You have contacted the ACCC’s FOI team. We respond only to FOI requests
and FOI enquiries to the ACCC under the Freedom of Information Act 1983. 

To report a scam, consumer issue or to make a general enquiry with the
ACCC you’ll need to do so online:  

+ [1]report a scam  
+ [2]report a consumer issue 
+ [3]make a general enquiry with the ACCC.  

If you need to speak with someone about your consumer issue, general
enquiry or scam report, please contact the ACCC's Infocentre on 1300 302
502. 

Spam emails and unwanted phone calls/faxes can be reported to the
Australian Communications and Media Authority: [4]ACMA report spam or
[5]ACMA unwanted calls/faxes 

---

IMPORTANT: This email from the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC), and any attachments to it, may contain information that
is confidential and may also be the subject of legal, professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not
review, copy, disseminate, disclose to others or take action in reliance
on, any material contained within this email. If you have received this
email in error, please let the ACCC know by reply email to the sender
informing them of the mistake and delete all copies from your computer
system. For the purposes of the Spam Act 2003, this email is authorised by
the ACCC www.accc.gov.au

References

Visible links
1. https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam
2. https://www.accc.gov.au/contact-us/conta...
3. https://www.accc.gov.au/contact-us/conta...
4. https://www.acma.gov.au/stop-getting-spam
5. https://www.acma.gov.au/protect-yourself...

OFFICIAL

Dear Ash,

I refer to your email of 8 September 2024 requesting access, under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), to:

‘I am seeking copies of all communication between the ACCC and The
Australia Institute (including people acting on behalf of the Australia
Institute) from 1 March 2024 to 31 August 2024.’

To assist us to direct your request to the appropriate ACCC
branch/branches, are you able to advise if your request relates to a
specific topic, issue or matter?

We would be grateful for your clarification by Thursday, 12 September
2024.

If you would like to discuss, we can be contacted on (02) 6243 1244.

Kind regards,

Rebecca Fenech (She/Her)
FOI Manager | Corporate Law Unit | Specialist Advice and Services Division
(SASD)

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
Ngunnawal Country
23 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601
GPO Box 3131, Canberra ACT 2601

T 02 6243 1244 
Hours I do not work on Wednesdays

[1]accc.gov.au

[2]ACCC Logo
The ACCC acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country
throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to the
land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures;
and to their Elders past, present and future.

---

IMPORTANT: This email from the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC), and any attachments to it, may contain information that
is confidential and may also be the subject of legal, professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not
review, copy, disseminate, disclose to others or take action in reliance
on, any material contained within this email. If you have received this
email in error, please let the ACCC know by reply email to the sender
informing them of the mistake and delete all copies from your computer
system. For the purposes of the Spam Act 2003, this email is authorised by
the ACCC www.accc.gov.au

References

Visible links
1. https://accc.gov.au/
2. https://www.accc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Dear Ash,

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) acknowledges
receipt of your email of 8 September 2024 and subsequent email of 10
September 2024 in which you clarified your request, for access, under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), to:

‘I am seeking copies of all communication between the ACCC and The
Australia Institute (including people acting on behalf of the Australia
Institute) from 1 March 2024 to 31 August 2024 regarding competition
policy changes, merger reform policy and legislative reform.’

Timeframe for processing your request

The ACCC has 30 days to process your request, beginning 8 September 2024.
This timeframe may be extended by a further 30 days by the ACCC where
consultation with certain third parties is necessary. You will be advised
if we extend the timeframe for third party consultation.

Charges

If the ACCC decides that you should pay a charge to process your request,
we will notify you of the likely cost of processing your request and your
options if you disagree. The statutory timeframe is placed on hold from
when a charges notice is sent to you and resumes at a later time.

We will notify you of any charges in relation to your request as soon as
practicable.

Practical refusal

If we are unable to identify the documents you are seeking, or processing
your request would substantially and unreasonably divert the ACCC’s
resources from its other operations, we will send you a notice of our
intention to refuse your request and your options, including if you
disagree.

Decision

A decision maker will assess the documents (if any) to decide if we can
release them, or if they are exempt from release. We will send you the
decision and notify you of your review rights.

