FOI 25.26 2466 Decision Notice of Decision | FOI release material

Our reference: FOI 25/26-2466 [LEXD 18595]

GPO Box 700 Canberra ACT 2601 1800 800 110 ndis.gov.au

24 August 2026

By email: foi+request-14501-e3c22d6a@righttoknow.org.au

Dear David Wright

Freedom of Information request — Notice of Decision

Thank you for your correspondence of 17 March 2026, 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 originally requested access to documents from the NDIA.. Specifically, you requested access to:

“FOI 25/26-0062, document 4 (page 39 of 55) states at paragraph 36:

‘The Agency reports quarterly on the total amount and expenditure of Independent Medical Experts that are engaged on our internal and external matters’.

I request each of these quarterly reports”

On the 6 May 2026 have subsequently revised the scope of your request as follows:

“Yes I am agreeable to limiting the scope of my request to the 2024/25 financial year.”

Extension of time

On 14 April 2026, you agreed to a 30-day extension of time under section 15AA of the FOI Act, making 18 May 2026 the date by which to provide you with a decision on your request.

Processing period

The original date by which to provide you with a decision on your request was 18 May 2026.

We have been experiencing processing delays, and were unable to provide you with our decision by this date. Consequently, your application is deemed to have been refused under section 15AC of the FOI Act.

I note that this access decision is being released to you after the due date, and I apologise for the delay. In the interests of not causing any further delay, I have decided not to apply for an extension from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) under section 15AC of the FOI Act. This means that you are unable to seek an internal review of this decision. However, your right to apply for an external review with the OAIC remains protected. Please see Attachment C for more information about your rights of review.

Search efforts

I consulted with NDIA staff in the Reviews & Information Release Division who could reasonably expected to be able to identify documents within the scope of your request.

As a result of this consultation, 16 documents were identified that fall within the scope of your request.

Decision on access to documents

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

I have decided to:

Grant access to 16 documents in part.

Reasons for decision

In reaching my decision, I have taken into account:

Your correspondence outlining the scope of your request
The nature and contents 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

I have decided that some information will not be released as it comprises exempt information under sections 47F(1) and 47G(1) of the FOI Act. I have also determined that the release of some information would be contrary to the public interest, in accordance with section 11A(5) of the FOI Act.

Furthermore, I have decided that some of the information in the documents is irrelevant to the scope of your request. Accordingly, I have prepared an edited copy of the documents in accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act, with irrelevant and exempt material removed.

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

Release of documents

The documents for release, as referred to in the schedule of documents at Attachment A, are enclosed.

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

Patrick (PHO293)

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 25/26-2466

Document number	Page number	Description	Access Decision	Comments
1	4-12	`redacted` Q1 24-25 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
2	13-24	`redacted` Q1 24-25 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
3	25-36	`redacted` Q1 24-25 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
4	37-48	`redacted` Q1 24-25 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
5	49-59	`redacted` Q2 24-25 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act

Document number	Page number	Description	Access Decision	Comments
6	60-70	`redacted` Q2 24-25 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
7	71-81	`redacted` Q2 24-25 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
8	82-92	`redacted` Q2 24-25 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
9	93-104	`redacted` Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda Q3 2023	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
10	105-116	`redacted` Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda Q3 2023	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
11	117-128	`redacted` Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda Q3 2023	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act

Document number	Page number	Description	Access Decision	Comments
12	129-140	`redacted` Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda Q3 2023	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
13	141-152	`redacted` Q4 April to June 2025 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
14	153-164	`redacted` Q4 April to June 2025 Quarterly Relationship	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
15	165-174	`redacted` Q4 April to June 2025 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
16	177-188	`redacted` Q4 April to June 2025 Quarterly Relationships Meeting Agenda	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemptions claimed: s47F(1) — personal privacy s47G - business information	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act

Attachment B

Statement of Reasons

FOI 25/26-2466

Forms of access

Access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant material deleted (section 22)

I have decided that documents 1-16 contain material that is exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act, for the reasons set out below.

I have also identified that documents 1-16 contain material that is irrelevant to the scope of your request. As your request was specifically for information relating to expenditure on Independent Medical Experts, I have considered the remaining material in the reports located irrelevant to your request.

In accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act, I have considered whether it is possible to delete the exempt and irrelevant material from the documents and have concluded that it is reasonably practicable to do so. Accordingly, I have prepared an edited copy of the documents with the exempt and irrelevant material removed.

Conditionally exempt information contrary to the public interest

Relevant law

Under section 11A(5) of the FOI Act, access to a conditionally exempt document under division 3 of Part IV of the FOI Act must be granted unless access to the document would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.

I have refused access to information located in documents 1-16 on the basis that the information is conditionally exempt information under sections 47F(1) and 47G(1) of the FOI Act, and that the disclosure of the information would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.

Personal privacy (section 47F)

Section 47F(1) of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document from release if its disclosure would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased person).

In determining whether information is conditionally exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act, I must first determine whether the material meets the definition of personal information. I must then determine whether its disclosure would be reasonable or unreasonable.

The FOI Act shares the same definition of ‘personal information’ as the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or about an individual who is reasonably identifiable:

whether the information or opinion is true or not
whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

I am satisfied that information contained in documents 1-16 meets the definition of personal information. The identified material contains the full names of Independent Medical Experts.

Under section 47F(2) of the FOI Act, in determining whether the disclosure of a document would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information, regard must be had to:

the extent to which the information is well known
whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have been) associated with the matters dealt with in the document
the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources
any other matters that I consider relevant.

Against these criteria, I take the view that:

it is apparent from the information that an individual is identifiable
the personal information is not readily available from publicly accessible sources.

With reference to the assessment above, I am satisfied that it would be unreasonable to publicly disclose this personal information.

