FCZ v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force [2024] NSWCATAD 16

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: FCZ v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force [2024] NSWCATAD 16 Hearing dates: 17 August 2023 and on the papers Date of orders: 15 January 2024 Decision date: 15 January 2024 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: D Ziegler, Senior Member Decision: 1. The Tribunal dispenses with a hearing pursuant to s 50(2) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013. 2. The decision of the respondent to refuse access to the Third Party Email, the First Internal Email, the Second Internal Email, the Letter and the DCJ Reports is affirmed. 3. The decision of the respondent to refuse access to the third deletion on page 5 of COPS event report E73578134 and to the deletion on page 9 of COPS event record E69987152 of the words from "Additional Information" to the words "on the part of the author", is set aside and in substitution thereof a decision is made that the applicant be granted access to all of those redactions, with the exception of the following words in COPS event report E73578134: (a) the words after "against" and before "3 years"; and (b) the words after "regarding" and before "without evidence". 4. The decision of the respondent to refuse access to the information that has been redacted in the copies of the CAD Messages and the balance of the COPS Reports is otherwise affirmed. 5. The implied decision of the respondent that she does not hold any further information in response to item 4 of the access application is set aside, and that part of the decision is remitted to the agency for reconsideration. 6. The implied decision of the respondent that she does not hold any further information in response to the balance of the access application is affirmed. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – administrative review - government information – whether, on balance, the public interest considerations against disclosure outweigh the public interest considerations in favour of disclosure – decision that no further information is held by the agency – reasonableness of searches for the information sought. EVIDENCE – Surveillance Devices Act 2007 – unauthorised recording – discretion to admit. PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - discretion to extend time – relevant considerations. Legislation Cited: Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 (NSW) Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) Police Regulation 2015 (NSW) Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW) Cases Cited: Battin v University of New England [2013] NSWADT CCB v Department of Education and Communities [2015] NSWCATAD 145 Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Force v Camilleri (GD) [2012] NSWADTAP 19 Flack v Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Force [2011] NSWADT 286 Forest v Suzanne [2022] NSWCATAP 292 Gabriel v Commissioner of Police [2020] NSWCATAD 51 Hurst v Wagga Wagga City Council [2011] NSWCATAD 307 Leech v Sydney Water Corporation [2010] NSWADT 298 Mesiha v Murrell [2017] NSWCATAP 1 Miskelly v Transport for NSW [2017] NSWCATAD 207 Neary v State Rail Authority [1999] NSWADT 107 NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing v Fahey [2012] NSWADTAP 55 Police Act 1990 (NSW) Searle Australia Pty Ltd v PIAC [1992] FCA 241 South Dural Residents and Ratepayers Group Inc. v Roads and Maritime Services [2019] NSWCATAD 83 Wojciechowska v Commissioner of Police [2020] NSWCATAP 173 Category: Principal judgment Parties: FCZ (Applicant) Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: C Langford (Respondent) Solicitors: Applicant (Self-represented) Crown Solicitor (Respondent) File Number(s): 2023/00070071 Publication restriction: Section 64 of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 applies to the material filed by the respondent on a confidential basis, to those paragraphs of these reasons identified as [Not for publication], to the evidence given in private before the Tribunal and to the record of that part of the proceeding conducted in private pursuant to s 49(2). That material is not to be released to either the applicant or to the public.