Our reference: FOI 24/25-1638 (LEXD 67)
25 July 2025
Babi Adus
By email: foi+request-12975-c581accb@righttoknow.org.au
Dear Babi Adus
Freedom of Information request — Request consultation process
Thank you for your correspondence of 28 March 2025, 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 the following documents:
...I am submitting a Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding the NDIA’s policies and procedures on the storage, handling, and access to participant files. Specifically,How are participant files stored (electronic, physical, or both), and what security measures prevent unauthorized access or alteration? Does NDIA maintain an audit trail for electronic records? What are NDIA’s record retention and deletion policies, including post-tribunal or court case timelines? Can third-party agencies (e.g., legal firms, Independent medical examiners, Technical advisory branch staff) store participant files independently? If so, when must they return or destroy records, or are they allowed to retain copies? What level of access do NDIA legal representatives, external agencies, and TAB staff have? Are TAB staff NDIA employees or external consultants? How does NDIA track and control external access? What measures prevent unauthorized retention of records after case finalization?…`
Practical refusal
I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.
I am writing to advise that your request does not provide enough information about the documents you are seeking as is reasonably necessary to allow us to identify them. 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 4 July 2025, we advised you that part of your request may be addressed through documents already publicly available on our disclosure log under reference 22/23-0487. Upon further review, I acknowledge that these documents may not fully respond to the entirety of your request.
I intend to refuse your request under section 24AB of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) on the basis that the scope of the request is too broad and does not seek access to specific documents.
Your request is expressed as a series of enquiries into NDIA’s operational practices concerning the storage, handling, and access to participant files, rather than identifying documents that would assist in locating and retrieving specific records relevant to the subject matter. As such, it would require significant consultation and interpretation to determine what documents may be relevant and would involve an unreasonable diversion of agency resources.
I will note you have referred to Technical Advisory Branch staff as third-parties, this is incorrect, staff within the Technical Advice and Practice Improvement Branch are NDIA employees hired by the agency.
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 may wish to consider revising the scope of your request to seek access to specific documents, you maybe consider:
- Copies of NDIA policies or procedures documents relating to the storage and handling of participant files (electronic and/or physical).
- Policies or procedures describing the security measures used to protect participant records from unauthorised access or changes.
- Records explaining how NDIA maintains audit trails for electronic files.
- Procedures NDIA uses to monitor and control external access to participant records.
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 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.
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 Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch Reviews and Information Release Division National Disability Insurance Agency GPO Box 700 CANBERRA ACT 2601
If you do not contact me within this period, that is by 8 August 2025, I will take it that you do not wish to revise the scope of your request, and will issue you with a decision refusing access on the above basis.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Yours sincerely
Patrick (PHO293) Senior Freedom of Information Officer Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch Reviews and Information Release Division