FOI 25.26 0594 Notice of Decision | FOI release material

Our reference: FOI 25/26-0594 (LEXD 9056)

GPO Box 700

Canberra ACT 2601

1800 800 110 2 October 2026 ndis.gov.au

Emily Lacey

By email: foi+request-13608-b08c8dc1@righttoknow.org.au

Dear Emily Lacey

Freedom of Information request — Notice of Decision

Thank you for your correspondence of 5 September 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 requested access to the following documents:

“A list of Technical Advisory Branch “Research Request” document titles was released

under FOI 23/24-1189. I am requesting a copy of the following documents from that list:

Prosthetics interim versus definitive paper
Prosthetic Eyes
Prosthetic eyes position paper
Non-limb external prostheses
Cost effectiveness in the long term for children to use external powered (myoelectric) compared to body-powered prostheses?
Effectiveness of microprocessor prosthetic knees compared to mechanical knee prostheses
Cost effectiveness of upper limb myoelectric prosthesis
Microprocessor knees prostheses

AND

Any TAB/TAPIB “research” documents created after 4 May 2024 (ie. documents that would not have appeared on the FOI 23/24-1189 list) regarding

prosthetic/prosthesis/prostheses”

Processing period

The date by which to provide you with a decision on your request was 5 October 2025. We

have been experiencing processing delays, and were unable to provide you with a decision

by this date. Consequently, your application is deemed to have been refused under section

15AC of the FOI Act.

I note that this access decision is being released to you after the due date, and I apologise

for the delay. In the interests of not causing any further delay, I have decided not to apply for

an extension from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) under

section 15AC of the FOI Act. This means that you are unable to seek an internal review of

this decision. However, you are able to apply to the OAIC for an external review of this

decision. Please see Attachment C for more information about your rights of review.

Search efforts

Reasonable searches were conducted of NDIA business systems, using all reasonable

search terms that could return documents relevant to your request. In addition, I have

consulted with relevant NDIA staff in the Technical Advice and Practice Improvement Branch

who could be reasonably expected to be able to identify documents within the scope of your

request.

As a result of these searches, I have identified 7 documents which fall within the scope of

your request.

Decision on access to documents

I am authorised to make decisions under section 23(1) of the FOI Act.

I have decided to grant access to 1 documents in full and 6 in part.

Reasons for decision

In reaching my decision, I have taken into account:

your correspondence outlining the scope of your request
the nature and content of the documents falling within the scope of your request
the FOI Act 2

the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act
consultation with relevant NDIA staff and business areas
factors relevant to my assessment of whether or not disclosure of information would be in the public interest
the operating environment and functions of the NDIA I have decided that some information will not be released as it comprises exempt information

under section 47F of the FOI Act. I have also determined that the release of some

information would be contrary to the public interest, in accordance with section 11A(5) of the

FOI Act.

A detailed statement of reasons for my decision can be found at Attachment B.

Release of documents

The documents for release, as referred to in the schedule of documents at Attachment A,

are enclosed.

Rights of review

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

Attachment C.

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

by email at foi@ndis.gov.au.

Yours sincerely

Saoirse (SFG115)

Senior Freedom of Information Officer

Information Access and Privacy Branch

Reviews and Information Release Division

National Disability Insurance Agency

Attachment A

Schedule of Documents

FOI 25/26-0594

Document     Page                Description                    Access Decision

number number

1         1 – 19              Draft – Prosthetics V4               PARTIAL ACCESS

Date: November 2019 Exemption claimed:

s47F(1) – personal privacy

2        20 – 37      Ocular Prosthesis Position Paper

FULL ACCESS

Undated

3        38 – 60        Cost effectiveness of external            PARTIAL ACCESS

powered (myoelectric) compared to Exemption claimed: body-powered prostheses s47F(1) – personal privacy Date: 3 August 2021

4        61 – 72           Microprocessor knees               PARTIAL ACCESS

Date: 13 October 2023 Exemption claimed:

s47F(1) – personal privacy

5        73 – 84       Cost effectiveness of upper limb            PARTIAL ACCESS

myoelectric prosthesis Exemption claimed: Date: 11 August 2024 s47F(1) – personal privacy

6        85 – 87        Non-limb external prostheses             PARTIAL ACCESS

Date: 30 August 2022 Exemption claimed:

Document Page Description Access Decision

number number

s47F(1) – personal privacy

7        88 - 119        Prosthetic Eyes Updated Brief            PARTIAL ACCESS

Date: 16 July 2021 Exemption claimed:

s47F(1) – personal privacy

Attachment B

Statement of Reasons

FOI 25/26-0594

Conditionally exempt information contrary to the public interest

Relevant law

Under section 11A(5) of the FOI Act, access to a conditionally exempt document under

division 3 of Part IV of the FOI Act must be granted unless access to the document would,

on balance, be contrary to the public interest.

I have refused access to information located in documents 1 and 3 to 7 on the basis that the

information is conditionally exempt information under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act, and that

the disclosure of the information would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.

Personal privacy (section 47F)

Section 47F(1) of the FOI Act conditionally exempts a document from release if its disclosure

would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person

(including a deceased person).

