Our reference: FOI 24/25-0140
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
1 October 2024
ndis.gov.au
AS
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear AS
Freedom of Information request - Notification of Decision
Thank you for your correspondence of 3 August 2024, seeking 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 notify you of my decision on your application.
Scope of your request
You requested access to the following documents:
1. the amount funded in levels 1, 2 & 3 of transport funding as at July 1 each year from
2014-2024
2. the indexation applied to transport levels 1, 2 & 3 each year from 2014-2024 whether
on July 1 or at other times of the year.
3. information, policy or reports that outlines how the transport funding levels are
calculated each year. I presume there must be something like the Disability Worker
cost model being used or is it the CPI or another form of common use indexing?
Extension of time
On 29 August 2024, you agreed to a 30-day extension of time under section 15AA of the FOI
Act, making 2 October 2024 the new date to provide you with a decision on access.
The Office of the Australia Information Commissioner (OAIC) were informed of this
agreement on 4 September 2024.
Search efforts
Staff in the NDIA’s Analytics, Data and Actuarial (ADA) Division, Service Delivery, Service
Guidance and Pricing and Economics branches conducted searches for documents and
advised they did not locate any documents relevant to the scope of your request. I have set
out the reasons for this outcome in
Attachment A to this letter.
Decision on access to documents
In summary, I have decided to refuse
access to the information you have requested on the
basis that the documents are non-existent or unlocatable pursuant to section 24A of the FOI
Act.
I made this decision as an authorised FOI decision maker under section 23(1) of the FOI
Act.
I have provided a detailed statement of the reasons for my decision in Attachment A to this
decision notice.
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Rights of review
Your rights to seek a review of my decision, or lodge a complaint, are set out at
Attachment B.
If you have any enquiries about this matter, please contact me by email
at xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Jennifer (JFD472)
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Government, Risk & Legal – Complaints Management and FOI
General Counsel Division
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Attachment A
Statement of Reasons
FOI Application 24/25-0140
___________________________________________________________________
Refused information
I have refused
access to the information you requested under section 24A of the FOI Act on
the basis that documents containing such information are unlocatable or do not exist.
Relevant law
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 states 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.
Searches for documents
After reviewing the scope of your FOI application, I identified the need to make enquiries with
the NDIA’s ADA Division for documents relevant to the scope of your request. ADA advised
that they do not hold documents in relation to your request and referred me to the NDIA’s
Service Delivery, Service Guidance and Economics and Pricing branches. These branches
advised me that they do not hold documents and have provided additional information which
I wil explain below.
With regards to item 1 of your request, Economics and Pricing advised that the funding
amounts are published on the NDIA website, and I have included a link to the information
below. Economics and Pricing further advised that whilst the website states “NDIA funded
supports are indexed on an annual basis”, this is in reference to the participant’s overall
package, and that transport fees are not indexed or adjusted.
Transport funding | NDIS
With regards to item 2 of your scope, as per above, Economics and Pricing advised that as
transport levels are also not indexed or adjusted, there are no documents responsive to this
part of your request.
And finally, with regards to item 3 of your scope, there are no documents containing
information, policy or reports that outline how the transport funding levels are calculated each
year. This is because there is no annual process for determining NDIS transport funding
amounts.
Conclusion
Based on the information I received from the relevant business areas, I consider there are
reasonable grounds to be satisfied that documents containing the information you seek do
not exist. I therefore refuse access to the information under section a 24A of the FOI Act on
the basis that the information does not exist.
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Attachment B
Your review rights
Internal Review
The FOI Act gives you the right to apply for an internal review of this decision. The review
wil be conducted by a different person to the person who made the original decision.
If you wish to seek an internal review of the decision, you must apply for the review, in
writing, within 30 days of receipt of this letter.
No particular form is required for an application for internal review, but to assist the review
process, you should clearly outline your grounds for review (that is, the reasons why you
disagree with the decision). Applications for internal review can be lodged by email to
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or sent by post to:
Freedom of Information Section
Complaints Management and FOI Branch
General Counsel 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 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 review within 60
days of receiving this letter.
You can apply to the OAIC for review in the following ways:
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au
Post:
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Phone:
1300 363 992 (local cal 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 the
NDIA took in relation to your request. The Ombudsman wil consult with the OAIC before
investigating a complaint about the handling of an FOI request.
You can make a complaint to the OAIC using the contact details identified above, or to the
Ombudsman by:
Phone: 1300 362 072 (local cal charge)
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Your complaint should set out the grounds on which you consider the OAIC or the
Ombudsman should investigate the NDIA’s handling of your FOI request.
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