Submissions to Senate
Dear Commonwealth Ombudsman,
I refer to published submission 47 in relation to the Senate's inquiry into the quality of governance at Australian higher education providers.
The submissions were made by Professor Peter Tregear OAM, and can be accessed on the submissions page of the inquiry page.
In his submissions, Professor Tregear refers to manner in which a delegate of the Commonwealth Ombudsman terminated an investigation into the handling of a whistleblower disclosure by the Australian National University, even though it would appear that the Ombudsman's delegate appeared to agree that Professor Tregear had been denied procedural fairness by the ANU's PID investigators.
In her decision to terminate the investigation, the delegate noted that she requested, "on a number of occasions between April and August 2020", additional information from the ANU to assist in her investigation but that the ANU ignored her requests.
Under the FOI Act 1982 (Cth), I request access to each and every one of the delegates requests, issued to the ANU "on a number of occasions between April and August 2020", for further information from the ANU.
Yours faithfully,
Eilidh
Dear Commonwealth Ombudsman,
I have noticed that my FOI request has not been acknowledged even though other FOI requests made on this site after my request was made have been acknowledged.
Would you please acknowledge receipt of my FOI request dated 5 November?
Yours faithfully,
Eilidh
OFFICIAL
Dear Eilidh
I apologise for the delay in responding to your request. We have reviewed
our inboxes and unfortunately it appears that your original correspondence
of 5 November 2025 was sent to our junk email inbox. In light of these
circumstances we respectfully ask whether you are amenable to withdrawing
your request and resubmitting it.
In the alternative, we request a 30-day extension of time under s 15AA of
the FOI to process your request. We will treat your request as a matter of
priority.
We appreciate if you could let us know whether you consent to this
extension of time by Wednesday 3 December 2025.
I apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Please do not hesitate to contact us via reply email if you have any
further questions or concerns.
David
Legal Officer
Legal Team – Defence, Investigations, ACT, Legal (DIAL) Branch
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The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional
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land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and
present.
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Dear David,
You've noted that my FOI request was sent to the Ombudsman's junk email box but I find that hard to believe.
I have a delivery status notification from the mail server of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman noting that my request successfully reached its destination:
Nov 5 15:52:27 ip-172-31-43-31 postfix/pickup[1175]: E68973F158: uid=1001 from=<foi+request-13975-[REDACTED]@righttoknow.org.au>
Nov 5 15:52:27 ip-172-31-43-31 postfix/cleanup[4047]: E68973F158: message-id=<[email address]>
Nov 5 15:52:27 ip-172-31-43-31 postfix/qmgr[1533]: E68973F158: from=<foi+request-13975-[REDACTED]@righttoknow.org.au>, size=2663, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Nov 5 15:52:32 ip-172-31-43-31 postfix/smtp[4049]: E68973F158: to=<[email address]>, relay=ombudsman-gov-au.mail.protection.outlook.com[52.101.149.2]:25, delay=4.2, delays=0.03/0.01/0.24/3.9, dsn=2.6.0, status=sent (250 2.6.0 <[email address]> [InternalId=24107651478758, Hostname=SY7P300MB1525.AUSP300.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM] 15049 bytes in 2.983, 4.926 KB/sec Queued mail for delivery)
Nov 5 15:52:32 ip-172-31-43-31 postfix/qmgr[1533]: E68973F158: removed
I am not convinced that my request was screened as junk.
You have also requested that I either withdraw my request and reapply, or accede to a request for an extension of time.
I won't be withdrawing my request.
I am not inclined to accede to a request for a 30 day extension of time unless you provide me with good reasons to do so (the claim that my request was screened as junk mail is not, in the light of the delivery status notification, adequate in my opinion). Why do you need 30 days to process a request for documents with a very narrow scope?
If you would like a 30 day extension, then I suggest you apply to the OAIC as soon as possible for that extension. If you do apply to the OAIC for a 30 day extension, please let me know at the earliest opportunity. I do not want to inconvenience the OAIC with an application for a deemed refusal decision if there is an extension request application in the works.
This is all quite inconvenient. I had hoped to receive a decision from the Ombudsman's office by 5 December 2025, at about the time the final report of the Senate's Education and Employment inquiry into the quality of governance at Australian higher education providers.
Yours sincerely,
Eilidh
Dear David,
Would you please advise me if the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office has applied to the OAIC for an extension of time and, if so, whether the OAIC has provided a decision on the request for an extension of time.
Yours sincerely,
Eilidh
OFFICIAL
Dear Eilidh
I attach correspondence in relation to your request:
1. Decision letter dated 5 December 2025.
Please do not hesitate to contact us via reply email if you have any
questions or concerns.
Kind regards
David
Legal Officer
Legal Team – Defence, Investigations, ACT, Legal (DIAL) Branch
[1]A black and white logo 1300 362 072
Description automatically generated
[2][email address]
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional
owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to
land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and
present.
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2. mailto:[email address]
Dear David Yalpi,
Commonwealth Ombudsman reference: FOI 2025 80163
Thank you for the decision you provided to me today.
I have carefully read your reasons. Not one of the exemption that you claim applies actually applies to the documents requested.
For that reason, I request internal review of your decision on each and every ground that you have identified in your reasons. Please pass this request for internal review to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
Eilidh
OFFICIAL
Our ref: FOI-2025-80163-IR
Dear Eilidh,
Freedom of Information request – Acknowledgment
I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 5 December 2025 to the Office of
the Commonwealth Ombudsman (the Office), in which you requested internal
review of FOI decision 2025-80163 under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (FOI Act). Your original request for documents was made in the
following terms:
I refer to published submission 47 in relation to the Senate's inquiry
into the quality of governance at Australian higher education providers.
The submissions were made by Professor Peter Tregear OAM, and can be
accessed on the submissions page of the inquiry page.
In his submissions, Professor Tregear refers to manner in which a delegate
of the Commonwealth Ombudsman terminated an investigation into the
handling of a whistleblower disclosure by the Australian National
University, even though it would appear that the Ombudsman's delegate
appeared to agree that Professor Tregear had been denied procedural
fairness by the ANU's PID investigators.
In her decision to terminate the investigation, the delegate noted that
she requested, "on a number of occasions between April and August 2020",
additional information from the ANU to assist in her investigation but
that the ANU ignored her requests.
Under the FOI Act 1982 (Cth), I request access to each and every one of
the delegates requests, issued to the ANU "on a number of occasions
between April and August 2020", for further information from the ANU.
Scope of review
I understand based on your email that you are only disputing the
application of exemptions to the documents falling within the scope of
your request.
Please let me know as soon as possible if this is not correct.
Timeframes
The FOI Act requires us to provide notice of a decision on your request
within 30 days from the date we received a valid FOI request. Therefore, a
decision for your request will be provided to you on or before 5 January
2026.
If you have any questions, you may contact me via email at
[1][email address]
Kind regards,
T. Wong
Defence, Investigations, ACT Ombudsman, Legal
1300 362 072
[2]A black and white logo [3][email address]
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generated [4]ombudsman.gov.au
Level 5, 14 Childers St Canberra ACT 2600
Proud to be working on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora
Nation. The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the
Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing
connection to land, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders
past and present.
The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional
owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to
land, culture and community. We pay our respects to elders past and
present.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/
Eilidh left an annotation ()
Peter Tregear's submissions to the Senate's Education and Employment Committee (submission 47): https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ash...