Information and documents regarding decision to reduce funding for Music Therapy
Dear National Disability Insurance Agency,
I am seeking the following documents related to the decision to reduce the funding for Music Therapy:
- Research and/or evidence used to inform the decision
- Internal correspondence related to this decision
- Documents and/or correspondence of consultation with peak bodies, including the Australian Music Therapy Association
Yours faithfully,
Jane Doe
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.
References
Visible links
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 Jane Doe
Freedom of Information Request: Acknowledgement
Thank you for your request of 6 December 2024, made under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), for copies of documents held by the
National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
Scope of your Request
You have requested access to:
“…I am seeking the following documents related to the decision to reduce
the funding for Music Therapy:
- Research and/or evidence used to inform the decision
- Internal correspondence related to this decision
- Documents and/or correspondence of consultation with peak bodies,
including the Australian Music Therapy Association…”
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 7 December 2024. This
30-day period expires on 6 January 2025.
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 due to a very high volume. 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 5 February 2025.
If you do not agree and we are unable to process your request within the
30-day period, 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 Friday 20 December 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
Cindy – CGN062
Senior 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
Dear Jane Doe
I am writing regarding your request to the National Disability Insurance
Agency (NDIA) under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act for access to
documents regarding music therapy.
You may be interested to know that on 13 December 2024, the NDIA announced
it is commissioning an independent review of appropriate NDIS pricing for
music and art supports, based on available evidence.
The NDIA has deferred releasing updated operational guidance regarding
decision making on therapy supports while the review is ongoing. This
means that the NDIA will continue to apply existing pricing arrangements
for art and music therapy. Any proposed changes will not come into force
until the review is completed and the relevant findings are considered.
If you wish to withdraw your request considering this announcement, please
let us know as soon as possible. If we do not hear from you, the NDIA will
continue to process your application.
More details about the review, including the Terms of Reference, are
available on our website at
[1]www.ndis.gov.au/news/10530-independent-review-ndis-funded-music-and-art-supports.
Yours sincerely
Cindy – CGN062
Senior 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
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/10530-indep...
2. mailto:[NDIA request email]
Dear foi,
Thank you for the update. I have seen the recent announcement, however prior to this announcement the decision had been made to reduce funding.
As a result, I am still seeking the documentation requested above.
Yours sincerely,
Jane Doe
Dear Jane Doe,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. Your request has been
registered under FOI 24/25-0896.
A large number of documents have been identified in the search, and
extracting and processing these documents has taken longer than expected.
We apologise that a decision on your request has been delayed, and we
thank you for your patience and understanding.
Your matter has been allocated to one of our Senior Officers, and they
will contact you to advise of any progression of the matter if
appropriate.
If you would like to discuss your request, please contact us at
[1][NDIA request email].
Regards,
Cindy – CGN062
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Complaints Management and FOI Branch
General Counsel Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [2][NDIA request email]
[3]NDIA logo
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[NDIA request email]
mailto:[NDIA request email]
2. mailto:[NDIA request email]
Dear Jane Doe
Thank you for your request for information.
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your request. If you
require the attachment in a different format, please let us know.
Please contact us at [1][NDIA request email] if you have any questions or
require help.
Kind regards
Beau (BJA068)
Freedom of Information Officer
Governance, Risk & Legal – Complaints Management & FOI
Government 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
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[NDIA request email]
2. mailto:[NDIA request email]
4. https://intranet.ndiastaff.ndia.gov.au/h...
Dear foi,
Thank you for your response.
My revised FOI request is:
I am seeking the following documents related to the decision to reduce the funding for Music Therapy:
- Research and/or evidence used to inform the decision
- Internal correspondence within the Service Design and Improvement group related to this decision
- Documents and/or correspondence of consultation with peak bodies, including the Australian Music Therapy Association
Yours sincerely,
Jane Doe
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.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
2. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
3. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
4. https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/usi...
5. https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/workin...
6. https://data.ndis.gov.au/
7. mailto:[NDIA request email]
8. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policie...
9. mailto:[email address]
10. https://www.ndis.gov.au/
11. mailto:[NDIA request email]
Hi Jane
Thanks for your email. I’m sorry for the delay in our response. We are
continuing to process your request for documents related to music therapy,
however, I cannot yet provide you with a date of when we will make our
decision.
We wrote to you on 14 February 2025 to let you know that we had found a
large number of documents that may be relevant to the second part of your
FOI request. The second point of your FOI request originally read:
“Internal correspondence related to this decision.”
You have modified this second part of your request as following:
“Internal correspondence within the Service Design and Improvement group
related to this decision.”
I’m writing to advise you that this change in wording has substantially
increased the size of your FOI request.
We previously let you know that we have identified over 1,200 emails that
may be relevant to your request. This volume of emails was located by
searching the mailbox of the General Manager of the Policy, Evidence and
Practice Leadership division. This division is one of 4 divisions that
compose the broader Service Design and Improvement group. Your proposed
scope doesn’t limit our email search to a narrower range of documents
within the emails we have already located. Instead, your proposed scope
expands the parameters of your request and necessitates that we conduct
additional searches that include all emails sent by all staff within the
Service Design and Improvement group about this topic. For this reason,
the practical refusal reason for this part of your FOI request still
exists.
