Our reference: FOI 24/25-1418 OAIC reference: MR25/01325
GPO Box 700 Canberra ACT 2601 1800 800 110 ndis.gov.au
10 September 2025
David Wright
By email: foi+request-12885-08e18f02@righttoknow.org.au
Dear David Wright
Your Freedom of Information request — revised decision under section 55G of the Freedom of Information Act
On 28 February 2025 you requested access to documents held by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Specifically, you requested access to:
“(1) All knowledge articles and standard operating procedures about restrictions on flexible funding and stated supports. Please provide the most recent version of each document, whether this is a final or draft version. If it is a draft please include any comments or tracked changes for the document.
(2) All internal documents which decision-makers can consult during the decision making process regarding the inclusion of restrictions on flexible funding / stated supports in NDIS participant plans.“
On 10 June 2025 you were notified of our decision on your request (original decision). That decision granted you access to 3 documents in full.
On 21 August 2025 we received notice from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) that you had sought review from the Information Commissioner (IC) of our original decision. We understand you sought this review on the basis that you believe additional documents exist within the scope of your request. Specifically, in your email to OAIC, you noted:
“I have been advised by other parties that there exist other documents which fit the scope of my request, but weren’t located by the NDIA’s FOI branch, e.g.
- Standard Operating Procedure: Complete the determine the funded supports task
- Practice Guide - Determine Reasonable and Necessary Supports
Delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency 1
The NDIA has conducted an incomplete search and I am submitting this request to OAIC so that a proper and exhaustive search is now conducted, to locate all documents that fall within the scope of my request.“
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a revised decision on your request.
Revised Decision
I am authorised to make decisions under the FOI Act, including revised decisions under section 55G of that Act.
In accordance with section 55G(1)(a) of the FOI Act, I have decided to vary the original decision as I have identified 5 additional documents relevant to the scope of your request. These documents were identified by conducting additional searches with our Service Guidance Branch.
I have decided to grant access to these 5 documents in full.
In reaching my decision, I took the following into account:
- the original request
- the nature and content of the documents falling within the scope of the request
- the original decision
- your request for internal review
- the notice of IC review
- the FOI Act
- the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act
- consultation with relevant NDIA staff.
Regarding the documents noted in your email to OAIC, we received the following advice from Service Guidance:
- Standard Operating Procedure: Complete the determine the funded supports task. Replaced by Our Guidelines – Creating your plan (previously provided in our original decision)
- Practice Guide - Determine Reasonable and Necessary Supports have been retired. Replaced by Our Guidelines - Reasonable and necessary supports (provided in this revised decision)
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Release of documents
The documents for release, as referred to in the Schedule of Documents at Attachment A, are enclosed. Please note I have only included the documents considered within this varied decision. That is, the documents previously released to you in our original decision have not been included.
In accordance with section 55G(2) of the FOI Act, I will be providing the IC with a copy of this revised decision.
If you determine that you are satisfied with this revised decision and do not require this decision to be reviewed further by the IC, please let the Agency and the OAIC know.
Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at foi@ndis.gov.au.
Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth (EFH599)
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
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Attachment A
Schedule of Documents for FOI 24/25-0040 | MR25/01699
| Document number | Page number | Description | Access Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-15 | Guide — Safeguarding the participant’s interests v4.0 Approved 6 August 2025 |
FULL ACCESS |
| 2 | 16-25 | Knowledge Article — Discuss funded supports v11.0 Approved 11 November 2024 |
FULL ACCESS |
| 3 | 26-45 | Knowledge Article — Support Categories v9.0 Approved 5 February 2025 |
FULL ACCESS |
| 4 | 46-60 | Knowledge Article — Understand and check plan comments v4.0 Approved 28 November 2024 |
FULL ACCESS |
| 5 | 61-85 | Our Guidelines — Reasonable and Necessary Supports v7.0 Approved 22 September 2024 |
FULL ACCESS |
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