Ridley and Chief Executive Officer, National Disability Insurance Agency (Freedom of information)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an appeal by Mr Ridley against a decision by the Chief Executive Officer of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to refuse access to documents under the *Freedom of Information Act 1982* (Cth). The NDIA, responsible for implementing the National Disability Insurance Scheme, had refused Mr Ridley's request on the grounds of practical refusal, arguing that processing the request would unreasonably divert agency resources. Mr Ridley was a former labour-hire staff member who had worked as a risk officer for the NDIA.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether a practical refusal reason existed for Mr Ridley's request, specifically whether the work involved in processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the NDIA's resources from its other operations, as stipulated by section 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the *Freedom of Information Act 1982* (Cth). The Tribunal also considered whether the requests could be treated as a single request and whether adequate searches for documents had been undertaken.

The Tribunal applied the principles of section 24AA(1)(a)(i) of the *Freedom of Information Act 1982* (Cth), which allows for refusal if processing a request would substantially and unreasonably divert an agency's resources. The onus was on the NDIA to satisfy the Tribunal that access should be refused, pursuant to section 61 of the Act. The Tribunal noted that Mr Ridley had cross-examined witnesses called by the Respondent and accepted Mr Ridley's submission regarding his job title and reporting lines. The Tribunal's decision affirmed the initial decision, indicating that a practical refusal reason was found to exist.