NDIA Accountability Project

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Freedom of Information request — Request consultation process

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Freedom of Information request — Request consultation process

Thank you for your correspondence of 13 June 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

Specifically, I seek:

  • All internal NDIA guidance documents, assessment tools, training materials, or decision-making resources from 1 January 2020 to present that relate to the assessment, interpretation, or eligibility determination of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) as a disability under the NDIS.
  • Any documents outlining how NDIA planners and delegates are instructed to distinguish between behavioural or psychosocial impairments arising from FASD (e.g. dysregulation, aggression, impulsivity, executive dysfunction) and those considered the responsibility of mainstream mental health services.
  • Any internal policy or procedural documents regarding how risk indicators or safeguarding needs—when directly linked to FASD-related impairments—are treated in eligibility, plan reassessment, or funding decisions.
  • Any correspondence, briefing notes, or internal reports that discuss FASD specifically in relation to:
    • Interpretation of the six functional domains (communication, social interaction, learning, mobility, self-care, self-management)
    • Justification of funded supports (especially in relation to Section 24 and 34 of the NDIS Act)
    • Misattribution of FASD-linked impairments to mainstream services

This request is made in the public interest to improve transparency around how participants with FASD are assessed and supported under the Scheme, and to

Practical refusal

I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.

I am writing to advise that the work involved in processing your request in its current form would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other operations due to its broad scope. 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

For ease of reading, I will break down the points of your request where practical refusal reasons exist and provide suggestions as to how the practical refusal reason can be removed.

Timeframe

It is also suggested you clarify or limit the timeframe for your request to help limit the number of documents located relevant to the scope of your request. Currently your request for ‘all documents “from 1 January 2020 to present”’ is voluminous, and refining the date range would significantly reduce the search time and volume of documents.

To remove the practical refusal reason for these points, I suggest you confirm if you want the current version of these documents or the documents that were current on 1 January 2020.

Any Correspondence, Briefing Notes, or Internal Reports

A practical refusal reason exists for this point pursuant to section 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the FOI Act, that is to mean the work involved with processing this point of your request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other operations.

I therefore suggest either removing this point of your request or provide further details about what these correspondences are regarding.

It is noted that a Senate Committee was held in September 2019 regarding FASD here Effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis and support for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder – Parliament of Australia. Submissions can be located on the right hand side, with the NDIA’s submission being number 67. On the right hand side you can also find a link to the Government Response from December 2024 which includes responses to the recommendations made in the report.

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,

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:

  • Remove the following from the scope of the request: “…Any correspondence, briefing notes, or internal reports that discuss FASD specifically in relation to…”
  • Limit the scope to current guidance documents about FASD

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 foi@ndis.gov.au.

Alternatively, you can reply in writing to the following address:

Freedom of Information Section Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch 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 8 August 2025, your FOI request will be taken to have been withdrawn under subsection 24AB(7) and will not be dealt with any further.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Heather Senior Freedom of Information Officer Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch Reviews and Information Release Division