OFFICIAL

Dear Mr. Squiggle,

Acknowledgment of request for access under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (Cth)

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) acknowledges
receipt of your email of 31 January 2025 requesting, under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth), to:

1. Any advice given to senior ACCC officials with regard to their Qantas
Chairman's Lounge membership

2. Any documents detailing the decisions made by the senior ACCC officials
to resign their Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership (or not resign)

3. Any documents that detail any real or perceived reputational issues,
code of conduct issues, or conflict of interest issues, with regard to
senior ACCC officials (or any other ACCC staff) holding Qantas Chairman's
Lounge membership

4. Any instructions/advice/communications from the ACCC agency head to
lower level senior officials that are related to Qantas Chairman's Lounge
membership.

Unfortunately your request was not received in our FOI inbox. However, we
conducted searches of our FOI mailbox after becoming aware of your request
on Right to Know website. We found that your request had been incorrectly
filtered by the system as spam. We apologise sincerely for this and the
delay in acknowledging receipt of your request.  

The ACCC will be reviewing its FOI processes and procedures in this regard
and making any necessary improvements.

Requesting extension of time to process freedom of information request 

Under s.15AA of the Act, we urgently seek your written agreement, for an
extension of 30 days to process your request. The current due date for
decision is 2 March 2025. With the extension, the due date would be 1
April 2025.

Please provide your response by Friday, 28 February 2025.  

As advised above, your request has only just come to our attention as it
had been incorrectly filtered by the system as spam. We seek this
extension to enable us to process your request.

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 this 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.

Consultation with third parties

The ACCC may be required to consult with businesses or individuals (third
parties) where you have sought information about those third parties. The
Act grants an extra 30 days processing time for the ACCC to undertake this
consultation. You will be advised if we extend the timeframe to allow
third party consultation.

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, 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.

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 Mr. Squiggle,

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/

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 Mr Squiggle,

Thank you for your email.

We are currently considering whether your response has removed the
practical refusal reasons or whether we need to seek further clarification
from you. This has involved liaising with a number line areas across the
ACCC.

We note that the request consultation period ends on Monday, 17 March
2025. To allow us further time to liaise internally and respond to you, we
are seeking your agreement to extend the request consultation period to
Monday, 24 March 2025.

We would be grateful for your response by Monday, 17 March 2025.

Please call (02) 6243 1244 if you would like to discuss further.

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.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Dear Mr Squiggle,

Thank you for your email dated 6 March 2025 explaining the documents you
are seeking.

We note that you have not provided a timeframe for your request. We
suggest that you revise the scope of your request to include the timeframe
1 October 2024 to 31 January 2025.

The clarification you have provided is in the context of your request as
originally worded, which cannot be broadened.

Other publicly available information

Published on the ACCC FOI disclosure log are documents previously released
relating to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge.

·      
[1]https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/freedom...

·      
[2]https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/freedom...

You may also wish to consider this information on our website.

o [3]https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/accc-ro...
o [4]https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/accc-ro...

When you need to respond by

In accordance with s.24AB(5) of the FOI Act, I confirm that we have
extended the request consultation period to 24 March 2025. Thank you for
agreeing to this extension.

You will need to do one of the following by Monday, 24 March 2025
otherwise your request will be taken to be withdrawn:

(a)  withdraw your request;

(b)  make a revised request (or agree to the suggested revision above); or

 c. indicate that you did not wish to revise the request.

If you would like to further extend the ‘request consultation process’
period to enable you to consider the information we have provided you, you
must contact us before Monday, 24 March 2025.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact me 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

[5]accc.gov.au

[6]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.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Dear Mr Squiggle,

Thank you for your email.

As per our email dated 20 March 2025, as you did not respond by 24 March
2025 your original request has been taken to be withdrawn.

However, as you have provided further information we will treat your below
revised scope as a new request beginning 25 March 2025.

              ‘In the period 1 October 2024 to 31 January 2025:

1. Any advice given to senior ACCC officials with regard to their Qantas
Chairman's Lounge membership

2. Any documents detailing the decisions made by the senior ACCC officials
to resign their Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership (or not resign)

3. Any documents that detail any real or perceived reputational issues,
code of conduct issues, or conflict of interest issues, with regard to
senior ACCC officials (or any other ACCC staff) holding Qantas Chairman's
Lounge membership

4. Any instructions/advice/communications from the ACCC agency head to
lower level senior officials that are related to Qantas Chairman's Lounge
membership.

