Visual impairment and permanent blindness eligibility
Dear National Disability Insurance Agency,
I'm writing to request access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982:
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(1). All internal guidance and policy documents available for staff in the Scheme Eligibility Branch that address visual impairment and/or permanent blindness.
(2). All research, digest, or other documents created by the Technical Advice and Improvement Branch that address visual impairment and/or permanent blindness.
(3). All internal guidance and policy documents regarding NDIS eligibility with “List A”, “List B”, and “List D”.
Please include all identified documents in full. I consider all parts of a document to be relevant, even if those parts are addressing topics other than the above.
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I can be contacted at this address if you require further information or clarification.
Thank you for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Clementine Saber
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(NDIA) Freedom of Information (FOI) team.
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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
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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 Clementine Saber
Freedom of Information Request: Acknowledgement
Thank you for your request of 22 October 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:
“…(1). All internal guidance and policy documents available for staff in
the Scheme Eligibility Branch that address visual impairment and/or
permanent blindness.
(2). All research, digest, or other documents created by the Technical
Advice and Improvement Branch that address visual impairment and/or
permanent blindness.
(3). All internal guidance and policy documents regarding NDIS eligibility
with “List A”, “List B”, and “List D”.
Please include all identified documents in full. I consider all parts of a
document to be relevant, even if those parts are addressing topics other
than the above…”
Processing Timeframes
In accordance with section 15(5)(b) of the FOI Act, a 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from 22 October 2024. This
30-day period expires on 21 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 21
December 2024.
If you do not agree and we are unable to process your request within the
30-day period expiring on 21 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 tomorrow, 21 November 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
Megan
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 National Disability Insurance Agency,
I apologise I was unavailable to respond by 21 November as you had requested, I acknowledge that this request is now overdue.
Yours sincerely,
Clementine Saber
Dear Clementine Saber
Thank you for your request for information.
We are writing to ask that you narrow the scope of your request because it
appears to be large.
Scope of your request
You have requested access to:
(1). All internal guidance and policy documents available for staff in the
Scheme Eligibility Branch that address visual impairment and/or permanent
blindness.
(2). All research, digest, or other documents created by the Technical
Advice and Improvement Branch that address visual impairment and/or
permanent blindness.
(3). All internal guidance and policy documents regarding NDIS eligibility
with “List A”, “List B”, and “List D”.
We have located a large number of documents that may be relevant to your
request. Therefore, we are seeking your help to narrow the scope of your
request so that we can provide the documents you are seeking more
quickly.
You might consider revising the scope of your request to:
· Specify a particular date range for documents sought
· Limit your request to a singular branch or business area
Unless you advise otherwise, we will take it that you agree to the names
and contact details of NDIA staff being excluded from the scope of your
request (that is, the information will be treated as irrelevant).
Next steps
If you are happy for us to proceed with your request as outlined above,
please let me know by 23 December 2024.
Please contact us at [1][NDIA request email] if you have any questions or
require help.
Kind regards
Cooper (CHH674)
Team Leader/Senior FOI Officer
Complaints Management & FOI Branch
General Counsel Division
National Disability Insurance Agency
E [2][NDIA request email]
[3]NDIA logo
Dear Cooper,
Thank you for your email. My main concern is not the speed at which I can get the documents I'm seeking, it is getting all of the documents relevant to my request.
If you intend to make a practical refusal for this request it would be helpful to advise me of that formally and include the level of detail required by the FOI Act about specifically why the request is considered unreasonable and exactly how you suggest I adjust the scope to avoid that.
Simply stating that the number of documents “appears to be large” does not satisfy the legal requirement for sharing the reasons the request unreasonable in size. And providing generic suggestions for narrowing the scope is also of little help to me in determining what is actually necessary for me to change to resolve things.
- Business area: The request already specifies a particular branch for point (1) “the Scheme Eligibility Branch” and point (2) “the Technical Advice and Improvement Branch”. Point (3) is relatively narrow in who would hold documents of that nature so I would think you could discern yourself what business areas should be consulted; if this isn't the case, I would be happy to consider any more information you have about it so I can attempt to clarify the point.
- Date range: I was under the impression that if I asked for documents “available to staff" that this would be interpreted to mean “currently available” and that if I wanted archived documents that is something I would need to specify in my request. Nonetheless, I have adjusted point (1) and (3) to explicitly reflect that assumption.
Narrowed Scope:
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(1). All internal guidance [ie. knowledge articles and standard operating procedures] and policy documents available [currently] for staff in the Scheme Eligibility Branch that address visual impairment and/or permanent blindness.
(2). All research [and] digest [REMOVE TEXT “or other”] documents created by the Technical Advice and Improvement Branch that address visual impairment and/or permanent blindness.
(3). All [current] internal guidance [ie. knowledge articles and standard operating procedures] and policy documents regarding NDIS eligibility with “List A”, “List B”, and “List D”.
Please include all identified documents in full. I consider all parts of a document to be relevant, even if those parts are addressing topics other than the above.
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Please confirm as soon as possible that you will be going ahead with this scope.
Yours sincerely,
Clementine Saber