23 Marcus Clarke Street
Canberra ACT 2601
GPO Box 3131
Canberra ACT 2601
Our ref:
PRJ1004937
tel: (02) 6243 1111
Contact officer:
FOI Team
fax: (02) 6243 1199
Contact phone:
02 6243 1244
www.accc.gov.au
9 April 2021
Sent via email to: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Jay
Charges for processing your freedom of information request
I refer to your email dated 31 March 2021 in which you request access, under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), to:
‘Please provide information pertaining to communications between ACCC and the
liquidators Limni enterprises.
This information may include;
Notes, emails, advice, or recordings of sorts arising out of the interactions between
the ACCC and Limni enterprises.
Please provide information pertaining to communications between ACCC and Red
Telecom.
This information may include;
Notes, emails, advice, or recordings of sorts arising out of the interactions between
the ACCC and Red Telecom.’
In accordance with s.29 of the Act, I have decided that you are liable to pay a charge
in respect of the processing of your request. My preliminary assessment of that
charge is $251.66 (AUD).
Please note that this charge is for the processing of your FOI request. Unless
waived, charges imposed are payable irrespective of whether the documents
are released.
What you are required to do
Within 30 days of receipt of this notice, you are required to either:
(a) agree to pay the charge and forward the deposit; or
(b) contend that the charge -
(i) has been wrongly assessed, or
(i ) should be reduced, or
(i i) should not be imposed, or both; or
(c) withdraw your request.
Option 1: Pay the charge
As the charge exceeds $25, a deposit of 25 percent of the estimate is required in
order for your request to proceed. If you agree to pay the charge as assessed above,
you should forward the deposit of $62.91 (AUD).
You can pay the deposit by cheque, electronically or online.
To pay by cheque, please forward the cheque to:
Freedom of Information
GPO Box 3131
CANBERRA ACT 2601
To pay electronical y, please use the fol owing information:
Account Name: ACCC Official Departmental
BSB:
032 730
Account:
146593
Reference:
FOI – 1004937
To pay online, please go to www.accc.gov.au/payments. In the payment type please
select Freedom of Information request. In the payment description please include
FOI – 1004937
Option 2: Ask us to reduce or not impose the charge
You may request that we reduce or not impose the charge, but you wil need to
provide information to support that claim. Usual y we wil only reduce or not impose a
charge on financial hardship or public interest grounds. We are also able to take into
account other matters if they are relevant.
Financial Hardship
If you would like the ACCC to consider a waiver/reduction based on financial
hardship, please provide further details of your financial situation, such as:
your income, debts and assets
confirmation that you are in receipt of a pension or income support payment
confirmation that you are the recipient of a Health Care Card
any other supporting evidence showing your financial situation.
Public Interest
If you consider reducing or waiving the charges would be in the public interest, you
wil need to make clear submissions as to:
why you believe the release of the material is in the public interest
how the information would come to the attention of the public
how the information would inform public debate on the subject
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You should also advise whether there is any commercial benefit to you associated
with the release of the documents.
Option 3: Contend the charges
If you believe the charges have been wrongly assessed you need to explain the
basis for your belief.
Option 4: Withdraw your request
Please notify us if you wish to withdraw your request.
If you do not pay the deposit or ask to reduce or not impose the charges within 30
days of receipt of this letter, your request wil be taken to have been withdrawn.
Calculation of charges
We calculated the estimate of the charge as required in the Freedom of Information
(Charges) Regulations 2019. You can only be required to pay a higher charge if more
work is involved than we anticipated and we give ful access to al of the documents
sought. If the final charge is less than the estimate, you wil only have to pay the
lesser amount. Please note you will have to pay the balance of the charge
regardless of the decision made in relation to the documents.
The above estimate includes approximately 4 hours finding the documents covered
by your request. It also includes approximately 14 hours examining the documents
and making a decision. There are approximately 32 documents within the scope of
your request.
Please note, the estimated decision making time is significant as we expect that 3
third parties need to be consulted. The recommended time for this task is two hours
per party.
Timeframes
Under s.31 of the Act, the statutory timeframe for processing your request is on hold
until there is an agreed outcome on any charges. This means that the 30 day limit for
processing your request is on hold from the day that you receive this notice 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.
You can find further details on the FOI Act publication requirements at
foi.accc.gov.au.
If you would like to make comment in relation to the possible publication of your
information (including your identity as the FOI applicant), or have any further
questions, please contact me on (02) 6243 1244.
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Yours sincerely
Sonya Petreski
FOI Team
ACCC Legal Group
Sent by email 9/04/2021
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ATTACHMENT
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW OF COST ESTIMATE
1. Contention of Estimate
This cost estimate is only a preliminary assessment of expected charges at this time.
Please note that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) wil
only charge you for the time actual y spent processing your application. This estimate
works as a cap of these charges.
If you do not agree with the cost estimate provided to you, please contact the ACCC
within 30 days of receipt of this letter. You may claim that we have wrongly assessed
the charge, or that we should reduce or not impose the charge (i.e. waiver of charge
due to financial hardship or public interest in access). You wil need to provide
information to support your claim.
Please send any correspondence to:
FOI Coordinator
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
GPO Box 3131
Canberra ACT 2601
2. Complaint to the Information Commissioner
You may complain to the Information Commissioner regarding the ACCC’s actions in
connection with the cost estimate prepared in relation to your FOI request.
You must lodge your complaint in writing and do so in one of the fol owing ways:
Online: www.oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Email: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
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