            *By ‘senior ACCC officials’ I mean anyone considered senior
enough by Qantas/Virgin to have been invited to their exclusive airline
lounges.

            *By ‘ACCC agency head’ I mean the ACCC Chair and the ACCC
Chief Executive Officer.

            *By ‘lower level senior ACCC officials’ I mean staff who might
have an exclusive lounge membership, but are not the Chair or CEO.’

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.

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

Dear Mr Squiggle,

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) acknowledges
receipt of your email of 28 March 2025 requesting, under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (Cth), to:

‘all documents created as a result of my FOI request dated 31 January
2025, at the following link:

[1]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/s...

The applicable period is from 31 January 2025 to 27 March 2025.

I exclude all duplicate documents, names of all non-SES staff, and all
individual contact details.’

Timeframe for processing your request

The ACCC has 30 days to process your request, beginning 28 March 2025.
This timeframe may be extended by the ACCC where consultation with third
parties is necessary.

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 this 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.

Consultation with third parties

The ACCC may be required to consult with businesses or individuals (third
parties) where you have sought information about those third parties. The
Act grants an extra 30 days processing time for the ACCC to undertake this
consultation. You will be advised if we extend the timeframe to allow
third party consultation.

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, 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,

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

[2]accc.gov.au

[3]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://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/s...
2. https://accc.gov.au/
3. https://www.accc.gov.au/

OFFICIAL

Dear Mr. Squiggle,

Acknowledgment of request for access under the Freedom of Information Act
1982 (Cth)

As per our email dated 27 March 2025, the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC) acknowledges the request dated 25 March 2025,
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), to:

‘In the period 1 October 2024 to 31 January 2025:

1. Any advice given to senior ACCC officials with regard to their Qantas
Chairman's Lounge membership

2. Any documents detailing the decisions made by the senior ACCC officials
to resign their Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership (or not resign)

3. Any documents that detail any real or perceived reputational issues,
code of conduct issues, or conflict of interest issues, with regard to
senior ACCC officials (or any other ACCC staff) holding Qantas Chairman's
Lounge membership

4. Any instructions/advice/communications from the ACCC agency head to
lower level senior officials that are related to Qantas Chairman's Lounge
membership.

*By ‘senior ACCC officials’ I mean anyone considered senior enough by
Qantas/Virgin to have been invited to their exclusive airline lounges.

*By ‘ACCC agency head’ I mean the ACCC Chair and the ACCC Chief Executive
Officer.

*By ‘lower level senior ACCC officials’ I mean staff who might have an
exclusive lounge membership, but are not the Chair or CEO.’

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 this 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.

Consultation with third parties

The ACCC may be required to consult with businesses or individuals (third
parties) where you have sought information about those third parties. The
Act grants an extra 30 days processing time for the ACCC to undertake this
consultation. You will be advised if we extend the timeframe to allow
third party consultation.

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, 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.

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 Mr. Squiggle,

Please see the attached for your consideration.

Kind regards,

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 Mr. Squiggle,

I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 12 April 2025 in which you have
requested the charges associated with processing your FOI request be
waived on public interest grounds.

Your FOI request is for access to:

‘In the period 1 October 2024 to 31 January 2025:

1. Any advice given to senior ACCC officials with regard to their Qantas
Chairman's Lounge membership

2. Any documents detailing the decisions made by the senior ACCC officials
to resign their Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership (or not resign)

3. Any documents that detail any real or perceived reputational issues,
code of conduct issues, or conflict of interest issues, with regard to
senior ACCC officials (or any other ACCC staff) holding Qantas Chairman's
Lounge membership

4. Any instructions/advice/communications from the ACCC agency head to
lower level senior officials that are related to Qantas Chairman's Lounge
membership

*By ‘senior ACCC officials’ I mean anyone considered senior enough by
Qantas/Virgin to have been invited to their exclusive airline lounges.

*By ‘ACCC agency head’ I mean the ACCC Chair and the ACCC Chief Executive
Officer.

*By ‘lower level senior ACCC officials’ I mean staff who might have an
exclusive lounge membership, but are not the Chair or CEO

Under s.29(6) of the FOI Act, the ACCC has 30 days in which to make a
decision in regard to your request for a fee waiver.

We will notify you of our decision as soon as practicable.

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 Mr. Squiggle,

Please see the attached for your consideration.

Kind regards,

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/