O’Grady v Sutherland Shire Council [2021] NSWCATAD 165

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: O'Grady v Sutherland Shire Council [2021] NSWCATAD 165 Hearing dates: 1 June 2021 Date of orders: 11 June 2021 Decision date: 11 June 2021 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: C Mulvey, Senior Member Decision: The time for filing the application is extended to 2 March 2021. Catchwords: GIPA - Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 – s. 101 – extension of time – reasonable excuse Legislation Cited: Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 Cases Cited: Turner v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force (2014) NSWCATAP 4 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Rod O'Grady (Applicant) Sutherland Shire Council (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Applicant (Self Represented) K Danysz (Respondent) File Number(s): 2021/00059482 Publication restriction: None

REASONS FOR DECISION 1. This is an application by Mr Rod O'Grady seeking an extension of time to file an application for information held by Sutherland Shire Council ('the Respondent') under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 ('the GIPA Act'). Mr O'Grady seeks to access certain information held by the Respondent and in that regard he made an original GIPA Act access application on 5 November 2019. 2. Following a number of matters which are not relevant to this application, the Respondent on 5 August 2020 made a decision ('the reviewable decision') in relation to the GIPA Act application. Mr O'Grady accepted that decision when it was made. 3. However, Mr O'Grady asserts that he became aware of other information in December 2020 which led him to not be satisfied with the reviewable decision. 4. It is not in dispute that Mr O'Grady's application to review the reviewable decision, filed on 2 March 2021 in this Tribunal, is out of time. 5. These reasons for decision deal specifically with Mr O'Grady's request for the Tribunal to allow him to file his application out of time.