Thank you for your email to the National Disability Insurance Agency
(NDIA) Freedom of Information (FOI) team.
Please note: due to a high volume of requests, our ability to respond to
you in a timely manner may be affected. We will action your request as
soon as possible and will endeavour to process your matter within the
legislative deadlines. We may need to seek your agreement to an extension
of time. We appreciate your understanding if this is required.
Participant Information
Did you know the NDIA has other ways to access the documents and
information that we hold?

Participants, Guardians and Nominees can obtain copies of some participant
information through our National Contact Centre (NCC). For more
information about what’s available through the NCC, please contact 1800
800 110.
Please visit our [1]Access to Information webpage to find out more about
accessing information through:

* The [2]Participant Information Access (PIA) scheme
* The [3]Information Publication Scheme (IPS)
* The [4]myplace portal for participants   
* The [5]myplace portal for providers

Access to Data
You can also request data and statistics. Please visit our [6]Data and
insights webpage page for further information.
If you are able to obtain your information from a source listed above, you
can withdraw your FOI request by emailing [7][NDIA request email]

Further Information
Information about how to make an FOI request can be found on our website:
[8]Freedom of Information
Should you have a query unrelated to FOI, please contact the Agency by
email at [9][email address] or via webchat at [10]ndis.gov.au.
Alternatively, you can also contact us by phoning 1800 800 110.
Kind regards   

Freedom of Information Team 

Complaints Management & FOI Branch

General Counsel Division 

National Disability Insurance Agency 

E [11][NDIA request email]  

The NDIA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present
and emerging. 

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References

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1. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
2. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
3. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
4. https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/usi...
https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/usi...
5. https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/workin...
https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/workin...
6. https://data.ndis.gov.au/
https://data.ndis.gov.au/
7. mailto:[NDIA request email]
mailto:[NDIA request email]
8. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
9. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
10. https://www.ndis.gov.au/
https://www.ndis.gov.au/
11. mailto:[NDIA request email]

Dear David Wright

Freedom of Information Request: Acknowledgement

Thank you for your request of 2 October 2024, made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), for information held by the National
Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

Scope of your Request

You have requested access to:

“ I seek all information held by the NDIA since 1 January 2023 containing
reference to ABA step-down. I am particularly interested in any
documentation that:

1) Describes the ABA step down model.

2) Explains under what circumstances this model is or should be included
in NDIS participant plans, or offered to participants in AAT settlement
offers, and why.

3) Any reasoning or rationale for why ABA supports in NDIS plans should be
'stepped down'.”

Irrelevant Information

Section 22 of the FOI Act allows an Agency to redact information from
documents if that information would reasonably be regarded as irrelevant
to a request for access.

Given the nature of your request, it does not seem that NDIA staff
members’ surnames and contact details would be relevant to you. Can you
please send me a reply email confirming that such details are irrelevant
to your request for access?

Processing Timeframes

In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, a 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from 3 October 2024. This
30-day period expires on 1 November 2024.

The 30-day period can be extended in a number of ways, including with your
agreement.

Unfortunately, it is currently taking us a little longer than 30 days to
process FOI requests. I am therefore seeking your agreement to a 30-day
extension of time under section 15AA of the FOI Act. If you agree to this
extension, the new due date for us to decide on your request will be 1
December 2024.

If you do not agree and we are unable to process your request within the
30-day period expiring on 1 November 2024, we will be deemed to have
refused your request and you will not have a right to seek internal review
of that decision. You will, however, retain your right to external review
by the Australian Information Commissioner.

Please let us know if you agree by 14 October 2024.

Disclosure Log

Subject to certain exceptions, documents released under the FOI Act will
be published on the NDIA’s disclosure log located on our website.

If you have any concerns about the publication of the documents you have
requested, please contact me.

Next steps

Your request will be allocated to an authorised FOI decision-maker. The
decision-maker may need to contact you to discuss a range of matters,
including refining the scope of your request.

We will contact you using the email address you have provided. Please
advise if you would prefer us to use an alternative means of contact.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or need help, please contact us
at [1][NDIA request email].

Regards

Mykal

Freedom of Information Officer

Complaints Management & FOI Branch

General Counsel Division

National Disability Insurance Agency

E [2][NDIA request email]

[3]NDIA logo

[4]LGBTIQA+ rainbow graphic

The NDIA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present
and emerging.

[5]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags graphic

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Dear David Wright

Thank you for your request for information.

We are writing to ask to seek clarification of your request.

Scope of your request

You have requested access to:

“  seek all information held by the NDIA since 1 January 2023 containing
reference to ABA step-down. I am particularly interested in any
documentation that:

1) Describes the ABA step down model.
2) Explains under what circumstances this model is or should be included
in NDIS participant plans, or offered to participants in AAT settlement
offers, and why.
3) Any reasoning or rationale for why ABA supports in NDIS plans should be
'stepped down’.”

You also provided the following additional information:

“The NDIA sometimes includes funded supports in participants' NDIS plans
which are called 'ABA step-down' supports.

The NDIA also sometimes includes 'ABA step-down' supports in settlement
offers to participants who are engaged in Administrative Appeals Tribunal
proceedings with the agency.

These supports might be variously referred to as 'ABA step down' or 'ABA
support step down', 'ABA step down model', or 'ABA support step down
model' (with or without a hyphen between 'step' and 'down').

Please note that I am not requesting copies of any NDIS plans containing
reference to 'ABA step down' supports, as I understand that these
documents contain personal information about NDIS participants.

I also understand that you will potentially need to search a large volume
of documents in order to uncover this information. However, I suspect that
because 'ABA' combined with 'Step-down' (or 'Step down') is quite a
specific search term, this should not be considered too onerous for
conducting your electronic search of documents.”

In order for your request to meet the requirements of the FOI Act, it must
provide enough information about the documents you are seeking to enable
us to locate them.

Based on the description you have provided, we are unable to locate the
documents you are seeking. If you are seeking access to documents from
about ABA step down support or model you may wish to revise the scope of
your request to be for the following:

All documents held by the Service Delivery Branch and the AAT Branch from
1 January 2023 to 2 October 2024 that:

 1. Describe the ABA step down model
 2. Records the criteria used to permit inclusion of this model in a NDIS
participant plan
 3. Records the criteria why an ABA support would be stepped down
 4. A record of the number of the NDIA Settlement Agreements heard at the
AAT for matters offering the inclusion of an ABA step down

Next steps

If you are happy for us to proceed with your request as outlined above,
please let me know by 14 November 2024. 

Please contact us at [1][NDIA request email] if you have any questions or
require help.

Kind regards

Lia

Senior Freedom of Information Officer

Complaints Management and FOI Branch

General Counsel Divison

National Disability Insurance Agency

E [2][NDIA request email] 

[3][IMG]

The NDIA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We
pay our respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present
and emerging.

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[NDIA request email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://intranet.ndiastaff.ndia.gov.au/h...