Our reference: FOI 24/25-1472 (LEXD 62798)

OAIC reference: MR25/00665

14 May 2025

Me Right to Know

By email: foi+request-12891-60acae58@righttoknow.org.au

Dear Me

Freedom of Information request — Notice of revised decision under section 55G of the Freedom of Information Act 1982

Thank you for your correspondence of 6 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).

The purpose of this letter is to provide you with a revised decision on your request.

Scope of your request

You have requested access to the following documents:

...I request a copy of all documents that:

  1. Contain current advice or guidance or similar on the definition of ‘permanent’ (as
used in the Act), and

  2. Are not publicly available, and

  3. Are not advice et al to a specific individual (for example, an email in response to a
 question is not included; a reference document in Teams is, even if the reference
document is not a formal SOP).

Where a document is in scope the request is for the whole document, not just the portion relating to impairment

I agree to the exclusion of non-SES details and applicant/participant personal

information…`

On 16 April 2025, after a 24AB request consultation process, you confirmed via email to the following revised scope:

...I request a copy of all documents that:

  1. Contain current advice or guidance or similar on the definition of ‘permanent’ (as
used in the Act), and

  2. Are not publicly available, and`

  3. Are not advice et al to a specific individual (for example, an email in response to a
 question is not included; a reference document in Teams is, even if the reference
document is not a formal SOP).

  4. The document is a work instruction, or

  5. The document is a SOP, or

  6. The document instructs staff how to use or apply the word ‘permanent’ from the
  Act.

Where a document is in scope the request is for the whole document, not just the portion relating to impairment

 I agree to the exclusion of non-SES details and applicant/participant personal

information…`

Processing period

The original due date for our access decision on your FOI request was 5 April 2025. We have been experiencing processing delays and were not able to provide you with our decision by the due date. Consequently, your application was regarded as a deemed refusal under section 15AC of the FOI Act. We sincerely apologise for this.

We note that you have now applied to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for a review by the Information Commissioner (IC) of our deemed refusal.

Revised decision under section 55G

Section 55G(1)(a) of the FOI Act provides that at any time during an IC review, an Agency may vary an access refusal decision in favour of the applicant by giving access to documents in accordance with the request (revised decision).

Section 55G(2) provides that an Agency must notify the IC of the revised decision, and that decision becomes the decision under review.

Searches conducted

Searches were conducted by the following business areas for documents relevant to the scope of your FOI request:

• Service Guidance
• Frontline Capability
• Scheme Eligibility

As a result of these searches, eleven (11) documents were located, these searches were undertaken between 27 March and 23 April 2025 and were overseen by senior staff.

Decision on access to documents

I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act, including revised decisions under s55G of that Act. My revised decision on your request and the reasons for my decision are set out below.

I have decided to:

• Grant access in full to 6 documents

• Grant access in part to 5 documents in accordance with section 22 — Access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted
• Remove irrelevant material in accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act

Section 22 – Access to edited copies with exempt or irrelevant matter deleted

Section 22 of the FOI Act permits an agency to prepare and provide an edited copy of a document where the agency has decided to refuse access to an exempt document or that to give access to a document would disclose information that would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant to the request for access.

As per the scope of your request, you agreed to the exclusion of non-SES details, the information I have found irrelevant to your request are internal email addresses, which has been removed pursuant to section 22 of the FOI Act and the documents released to you in material form.

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

• your correspondence from 6 March 2025 outlining the scope of your request
• the nature and content of the documents falling within the scope of your request
• the FOI Act
• the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act
• the notice of IC review
• consultation with relevant NDIA staff

Release of documents

The documents for release, as referred to in the Schedule of Documents at Attachment A, are enclosed.

In accordance with section 55G(2) of the FOI Act, I will be providing the IC with a copy of this revised decision.

If you determine that you are satisfied with this revised decision and do not require this decision to be reviewed further by the IC, please let the Agency and the OAIC know.

If you would like clarification on any aspect of my decision, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at foi@ndis.gov.au.

Yours sincerely

Patrick (PHO293) Senior Freedom of Information Officer Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch Reviews and Information Release Division

Attachment A

Schedule of Documents for FOI 24/25-1472 | MR25/00665

Document number	Page number	Description	Access Decision	Comments
1	1-53	Operational Guidelines – Applying to the NDIS – Version 10.0 Date: 10 December 2024	FULL ACCESS
2	54-99	Practice Guide – Access and ER – NDIS Amendment Act 2024 Date: 19 September 2024	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemption claimed: redacted: s22 – Irrelevant material	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
3	100-146	Practice Guide – Access and ER – Version 2.0 Date: 16 February 2023	PARTIAL ACCESS Exemption claimed: redacted: s22 – Irrelevant material	Irrelevant material removed under section 22 of the FOI Act
4	147-161	Case Study 1 – 24.1.b Date: Not Available	FULL ACCESS
5	162-168	Case Study 2 – 24.1.b Date: Not Available	FULL ACCESS
6	169-175	Case Study 3 – 24.1.b Date: Not Available	FULL ACCESS