Our reference: FOI 21/22-0718

                                                        GPO Box 700
                                                                                 Canberra ACT  2601
                                                                           1800 800 110

24 January 2022 ndis.gov.au

Mark By email: foi+request-8204-fcd597e4@righttoknow.org.au

Dear Mark

Freedom of Information request — Notification of Decision

Thank you for your correspondence of 17 December 2021, 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 documents about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Specifically, you requested access to:

“…the percentage of all access requests that have been approved into the scheme over its lifetime and by year?”

Decision on access to documents

I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act. My decision on your request and the reasons for my decision are set out below.

You have identified in the scope of your request that you seek information about NDIS access, during the lifetime of the Scheme. However, the subject matter experts of the relevant business areas within the NDIA have advised that data preceding the 2017 financial year cannot be accurately supplied.

This is because the business system used by the Agency prior to July 2017 did not contain reportable fields for the information requested; and as a result, would be considered unreliable. Therefore, we have not considered the data prior to July 2017 when processing your request for information.

Section 17(1)(c) of the FOI Act provides that an agency can produce a written document containing the requested information, by the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available for retrieving or collating stored information.

We have been able to produce a document containing the percentage of all approved NDIS access requests dated between July 2017 and December 2021, through consultations with relevant NDIA staff.

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

In reaching my decision, I took into account the following materials:

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.

Release of documents The document for release, as referred to in the Schedule of Documents at Attachment A, is enclosed.

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 foi@ndis.gov.au.

Yours sincerely

Mia Senior Freedom of Information Officer Parliamentary, Ministerial & FOI Branch Government Division

Attachment A

Schedule of Documents for FOI 21/22-0718

Document number	Page number	Description	Access Decision
1*	1	Percentage of approved NDIS Access dated between July 2017-December 2021	FULL ACCESS

Document created under section 17 of the FOI Act.

Attachment B

Your review rights

Internal Review

The FOI Act gives you the right to apply for an internal review of this decision. The review will be conducted by a different person to the person who made the original decision.

If you wish to seek an internal review of the decision, you must apply for the review, in writing, within 30 days of receipt of this letter.

No particular form is required for an application for internal review, but to assist the review process, you should clearly outline your grounds for review (that is, the reasons why you disagree with the decision). Applications for internal review can be lodged by email to foi@ndis.gov.au or sent by post to:

Freedom of Information Section Parliamentary, Ministerial & FOI Branch Government 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 to 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 form available on the OAIC’s website at www.oaic.gov.au, within 60 days of receipt of this letter.

Applications for review can be lodged with the OAIC 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 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 identified above. Your complaint to the Ombudsman can be directed to:

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

Your complaint should be in writing and should set out the grounds on which it is considered that the actions taken in relation to the request should be investigated.