23 Marcus Clarke Street
Canberra ACT 2601
GPO Box 3131
Our ref:
PRJ1008013
Canberra ACT 2601
Contact officer:
FOI team
Contact phone:
02 6243 1244
tel: (02) 6243 1111
fax: (02) 6243 1199
16 May 2025
www.accc.gov.au
Mr. Squiggle
Sent via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr. Squiggle
Request for waiver of charges for freedom of information request
I refer to your email of 16 April 2025 (
submission) requesting a waiver of the
charges associated with your FOI request.
Decision
After having considered the information before me, as an authorised officer of the
ACCC for the purposes of s.23 of the FOI Act, I have decided not to waive or reduce
the charges in respect of your request for access to documents.
Reasons for Decision
In making my decision, I have considered the information provided in your
submission in support of your request for a waiver of fees on the basis of public
interest.
Section 29(5)(b) of the FOI Act states that an agency must consider ‘whether the
giving of access to the document in question is in the general public interest or in the
interests of a substantial section of the public’. The issue to be decided, is not
whether it is in the public interest for a charge to be imposed, nor if it is in the public
interest for the applicant to have access to the particular documents. The decision to
be made, is whether the release of the documents will bring about a benefit that will
flow generally to the public or to a substantial section of the public.
The documents the subject of your FOI request dated 28 March 2025 (
third request)
are predominately internal working documents related to the processing of your FOI
request dated 31 January 2025 (
original request). Your original request sought
access to documents relating to Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership. The
documents you specifically requested in your original request are not contained
within the FOI file for that matter (PRJ1007929) and were not created in the specific
period as set out in your third request. In my view, the documents the subject of your
third request are primarily of interest to you, and I cannot see a general public
interest, or interest of a substantial section of the public, in relation to the material.
In your submission you state that the ‘information is likely to shed light onto the
ACCC officials' decision to resign their memberships’. I have considered any public
debate surrounding the material which you are seeking, and whether the release of
the documents would further facilitate public debate in relation to Qantas Chairman’s
Lounge membership. Given that the documents responsive to your third request are
predominately internal working documents related to the processing of your original
request, I do not consider that they will help facilitate public debate or inform the
public about ACCC officials accepting or resigning from gifted lounge memberships
or any perceived or potential conflict of interest relating to Qantas Chairman’s
Lounge membership.
For the above reasons, in my view, while the subject of APS officials holding Qantas
Chairman’s Lounge membership is of general public interest, I do not consider that
release of the documents the subject of your request would better inform the public
or contribute to public discussion about this subject. Further, I do not consider that
the specific documents you have requested are of a general public interest, or
interest of a substantial section of the public.
You should not regard my decision not to waive these charges as being indicative of
any further ACCC decision as to whether access to these documents will be granted.
What you are required to do
Within 30 days of receipt of this of this decision, you are required to either:
Agree to pay the charge and pay the deposit of
$24.15 (AUD) (as outlined in
our letter to you dated
15 April 2025).
Seek an internal or IC review of my decision (as outlined in Attachment A); or
Withdraw your FOI request.
If you have not done one of the above by
15 June 2025 (30 days from the receipt of
this letter) then your request will be considered withdrawn.
Timeframes
Under s.31 of the Act, the 30 day limit for processing your request remains on hold
and begins again on either:
the day you pay the deposit sought; or
if applicable, the day on which the ACCC makes a decision not to impose a
charge.
If you have any questions or require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact me on (02) 6243 1244.
Yours sincerely
Rebecca Fenech
FOI Manager
Specialist Advice and Services Division
Sent by email 16/05/2025
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Attachment A
Cost contention – Information on rights of review
The cost estimate is a preliminary assessment of expected charges. Please note that
the ACCC will only charge you for the time actually spent processing your request.
The estimate works as a cap of these charges. You may only be required to pay a
higher charge if more work is involved than we anticipated and we give full access to
all of the documents sought.
ACCC Internal Review
If you do not agree with this decision rejecting your contentions regarding the
charges you can ask for an internal review. If you request an internal review, another
officer of the ACCC will review your request and make a new decision.
Timeframe for requesting internal review
You have 30 days from the receipt of this decision to request an internal review.
You may seek an extension to this timeframe with our agreement.
Is there a charge?
There is no charge payable for requesting an internal review.
Requesting an internal review
Your request for internal review must be in writing and indicate that you are seeking
an internal review. You will need to set out why this decision should be changed.
Please send your internal review request to the FOI Team by:
Email: xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
When will the decision be made?
We have 30 days from the receipt of your internal review request to make a decision.
If we do not make a decision within 30 days or such further period as the IC allows,
the original decision is considered affirmed. In such circumstances, you can seek
review of our deemed decision by the Information Commissioner.
Review by the Information Commissioner
You can ask for a review of this decision by the Australian Information Commissioner
(IC). The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) encourages
applicants to seek internal review first, however you are not required to go through
our internal review process before seeking review by the IC. If you do choose to seek
an internal review, you can still seek IC review of the internal review decision if we
refuse access to your request.
Timeframe for requesting IC review
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You have 60 days from the receipt of a charge for access decision to request IC
review.
You may seek an extension to this timeframe from the OAIC.
Is there a charge?
There is no charge payable for requesting an IC review.
Requesting IC review
Your request for IC review must be in writing and include:
your name and contact details
a copy of the ACCC’s decision that you disagree with (if you’ve received one)
the reason(s) why you disagree with the decision
You can lodge your application online:
Online: https://www.oaic.gov.au/contact-us#reviews
Complaint to the Information Commissioner
You can request the Information Commissioner to investigate action taken by the
ACCC in relation to this FOI request. The Information Commissioner will consider
your complaint and, if appropriate, conduct an investigation. Any investigation will be
completely independent.
Is there a charge?
There is no charge payable for making a complaint to the IC.
Lodging an IC complaint
You must lodge your complaint in writing and give a clear and brief description of
each issue you’re complaining about and what outcome you’d like.
You can lodge a complaint online:
Online: https://www.oaic.gov.au/contact-us#complaints
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