)(c) of the FOI Act provides that, to enable the release of information, an agency can produce a written document containing information which is not otherwise available in discrete or written form, in one of two ways. These are:

  • by using a computer to retrieve the information, and
  • by making a transcript from a sound recording.

We have been able to use a computer to produce a document containing the information you requested.

You requested that the information be provided in Microsoft Excel format. While the Agency has considered this preference, the information is being released in PDF format pursuant to section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

The Agency is satisfied that releasing the information as a PDF provides reasonable access to the documents while preserving the integrity of the information. Spreadsheet data can be readily altered, manipulated, sorted, filtered or extracted from its original context, which may increase the risk of the information being misinterpreted or mishandled. Providing the information in PDF format ensures that the content released accurately reflects the records held by the Agency at the time of the decision and maintains the information in a fixed, read- only format.

The PDF version contains the same substantive information as the spreadsheet and enables the information to be accessed, viewed and retained without alteration to the released record.

I have therefore treated your request as if it were a request for access to this document in accordance with section 17(1)(c)(i) of the FOI Act.

Attachment C

Freedom of Information request – Your review rights

As your request is deemed to have been refused under section 15AC of the FOI Act because of processing delays, you are unable to apply for an internal review of the decision.

However, if you have concern with any aspect of this decision, please contact the NDIA FOI team by email at foi@ndis.gov.au, or by post to:

  • Freedom of Information Section
  • Information Access and Privacy Branch
  • Reviews and Information Release Division
  • National Disability Insurance Agency
  • GPO Box 700
  • CANBERRA ACT 2601

Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

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

If you wish to have the decision reviewed by the OAIC, you may apply for the review in writing, or by using the online merits review application form which is available on the OAIC’s website: OAIC Review Application Form.

An application to the OAIC must be made within 60 calendar days from the date of the deemed refusal decision, as set out in our letter to you (Notice of Decision). You may also apply to the OAIC for an extension of this timeframe, from the date of the deemed refusal decision until the date of your application for review.

Applications for review can be lodged with the OAIC in the following ways:

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 the actions

taken by the NDIA in relation to your request. The Ombudsman will consult with the OAIC

before investigating a complaint about the handling of an FOI request.

Your complaint to the OAIC can be directed to the contact details provided above.

Your complaint to the Ombudsman can be directed to:

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