NDIA Accountability Project

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NDIS correspondence: Notice of Decision - FOI 24/25-0952

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Our reference: FOI 24/25-0952

GPO Box 700 Canberra ACT 2601 1800 800 110 ndis.gov.au

13 May 2025

Gemma Jones

By email: foi+request-12801-4cd7859b@righttoknow.org.au

Dear Gemma Jones

Freedom of Information request — Notification of Decision

Thank you for your correspondence of 3 February 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 decision on your request.

Scope of your request

You have requested access to the following documents:

“I am requesting access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to the following documents:

• Any documents that define or provide guidance on the key indicators for determining the provision of Registered Nursing Care to participants, rather than the delegation of care to high-intensity support workers. • The TAB internal guidelines for determining eligibility and need for Registered Nursing Care under the NDIS. • The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) relevant to the assessment and determination of Registered Nursing Care for participants…”

For ease of reference, I have numbered the parts of your scope as follows:

  1. Any documents that define or provide guidance on the key indicators for determining the provision of Registered Nursing Care to participants, rather than the delegation of care to high-intensity support workers.

  1. The TAB internal guidelines for determining eligibility and need for Registered Nursing Care under the NDIS.

  2. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) relevant to the assessment and determination of Registered Nursing Care for participants

Processing period

The FOI Act provides 30 calendar days for the processing of an FOI request after it is received. As your valid FOI request was received on 3 February 2025, the original due date for your request was 5 March 2025.

On 17 February 2025, we requested your agreement to a 30-day extension of time under section 15AA of the FOI Act. However, we did not receive a response from you.

We have been experiencing processing delays and were not able to provide you with our decision by the due date. Consequently, we are deemed to have refused your application under section 15AC of the FOI Act. I sincerely apologise for the delay in releasing this decision to you and thank you for your patience while we progressed your application.

We have continued processing your request. In the interests of not causing any further delays, I have decided not to apply for an extension to the processing period from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) under section 15AC of the FOI Act. Therefore, internal review of this decision is not an option. However, you retain the right to request an external review with the OAIC. Please see Attachment B for more information about your rights of review.

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.

The documents were identified by consulting with relevant staff in NDIA’s Service Guidance Branch and Technical Advice and Practice Improvement Branch (TAPIB) who conducted searches of NDIA’s systems, using all reasonable search terms to identify documents relevant to the scope of this request.

Part 1 of your request seeks access to the following:

“…1. Any documents that define or provide guidance on the key indicators for determining the provision of Registered Nursing Care to participants, rather than the

delegation of care to high-intensity support workers…”

Upon review, I have identified 2 documents that fall within the scope of this part of your request.

I have decided to grant access to these 2 documents in full.

Please note that while I have provided PDF versions of Documents 1 and 2, these documents are also publicly accessible and can be retrieved via the following links:

• Our Guidelines – Disability-related health supports • Our Guidelines – Wound and pressure care supports

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

• your correspondence outlining the scope of your request • the nature and content of the information falling within the scope of your request • the FOI Act • the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act and • consultation with relevant NDIA staff.

The FOI Act states that, in making a decision on a request, I must consider the FOI Guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner pursuant to section 93A of the FOI Act.

According to the FOI Guidelines, the FOI Act serves as the legislative foundation for open government, facilitating and promoting public access to information. I believe that providing access to these documents aligns with the objects of the FOI Act, such as fostering better-informed decision-making and enhancing analysis, discussion, commentary, and review of information held by the government.

Reasons for decision

Refuse a request for access (section 24A)

Under the FOI Act, a person has a right to be given access to documents of an agency. However, the right of access is subject to limitations, including grounds for refusal of access.

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.

Parts 2 and 3 of your request seek access to the following:

…2. The TAB internal guidelines for determining eligibility and need for Registered Nursing Care under the NDIS. 3. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) relevant to the assessment and determination of Registered Nursing Care for participants…

We conducted search consultations with the Technical Advice and Practice Improvement Branch (TAPIB) for these parts of your request and these searches returned 6 documents.

Having considered the scope and the context around these parts of your request, specifically the assessment or determining eligibility and need for Registered Nursing Care for participants, I have reviewed the documents and determined that these six documents do not specifically meet the criteria of your request. Therefore, I have concluded that these documents fall outside the scope.

I am therefore satisfied that sufficient searches were performed, and all reasonable steps have been taken to locate documents within the scope of these parts of your request. I conclude that the documents cannot be found or do not exist. I have, therefore, decided to refuse access to the information in accordance with section 24A(1)(b) 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

Ramya (RMO260)

Senior Freedom of Information Officer

Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch

Reviews and Information Release Division

Attachment A

Schedule of Documents for FOI 24/25-1218

Document number Page number Description Access Decision
1 1-17 Our Guidelines – Disability-related health supports – Version 6.0

Date approved: 5 December 2024		 FULL ACCESS
2 18-25 Our Guidelines – Wound and pressure care supports – Version 5.0

Date approved: 15 November 2024		 FULL ACCESS

Attachment B

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 Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch

Reviews and Information Release Division

National Disability Insurance Agency

GPO Box 700

CANBERRA ACT 2601

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:

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:

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.