In determining whether information is conditionally exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI

Act, I must first determine whether the material meets the definition of personal information. I

must then determine whether its disclosure would be reasonable or unreasonable.

The FOI Act shares the same definition of ‘personal information’ as the Privacy Act 1988

(Cth). Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or

about an individual who is reasonably identifiable:

whether the information or opinion is true or not
whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not. I am satisfied that information contained in documents 1 and 3 to 7 meets the definition of

personal information. The identified material contains personal information of NDIA

personnel, including their names. These details have not previously been disclosed to you.

Under section 47F(2) of the FOI Act, in determining whether the disclosure of a document

would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information, regard must be had to:

the extent to which the information is well known 6

whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have been) associated with the matters dealt with in the document
the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources
any other matters that I consider relevant. Against these criteria, I take the view that:
it is apparent from the information that an individual is identifiable
the personal information is not readily available from publicly accessible sources. With reference to the assessment above, I am satisfied that it would be unreasonable to

publicly disclose this personal information.

Accordingly, I conclude that the relevant information contained in documents 1 and 3 to 7 is

conditionally exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act.

Public interest considerations – section 47F

It is not enough that I have decided the documents contain personal information that is

conditionally exempt under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act. I must also decide whether the

public interest lies in favour of, or against, the release of that information.

Irrelevant factors

I have examined the irrelevant factors in section 11B(4) of the FOI Act, and I am satisfied I

have not taken into account any irrelevant factor in reaching my decision.

Factors favouring disclosure

In favour of disclosure, I have considered the factors outlined in section 11B(3) of the FOI

Act and I have determined that disclosure of the information would:

promote the objects of the FOI Act (including all matters set out in sections 3 and 3A)
inform debate on a matter of public importance This is because providing access to documents held by the NDIA allows for increased

scrutiny, discussion, comment, and review of government-held information.

I have also referred to the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act, and I

have determined that disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to:

contribute to the administration of justice generally, including procedural fairness 7

advance the fair treatment of individuals and other entities, in accordance with the law in their dealings with the NDIA

I have decided to afford little weight to these 4 factors.

Factors favouring nondisclosure

The FOI Act does not list any factors weighing against disclosure. However, the inclusion of

the exemptions and conditional exemptions in the FOI Act recognises that harm may result

from the disclosure of some types of documents in certain circumstances.

The harm in disclosing the personal information in question is that doing so could reasonably

be expected to affect an individual’s right to privacy by having their personal information in

the public domain.

The NDIA takes its obligations to its employees under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011

(Cth) (WHS Act) seriously. The release of staff names into the public domain could

reasonably be expected to pose a risk to the health and safety of NDIA staff, given the

public-facing nature of our work and the risk of this information being used to cause harm or

online disrepute. Additionally, the ability of staff members to effectively carry out their duties

as well as their willingness to maintain employment with the NDIA would be negatively

impacted by any threat or harassment they may sustain by a member of the public, as a

result of the disclosure of their personal information.

The FOI Guidelines provides a non-exhaustive list of factors against access to information at

paragraph 6.233. I have examined those factors, and I am satisfied that the disclosure of the

personal information in question could reasonably be expected to:

prejudice the protection of an individual’s right to privacy through the release of their personal information into the public domain
adversely affect or harm the interests of any individual, including by exposing any individual to an unreasonable risk of harm
prejudice the ability of the NDIA to meet its obligations under the WHS Act and Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including its obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the

personal information it collects and stores

prejudice the NDIA’s ability to attract and retain staff With respect to section 11B(3) of the FOI Act, I also consider that the disclosure of the

relevant information:

would not contribute to the publication of information of sufficient public interest to justify the likely harm caused by release
would not enhance Australia’s representative democracy in the ways described in section 11B(3) of the FOI Act
would not inform any debate on a matter of public importance, or promote oversight of public expenditure

I have decided to afford significant weight to the above 7 factors favouring nondisclosure.

Balancing the relevant factors

I am satisfied that the factors against disclosure of the information far outweigh the factors in

favour of disclosure and that, on balance, it would be contrary to the public interest to

release this information to you.

With reference to the assessment above, I conclude that this information is exempt from

release under section 47F(1) of the FOI Act.

Attachment C

Freedom of Information request – Your review rights

As your request is deemed to have been refused under section 15AC of the FOI Act

because of processing delays, you are unable to apply for an internal review of the decision.

However, if you have concern with any aspect of this decision, please contact the NDIA FOI

team by email at foi@ndis.gov.au, or by post to:

Freedom of Information Section

Information Access and Privacy 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 also gives you the right to apply for 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 application form which is available on the OAIC’s

website: OAIC Review Application Form.

An application to the OAIC must be made within 60 calendar days from the date of the

deemed refusal decision, as set out in our letter to you (Notice of Decision). You may also

apply to the OAIC for an extension of this timeframe, from the date of the deemed refusal

decision until the date of your application for review.

Applications for review can be lodged with the OAIC in the following ways:

Online: OAIC Review Application Form

Post: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5218

SYDNEY NSW 2001

Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

Phone: 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 the 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 provided above.

Your complaint to the Ombudsman can be directed to:

Phone: 1300 362 072 (local call charge)

Email: ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.au