Freedom of Information request — Notice of Decision

Thank you for your correspondence of 21 March 2025 (your correspondence), seeking 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 the following documents:

...I am requesting access to all documents, guidelines, policies, and internal communications relating to the determination of funding for continence aids for NDIS participants under the age of five...

Request Consultation

On 29 May 2025, we wrote to you and advised that your request did not satisfy section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act, as the terms of your request were too broad, and we were unable to identify the specific documents sought. In our email we sought further information from you about the documents you were requesting access to. However, I did not receive a response from you.

As a result, on 12 June 2025, I sent you an email with a letter initiating a consultation process under section 24AB of the FOI Act. In my letter I advised you that I intended to refuse access to your request on the grounds that processing your request would unreasonably and substantially divert the Agency’s resources from its other operations. My letter, which I have attached separately from this decision notice, detailed the reasons for my view.

To date, I have not received a response from you and have continued to process your request based on your original scope.

Timeframes

The FOI Act provides 30 calendar days for the processing of an FOI request after it is received. As your valid FOI request was received on 21 March 2025, the original due date for your request was 20 April 2025.

I acknowledge that this time has lapsed and as a result we are deemed to have refused your request under section 15AC of the FOI Act. The effect of this is that you do not have a right seek an internal review of my decision. However, I confirm that you retain your right to seek external review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

I note that despite this, I have continued processing your request and I extend my apologies for the delay in providing you with a decision on access.

Details are set out in Attachment B to this letter.

Decision

I am the authorised officer pursuant to section 23(1) of the FOI Act to make a decision on this FOI request.

I have decided to refuse your request pursuant to section 24(1)(b) of the FOI Act on the grounds that a practical refusal reason exists as per 24AA(1)(a)(i).

Reason for Decision

A statement of reasons for this decision are set out in Attachment A.

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

Wendy (WNN633) Senior Freedom of Information Officer Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch Reviews and Information Release Division

Attachment A

Statement of Reasons

FOI 24/25-1590

Practical refusal reason

Relevant law – s24AA

A practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request for documents if the work involved in processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations¹.

In determining whether processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the agency’s resources, I am required to consider the resources that would have to be used for the following components:

identifying, locating or collating the documents within the Agency
deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer access to a document, including resources used for examining the document and consulting with any person or body in relation to the request
making a copy or an edited copy of the document
notifying the decision on the request

Upon receipt of your Freedom of Information request, I noted that further clarity was required from you regarding the scope of your request. On 23 May 2025, I emailed you to confirm the type of documents you were seeking for this request which you did not respond to.

Searches and advice for documents

The FOI Guidelines provide that agencies and ministers should undertake a reasonable search on a flexible and common-sense interpretation of the terms of the request. At a minimum, an agency is required to have regard to the following in undertaking these searches:

the subject matter of the documents
the current and past file management systems
the record management systems in place
the individuals and line areas within an agency or minister’s office who may be able
to assist with the location of documents, and
the age of the documents.

¹ 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the FOI Act.

Having regard to these Guidelines, I engaged in search consultations with the following internal business area and staff to obtain documents within their possession which may fall within the scope of your FOI request:

Children’s Strategy and Services
Service Guidance
Scheme Policy

At the conclusion of my searches, senior staff in the aforementioned business areas advised that 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.

Taking the searches and advice into consideration, on 12 June 2025, I wrote to you advising that, based on the search results, a practical refusal reason existed for this FOI application. In circumstances where an Agency is considering a practical refusal, it is required to undertake a request consultation process under section 24AB of the FOI Act. I invited you to do one of following things within the 14 days consultation period.

withdraw your request;
make a revised request; or
indicate that you do not wish to revise the request (in which case the current scope of your request will stand).

During this period, I advised that you were welcome to seek assistance in revising your request, in a way that adequately addresses the practical refusal reason outlined above.

I confirm, to date, I have not received a response from you, and I am satisfied that a practical refusal reason still exists.

I therefore refuse your request on the basis of a ‘practical refusal reason’ under section 24(1)(b) of the FOI Act.

Attachment B

Your review rights

As this matter was a deemed refusal, internal review of this decision is not an option. However, if you have concern with any aspect of this decision, please contact the NDIA FOI team by email foi@ndis.gov.au or by post:

Freedom of Information Section Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch Reviews and Information Release Division GPO Box 700 CANBERRA ACT 2601

Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

The FOI Act 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.