We will only release documents once any applicable processing charge is
paid.

If we cannot locate any documents that are covered by the scope of your
request, or if we refuse to confirm or deny the existence of documents, we
will advise you of this and your review rights.

Publication of documents released under FOI

Material released under FOI may be published on our website unless we
consider it unreasonable to do so.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact me on
(02) 6243 1244.

Yours sincerely,

Sonya Petreski (She/Her)
FOI Officer | Corporate Law Unit | Specialist Advice and Services Division
(SASD)

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
Ngunnawal Country
23 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601
GPO Box 3131, Canberra ACT 2601

T 02 6243 1244
Hours I Monday to Friday

[1]accc.gov.au

[2]ACCC Logo
 

The ACCC acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country
throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to the
land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures;
and to their Elders past, present and future.

---

IMPORTANT: This email from the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC), and any attachments to it, may contain information that
is confidential and may also be the subject of legal, professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not
review, copy, disseminate, disclose to others or take action in reliance
on, any material contained within this email. If you have received this
email in error, please let the ACCC know by reply email to the sender
informing them of the mistake and delete all copies from your computer
system. For the purposes of the Spam Act 2003, this email is authorised by
the ACCC www.accc.gov.au

References

Visible links
1. https://accc.gov.au/
2. https://www.accc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Dear Ash,

I refer to your email of 8 September 2024 and subsequent email of 10
September 2024 in which you clarified your request for access, under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), to:

‘I am seeking copies of all communication between the ACCC and The
Australia Institute (including people acting on behalf of the Australia
Institute) from 1 March 2024 to 31 August 2024 regarding competition
policy changes, merger reform policy and legislative reform.’

Under s.15AA of the FOI Act, we seek your urgent written agreement, for an
extension of 30 days to process your request. The current due date for
the decision is 8 October 2024. With this extension, the due date would be
7 November 2024.

We would be grateful for your response by COB Monday, 7 October 2024.

We seek this extension to provide additional time to process your request
due to an increase in our workload due to the number of requests currently
being processed. However, if possible, we will endeavour to provide you
with a decision before this time timeframe.

Please do not hesitate to contact me on (02) 6243 1244 if you have any
questions in relation to this matter.

Kind regards,

Rebecca Fenech (She/Her)
FOI Manager | Corporate Law Unit | Specialist Advice and Services Division
(SASD)

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
Ngunnawal Country
23 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601
GPO Box 3131, Canberra ACT 2601

T 02 6243 1244 
Hours I do not work on Wednesdays

[1]accc.gov.au

[2]ACCC Logo
The ACCC acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country
throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to the
land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures;
and to their Elders past, present and future.

---

IMPORTANT: This email from the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC), and any attachments to it, may contain information that
is confidential and may also be the subject of legal, professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not
review, copy, disseminate, disclose to others or take action in reliance
on, any material contained within this email. If you have received this
email in error, please let the ACCC know by reply email to the sender
informing them of the mistake and delete all copies from your computer
system. For the purposes of the Spam Act 2003, this email is authorised by
the ACCC www.accc.gov.au

References

Visible links
1. https://accc.gov.au/
2. https://www.accc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Dear Ash,

Please find the attached for your consideration.

Kind regards,

Rebecca Fenech (She/Her)
FOI Manager | Corporate Law Unit | Specialist Advice and Services Division
(SASD)

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
Ngunnawal Country
23 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601
GPO Box 3131, Canberra ACT 2601

T 02 6243 1244 
Hours I do not work on Wednesdays

[1]accc.gov.au

[2]ACCC Logo
The ACCC acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country
throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to the
land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures;
and to their Elders past, present and future.

---

IMPORTANT: This email from the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC), and any attachments to it, may contain information that
is confidential and may also be the subject of legal, professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not
review, copy, disseminate, disclose to others or take action in reliance
on, any material contained within this email. If you have received this
email in error, please let the ACCC know by reply email to the sender
informing them of the mistake and delete all copies from your computer
system. For the purposes of the Spam Act 2003, this email is authorised by
the ACCC www.accc.gov.au

References

Visible links
1. https://accc.gov.au/
2. https://www.accc.gov.au/