Our reference: FOI 25/26- 0075 (LEXD 1363)
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
ndis.gov.au16 June 2026
Concerned Citizen
By email: foi+request-13390-d27812fb@righttoknow.org.au
Dear Concerned Citizen
Freedom of Information request — Notice of Decision
Thank you for your correspondence of 27 October 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).
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 would like to request any guidelines, FAQ, knowledge articles and practical
guides written specifically for Plan management service providers between
01/01/2024-08/07/2025.
Please exclude any documents that is (or was) available to the public through NDIA's
website.
I would also like to request any emails regarding the application of legislative
changes and any clarification of plan management roles and responsibilities sent
from NDIA to plan management service providers during this period…”Processing period
On 3 June 2026, you were invited to revise and clarify the scope of your request to enable it
to be processed in accordance with the Act. No response has been received. In the absence
of clarification, the request remains expressed in terms that are excessively broad and would
involve an unreasonable diversion of resources.
The proposed revisions were intended to assist in identifying the documents most relevant to
your request by suggesting that the scope be limited to formal communications issued by the
NDIA, such as official guidance, bulletins or circulars, rather than all email correspondence;
that the date range be confined to a shorter, clearly defined period; that particular legislative
changes, policies or topics of interest be specified; and that relevant NDIA business areas,
such as Provider Engagement or Scheme Policy, be identified.
A request consultation process under section 24AB of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(FOI Act) commenced on that date.
This was to notify you that processing the request in its current form would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other operations, constituting a
‘practical refusal reason’ under section 24AA of the FOI Act. No response was received
during the request consultation period. Please see Attachment A for more information about
your rights of review.
Search efforts
A preliminary search was conducted for documents likely to fall within the scope of your
request as it was framed within our PACE and CRM systems, consultations were also taken
with our Provider Engagement and Service Guidance Branches. These inquiries indicate
that potentially relevant material is dispersed across multiple systems, business units and
communication types, and is not centrally indexed in a manner that would allow for efficient
retrieval. In the absence of any clarification, it is estimated that the NDIA holds a substantial
volume of documents spanning a number of years, not including any attachments, that may
fall within scope.
In relation to the first part of your request, being for “any guidelines, FAQ, knowledge articles
and practical guides written specifically for Plan management service providers between
01/01/2024–08/07/2025, excluding documents available to the public through the NDIA
website”, material of this kind is generally published to promote transparency. While this
does not exclude such material from the scope of the FOI Act, preliminary inquiries indicate
that relevant documents of this nature have largely already been made publicly available,
including via the NDIA website and FOI disclosure log. This indicates that searches of NDIA
systems would be unlikely to identify a significant volume of additional material beyond what
is already publicly accessible.
Further, information relating to providers and plan managers, including regulatory guidance
and oversight, is primarily the responsibility of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
(the Commission), which is the independent regulator of NDIS providers. Accordingly, to the
extent that your request seeks detailed regulatory guidance or clarification of compliance
responsibilities, it is unlikely that the NDIA would hold substantial additional material of this
nature. This further supports the view that extensive searches would yield limited additional
relevant documents.
In relation to the second part of your request, seeking “any emails regarding the application
of legislative changes and any clarification of plan management roles and responsibilities
sent from NDIA to plan management service providers during this period”, the scope is
extremely broad. This component would capture a significant volume of email
correspondence across multiple business areas and custodians over an extended period.
Such communications are not centrally indexed and would require extensive manual
searches and review to identify material within scope.
On a reasonable estimate, I consider that more than 500 pages of material fall within the
scope of your request as currently worded. At a conservative estimate of one minute per
page, this would require an FOI officer more than 8.3 hours to identify, review and collate the
documents alone.
The documents that are assessed as being within scope of the request will then need to be
reviewed for any sensitivities and possible exemption under the FOI Act and scheduled, we
will need to consider any consultations and carry these out if required, a decision will need to
be made on each document, and a decision letter prepared. This will significantly increase
the hours that it will take an FOI officer to process your request.
As a result, I am of the view that the work involved in the processing of this request would
substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other operations.
Decision on access to documents
I am authorised to make decisions under 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 on the basis
that all reasonable steps have been taken to locate the documents you have requested and I
am satisfied that they cannot be found.
In reaching my decision, I took into account:
• your correspondence outing the particulars of your request;
• the FOI Act;
• the FOI Guidelines;
• consultation with relevant officers of the NDIA.Reasons for decision
Refuse a request for access (section 24A)
Section 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) provides that an agency may
refuse an FOI request if a practical refusal reason exists in relation to the request, and the
agency has undertaken a request consultation process in accordance with section 24AB.
Under section 24AA(1)(a) of the FOI Act, a practical refusal reason exists where processing
the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its
other operations. In assessing your request, I determined that, in its current form, it is broad
and complex, and we were unable to identify the specific documents sought without further
clarification.
Accordingly, a request consultation process under section 24AB was commenced on 3 June
- However, no response was received.
I am therefore satisfied that the work required to process the request would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other operations. As the practical
refusal reason was not removed, I have decided to refuse your request under section
24AA(1)(a) 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
Kate
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Information Access and Privacy Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
Attachment A
Rights of Review
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 Access and Privacy Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
GPO Box 700
CANBERRA ACT 2601Review 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 OAIC’s website via: OAIC Web
Form, within 60 days of receipt of this letter.
Applications for review can be lodged with the OAIC in the following ways:
Online: [OAIC Web Form](https://www.oaic.gov.au)
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.auPhone: 1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Website: www.oaic.gov.au
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.