Accordingly, I conclude that the relevant information contained in documents 1-16 is conditionally exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act.

Public interest considerations – section 47F

It is not enough that I have decided the documents contains personal information that is conditionally exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act. I must also decide whether the public interest lies in favour of, or against, the release of that information.

Irrelevant factors

I have examined the irrelevant factors in section 11B(4) of the FOI Act, and I am satisfied I have not taken into account any irrelevant factor in reaching my decision.

Factors favouring disclosure

In favour of disclosure, I have considered the factors outlined in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act and I have determined that disclosure of the information would:

promote the objects of the FOI Act (including all matters set out in sections 3 and 3A)

This is because providing access to documents held by the NDIA allows for increased scrutiny, discussion, comment, and review of government-held information.

I have decided to afford little weight to this factor.

Factors favouring nondisclosure

The FOI Act does not list any factors weighing against disclosure. However, the inclusion of the exemptions and conditional exemptions in the FOI Act recognises that harm may result from the disclosure of some types of documents in certain circumstances.

The harm in disclosing the personal information in question is that doing so could reasonably be expected to affect an individual’s right to privacy by having their personal information in the public domain.

The FOI Guidelines provides a non-exhaustive list of factors against access to information at paragraph 6.233. I have examined those factors, and I am satisfied that the disclosure of the personal information in question could reasonably be expected to:

prejudice the protection of an individual’s right to privacy through the release of their personal information into the public domain
prejudice the NDIA’s ability to attract and retain experts

With respect to section 11B(3) of the FOI Act, I also consider that the disclosure of the relevant information:

would not contribute to the publication of information of sufficient public interest to justify the likely harm caused by release

would not enhance Australia’s representative democracy in the ways described in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act
would not inform any debate on a matter of public importance, or promote oversight of public expenditure

I have decided to afford moderate weight to the above factors favouring nondisclosure.

Balancing the relevant factors

I am satisfied that the factors against disclosure of the information far outweigh the factors in favour of disclosure and that, on balance, it would be contrary to the public interest to release this information to you.

With reference to the assessment above, I conclude that this information is exempt from release under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act.

Business information (section 47G)

Section 47G(1) of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document from release if its disclosure would, or could reasonably be expected to, unreasonably affect a third party’s lawful business, professional, commercial, or financial affairs, or prejudice the future supply of information to the Commonwealth.

Paragraph 6.181 of the FOI Guidelines provides that the conditional exemption in section 47G(1) depends on the effect of disclosure, rather than the precise nature of the information itself. Nevertheless, the information in question must have some relevance to a person in respect of their business or professional affairs, or to the business, commercial, or financial affairs of an organisation or undertaking.

Paragraph 6.191 of the FOI Guidelines distinguishes ‘business or professional affairs’ from an individual’s personal or private affairs, or the internal affairs of an organisation. The term ‘business affairs’ has been interpreted to mean ‘the totality of the money-making affairs’ of a person, organisation, or undertaking as distinct from their private or internal affairs.

Having examined documents 1-16, I am satisfied that the documents contain business information about a third party which was provided to the NDIA in confidence, with a clear expectation that it would not be further disclosed.

I am satisfied that disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to have an unreasonable and adverse effect on the lawful business, professional, commercial, or financial affairs of a third party. I also consider that disclosure of this information could affect

potential or current business relationships between the NDIA and third parties, thereby having an unreasonable and adverse effect on the current and future supply of future information to the Commonwealth.

Accordingly, I conclude that the relevant information contained in documents 1-16 is conditionally exempt under section 47G(1) of the FOI Act.

Public interest considerations – section 47G

It is not enough that I have decided the documents contain business information that is conditionally exempt under section 47G(1) of the FOI Act. I must also decide whether the public interest lies in favour of, or against, the release of that information.

Irrelevant factors

I have examined the irrelevant factors in section 11B(4) of the FOI Act, and I am satisfied I have not taken into account any irrelevant factor in reaching my decision.

Factors favouring disclosure

In favour of disclosure, I have considered the factors outlined in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act and I have determined that disclosure of the information would:

promote the objects of the FOI Act (including all matters set out in sections 3 and 3A)
promote effective oversight of public expenditure including where expenditure is allocated

This is because providing access to documents held by the NDIA allows for increased scrutiny, discussion, comment, and review of government-held information.

I have decided to afford moderate weight to these factors.

Factors favouring nondisclosure

The harm in disclosing the business information in question is that doing so could reasonably be expected to compromise the business, professional, commercial, or financial affairs of a third party, or interfere with their ability to undertake their lawful business.

The FOI Guidelines provides a non-exhaustive list of factors against access to information at paragraph 6.233. I have examined those factors, and I am satisfied that the disclosure of the business information in question could reasonably be expected to:

harm the interests of an individual or group of individuals
negatively affect the commercial interests of third parties
prejudice the ability of the NDIA attract, retain and manage law firm performance

With respect to section 11B(3) of the FOI Act, I also consider that the disclosure of the relevant information:

would not contribute to the publication of information of sufficient public interest to justify the likely harm caused by release
would not enhance Australia’s representative democracy in the ways described in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act
would not inform any debate on a matter of public importance, or promote oversight of public expenditure

I have decided to afford moderate weight to these factors favouring nondisclosure.

Balancing the relevant factors

I am satisfied that the factors against disclosure of the information outweigh the factors in favour of disclosure and that, on balance, it would be contrary to the public interest to release this information to you.

With reference to the assessment above, I conclude that this information is exempt from release under section 47G(1) 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:

Online: OAIC Review Application Form
Post: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY NSW 2001
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Phone: 1300 363 992 (local call charge)

Website: www.oaic.gov.au

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:

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