Our reference: FOI 24/25-1105
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601
1800 800 110
6 March 2025
ndis.gov.au
Mark Pietsch
Right to Know
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mark Pietsch
Freedom of Information request — Notification of Decision
Thank you for your correspondence of 14 January 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).
Scope of your request
You have requested access to the fol owing documents:
“…1. Internal emails, memos, or directives sent to or from the senior NDIA staff internally
or externally between January 2022 and present that reference:
"Growth Targets"
"Growth Caps"
"Cost Savings"
in relation to NDIS participant numbers, scheme cost or plan utlilisation.
2. Minutes of meetings, briefing notes, or reports prepared for or by senior NDIA
executives that discuss:
Strategies to manage participant growth
Measures to cap funding growth
Cost-saving initiatives and their projected impacts on service delivery or participant
outcomes...”
Processing period
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.
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
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of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) under section 15AC of the FOI Act to
protect your internal review rights. However, your right to apply for an external review with
the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner remains protected. 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.
I have decided to refuse your request for access under section 24AB of the FOI Act.
In reaching my decision, I took the fol owing into account:
• your correspondence outlining the scope of your request
• the FOI Act
• the FOI Guidelines published under section 93A of the FOI Act
• consultation with relevant officers of the NDIA
• the NDIA’s operating environment and functions.
Reasons for decision - Refuse a request for access (section 24A)
Section 24A of the FOI Act provides that an agency may refuse a request for access to a
document if the work involved in the processing of this request would substantially and
unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its other operations.
On 26 February 2025 we contacted you by email to advise:
I am writing to advise that the work involved in processing your request in its current
form would substantial y and unreasonably divert the resources of the NDIA from its
other operations due to its size. This is called a ‘practical refusal reason’ under
section 24AA of the FOI Act.
On this basis, I intend to refuse your request. However, before I make a final
decision, I am writing to provide you with an opportunity to revise your request. This
is called a ‘request consultation process’ as set out under section 24AB of the FOI
Act. You have 14 days to respond to this notice in one of the ways set out below.
We advised the reason for why we intended to refuse your request:
We have conducted preliminary searches of the NDIA’s systems, using all
reasonable search terms that could return documents relevant to your request. In
addition, we have consulted with relevant NDIA staff who could be expected to be
able to identify documents within the scope of the request, including staff who are
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knowledgeable about how to conduct searches of the NDIA’s systems. Those
searches indicate that the NDIA has more than 306,229 documents that may be
relevant to your request. This outcome shows that the terms of your request do not
provide sufficient information to allow us to identify the specific documents that you
are seeking.
On my reasonable estimate, I consider that there is more than 3,062,290 pages
worth of material that may fall within the scope of your request as currently worded.
At a conservative estimate of 1 minute per page, this would take an FOI officer more
than 51,038 hours to simply review and collate the documents.
The documents that are assessed as being within scope of the request wil then need
to be reviewed for any sensitivities and possible exemption under the FOI Act and
scheduled, we wil need to consider any consultations and carry these out if required,
a decision wil need to be made on each document, and a decision letter prepared.
This wil significantly increase the hours that it wil 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.
During the 14-day consultation period, the agency did not receive a response. Consequently,
under subsection 24AB(7), your request is now considered withdrawn. As this matter is
deemed a decision under section 15AC of the FOI Act, I am obligated to issue a practical
refusal rather than a withdrawal.
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 xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Cooper (CHH674)
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Complaints Management & FOI Branch
General Counsel Division
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Attachment A
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
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or by post:
Freedom of Information Section
Complaints Management & 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 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:
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
taken by the NDIA in relation to your request. The Ombudsman wil 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 cal charge)
Email:
xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
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.
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Document Outline
