Our reference: FOI 20/21-0604

                                                         GPO Box 700
                                                                                   Canberra ACT  2601
                                                                             1800 800 110

                                                                                             ndis.gov.au

16 April 2021

Ben Fairless

By email: foi+request-7195-e9e5c5bc@righttoknow.org.au

Dear Ben Fairless

Your Freedom of Information request - Acknowledgement

Thank you for your correspondence of 2 April 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:

“1. The independent assessment question workflow, including all questions, possible answers (if multiple choice), and the rating applied to each question. 2. The source code for any software used by Independent Assessment health professionals to perform independent assessments. 3. Questions asked prior to an independent assessment being booked. To clarify point 3, I understand the organisations administering the pilot ask the participant or their representative a number of questions prior to an independent assessment being booked. I’m looking for a list of these questions. 4. The number of applicant health professionals who have requested access to participate or view an independent assessment, and the number who have been granted access. 5. Concerns raised about applicant health professionals potentially putting scrutiny on the independent assessment process. 5.1. concerns from the organisations participating in the NDIA pilot raised to the NDIA about non-NDIA (indepdendent/applicant) health professionals being present at independent assessments. 5.2. concerns from the NDIA to organisations participating in the pilot about non-NDIA (indepdendent/applicant) health professionals being present at independent assessments 5.3. concerns raised by non-NDIA (indepdendent/applicant) health professionals being present at independent assessments raised directly to the NDIA. 5.4.concerns raised by non-NDIA (independent/applicant) health professionals in relation to present at independent assessments to organisations participating in the NDIA Independent Assessment pilot.”

Unless you advise otherwise, we will take it that you agree to the names and contact details of NDIA staff being excluded from the scope of your request (that is, the information will be treated as irrelevant). We will also exclude draft and duplicate documents.

Processing timeframes

We received your request on 2 April 2021 and the 30-day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.

You should therefore expect a decision from us by 3 May 2021.

The period may be extended if we need to consult with third parties or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.

Charges

We may apply a processing charge to your request and will advise you if a charge is payable as soon as practicable. We will not apply charges if you are requesting your own personal information.

Disclosure Log

Information released under the FOI Act may be published on the NDIA’s disclosure log located on our website, subject to certain exceptions.

If you wish to raise any concerns about the publication of information concerning your request, Please contact us.

Further help

Please contact us at foi@ndis.gov.au if you have any questions or require help.

We will contact you using the email address you provided. Please advise if you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.

Yours sincerely

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