Our reference: FOI 20/21-0806

                                                   GPO Box 700
                                                                          Canberra ACT  2601
                                                                     15 June 2021
                                                                                    ndis.gov.au

Karen Reynolds By email: foi+request-7268-14337f95@righttoknow.org.au

Dear Karen Reynolds

Freedom of Information request — Request consultation process

Thank you for your correspondence of 1 June 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).

Scope of your request You have requested access to documents about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Specifically, you requested access to:

“…the following information:

 - the name of the external research company employed to craft strategies to assist with

messaging about unpopular changes and around alleged ‘scheme sustainability’ to the NDIS as per this recent and badly written article [https://travelsguide.blog/ndia-hired- esearch-company-to-sell-controversial-changes-to-staff-and-public-leaks-reveal- ational-disability-insurance-scheme/?amp - ie ‘a fairer NDIS’

 - how much the company was paid and how they were contracted (ie via an open tender

process)

 - any notes, documents, feedback, transcripts or emails relating to this and related
activities, including via focus groups and staff consultation”

Practical refusal I am authorised to make decisions under the FOI Act.

I am writing to advise that your request does not provide enough information about the documents you are seeking access to, and in its current form is likely to result in a substantial and unreasonable diversion of resources. 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 – On 11 June 2021, we advised you 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. We sought further information from you about the documents you were requesting access to, to which you did not respond.

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, the NDIA will be able to pinpoint the documents more quickly and avoid using excessive resources to process documents you are not interested in.

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; or
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 Parliamentary, Ministerial & FOI Branch Government Division National Disability Insurance Agency GPO Box 700 CANBERRA ACT 2601

If you do not contact me within this period, that is by 5:00pm 29 June 2021, 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

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