OFFICIAL

 

Reference: 2025/024 

Dear Mr Squiggle

Thank you for your email of 3 February 2025 in which you made a request
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department). 

You set out the terms of the request as follows:

I request the following documents under the FOI Act for any departmental
officials /agency head who currently holds membership to either the Qantas
Chairman's Lounge or Virgin's Beyond lounge.

1. For each of individual, their total number of flights and total
expenditure, by airline, for the most recent available 12 month period.
Please also identify the membership(s) they hold.

2. Any documents that detail any assessments made as to the 'estimated
value' of these memberships (including those made by the individuals, or
the department).

3. Any documents that detail any reasons for accepting (or declining)
invitations to these exclusive airline lounges.

4. Any documents that are requests for advice from these individuals, or
advice given to these individuals, that touch on whether the memberships
are in accordance with applicable policies in relation to conflict of
interest, gifts, etc.

Timeframe for receiving your decision

The 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from the
day after the Department received your request, you should therefore
expect a decision from us by 5 March 2025.

The processing period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances
and we will write to you separately regarding any extension of time. 

Charges

Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you
are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of
the charge as soon as possible. 

Publication of documents

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[1]https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...,
subject to certain exceptions. 

If you think you might wish to raise any objections to the publication of
your requested document, which may be released to you, please contact us
by email at [2][DPMC request email].  If you do wish to object to the
publication of information, you would need to set out your reasons.

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:

o any person’s signature;
o the names and contact details of Australian Public Service officers
not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
o the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;
o the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level below
Chief of Staff.

If you consider the information categorised above is relevant to the terms
of your request please let us know at [3][DPMC request email], otherwise we will
take it that you agree this category of information may be reasonably
regarded as irrelevant and we will delete this information if it appears
in the documents that are otherwise responsive to your request. 

The names and other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless
there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release.

Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...

Yours sincerely

 

Kind regards

 

Adviser 

FOI Section[]

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

Ngunnawal Country, One National Circuit  Barton  ACT  2600  |  PO Box
6500  CANBERRA  ACT  2600
e. [5][email address]  w. [6]pmc.gov.au

[7]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[8]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[9]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.

 

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. https://www.pmc.gov.au/about-us/accounta...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
7. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
8. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...