I would like to continue the consultation period with you with the goal of
helping you re-phrase your request to avoid a practical refusal on the
second part. Would you like to try a different way to narrow the scope of
your request to avoid a practical refusal decision? For example, you could
limit the data range of the emails you are seeking or you could exclude
emails from your request.
If you need any help, please let me know.
Kind regards
Laura
Assistant Director
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [1][NDIA request email]
[2]NDIA logo
[3]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.
[4]Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags graphic
Dear foi,
Thank you for the update.
I find it hard to believe that revising the scope of the question to one group has increased the number of emails in comparison to the entire agency.
However, to expedite this request please find my revised scope below:
I am seeking the following documents related to the decision to reduce the funding for Music Therapy:
- Research and/or evidence used to inform the decision
- Documents and/or correspondence of consultation with peak bodies, including the Australian Music Therapy Association
Yours sincerely,
Jane Doe
Good afternoon Jane Doe,
We are writing to share some documents related to your FOI request, FOI
24/25 0896. In addition, we seek your response to this email so we know
how to proceed with your FOI request. Please see below for more details
and respond to this email by Wednesday 2 April 2025.
Release of recently disclosed documents
You requested documents related to the NDIA’s changes to music therapy
funding. Multiple other people also submitted FOI requests seeking
documents related to this topic. We have processed another FOI request
with significant overlap with your matter: FOI 24/25-0860. Documents were
provided to this applicant on 21 March 2025 and this matter is now
published on the [1]NDIA’s disclosure log website. This means all
documents released to this other applicant are now considered public. We
have provided them to you in this email as an attachment.
Publication of further evidence
In addition, the NDIA’s research team has published a new webpage which
outlines the evidence the NDIA used to assess art and music therapy for
people with disability. This webpage was also published on 21 March 2025.
It can be access via this link: [2]Evidence Summary: Art and music therapy
| NDIS
Our assessment of your scope
Based on the documents provided, these parts of your scope have been
satisfied:
o “Research and/or evidence used to inform the decision.”
These parts of your scope have not yet been addressed:
o “Documents and/or correspondence of consultation with peak bodies,
including the Australian Music Therapy Association”
Next steps
Could you please respond to this email to advise whether you agree to
withdraw the remainder of your FOI request on the grounds that we have
provided you with numerous documents described above?
If you withdraw this request, you could put in a new FOI request seeking
additional documents at any time. This approach has certain benefits, for
example, a new request would be informed by the documents already provided
to you today. This means that a new request could be much more targeted
and specific. You could pinpoint more precisely the documents you are
interested in, instead of seeking a broader range of documents.
Timeframe
Please respond by Wednesday 2 April 2024.
Further considerations
An independent panel is currently reviewing the NDIA’s changes to art and
music therapy funding. As part of this deliberative process, independent
experts are considering relevant documents held by the NDIA. The
independent review will continue for another month.
The FOI Act allows agencies to refuse access to documents related to
deliberative processes (section 47C). This part of the FOI Act is designed
to ensure deliberations can be conducted fully, without documents being
pre-emptively released before the experts have weighed all the evidence
and reached their final conclusion.
What this means is that if you continue with your FOI request, we believe
it may be another month before we are able to release further documents on
this topic. We are sorry about this. However, the FOI Act does allow
agencies to refuse access to certain documents under a limited range of
circumstances.
If you do not wish to withdraw your request, we will seek further advice
from subject matter experts to ascertain whether the additional documents
you have requested should be exempt in full in accordance with section 47C
of the FOI Act. This may result in the NDIA refusing the remainder of your
request.
However, if you were to lodge a new FOI request in May 2025, we expect
that this deliberative process would have concluded. This means that the
documents may no longer be considered exempt in accordance with section
47C the FOI Act.
If we do not hear from you, we will continue processing your existing FOI
request based on its current wording. However, we cannot commit to a
timeframe of when your request will be completed.
If you have any questions about this, please contact me via
[3][NDIA request email]. If you would prefer to discuss this over the phone,
please let me know your best contact number and preferred time to take a
call.
Kind regards
Rebecca – REM471
She/Her
Team Leader, Information Access – Triage and Early Resolution
Information Release, Privacy and Legal Operations Branch
Reviews and Information Release Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
[4][NDIA request email]
[5]NDIA logo
[6]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.
Dear foi,
Thank you for providing the documentation.
At this time I am happy to withdraw the rest of my request noting that this 'independent panel currently reviewing the changes' that is headed by Dr Stephen Duckett was to be handed to the government on 14 March (as announced during 2024-25 Additional Estimates by Ms Falkingham.
This information, in part, is also subject to several QoNs:
NDIA SQ25-000024
NDIA SQ25-000018
DSS SQ25-000076
which are ironically, also overdue.
Once the report is released to the public (in full as per Ms Falkingham's comments) I will review any need for further FOIs regarding these decisions.
I appreciate your time and patience with this request.
Yours sincerely,
Jane Doe