Freedom of Information request — Notification of Decision

Thank you for your correspondence of 7 March 2025, in which you requested access to documents held by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

Scope of your request

You have requested access to the following documents:

Dear National Disability Insurance Agency,

I request access to the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:

A record of: payments/remuneration/compensation/funds 'ex gratis'/disbursements/penalties paid to NDIS participants, deriving from the NDIA failing to uphold their legislated guarantees and obligations, including (but not limited to) the Participant Service Guarantee.

Included in Scope:

• Decisions resulting in a financial distribution to a participant, with corresponding receipt record
• Internal reviews, AAT/ART tribunal decisions, Commonwealth Ombudsman complaints
• Any other ‘ex gratis’ payments made by the NDIS/NDIA where funds were given to a participant outside the scope of a funded plan, even where no liability was found or accepted

Excluded from Scope:

• Any complaints that do not result in a payment, and corresponding receipt record
• Payments made under an NDIS plan
• Payments/adjustments relating to ‘personal injury/disability’ compensation/CRA relating to plan funding - not the definition of ‘compensation’ as intended by this FOI request.
• Any complaints relating to NDIS service providers.

Format of Results Data:

A table/spreadsheet of each compensation payment made, with the following columns:

• Date of payment
• Payment amount
• Source department of payment, identifying the title/department of the deciding/authorising party (e.g. the AAT, the Minister for NDIS, the Commonwealth Ombudsman etc)

• The unique internal reference, tribunal case number, ombudsman reference for the payment
• A non-identifying summary of the payment reason/cause, summarised from any correspondence with the participant.

Regards, BS…

Decision on access to documents

I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act. My decision on your request and the reasons for my decision are set out below.

I have decided to refuse your request for access under section 24A of the FOI Act.

In reaching my decision, I took the following into account:

• your correspondence outlining the scope of your request
• the FOI Act
• the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act
• consultation with relevant officers of the NDIA

Reasons for decision - Refuse a request for access (section 24A)

Section 24A of the FOI Act provides that an agency may refuse a request for access to a document if all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document and the agency is satisfied that the document cannot be found or does not exist.

I have consulted with the following business areas, Chief Financial Officer, Legal, National Operations and Performance and Analytics, Data and Actuarial Division who made enquiries with NDIA staff.

These enquiries have revealed that the NDIA is not in possession of documents matching the scope of your request. This is because the documents do not exist.

I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to locate the documents you have requested and that the documents do not exist. I have, therefore, decided to refuse access to your request in accordance with section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of the FOI Act.

Rights of review

Your rights to seek a review of my decision, or lodge a complaint, are set out at Attachment A.

Should you have any enquiries concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me

by email at foi@ndis.gov.au.

Yours sincerely

Alana (AFW410) Senior FOI Officer Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch Reviews and Information Release Division

Attachment A

Your review rights

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.