Office of Finance and Services v APV and APW [2014] NSWCATAP 88

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Office of Finance and Services v APV and APW [2014] NSWCATAP 88 Hearing dates: 4 July 2014 Decision date: 21 November 2014 Jurisdiction: Appeal Panel Before: N Hennessy, LCM, Deputy President S Montgomery, Senior Member Decision: 1. The Tribunal's decision that: "[T]he Respondent's conduct in disclosing the Applicants' personal information to the architect was a breach of its obligations under s 18 of the PPIP Act is set aside. 2. The Tribunal's decisions that: a) The Respondent's conduct in relation to the sale documents for the property next door which contained aspects of the Applicants' personal information was a breach of its obligations under ss 17 and 18 of the PPIP Act, and b) the Respondent's use of the Applicants' personal information, for the purposes of the "change of use" application to the Council for the property next door was a breach of its obligations under ss 17 and 18 of the PPIP Act, are affirmed. Catchwords: PRIVACY - Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 - definition of personal information - information or opinion must be about an individual "whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion" - whether other documents can be consulted to identify an individual

JURISDCITION - Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 - whether certain conduct was "the subject of" the application for internal review to the agency and therefore conduct that the Tribunal can review Legislation Cited: Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 (NSW) Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2014 (NSW) Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) Cases Cited: Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd [2012] HCA 55 at [39]; (2012) 87 ALJR 98 Cooper Brookes (Wollongong) Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation (1981) 147 CLR 297 Department of Education & Training v GA (No 3) [2004] NSWADTAP 50 Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd [2012] HCA 55 KO and KP v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police [2005] NSWADTAP 56 Khoury v Government Insurance Office of NSW (1984) 165 CLR 621 OD v Department of Education and Training (GD) [2005] NSWADTAP 74 Re Denehy and Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (2012) 131 ALD 413 Re Pfizer and Department of Health, Housing and Community Services (1993) 30 ALD 25 Re Lobo and Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2011) 124 ALD 238 WL v La Trobe University [2005] VCAT 2592 Texts Cited: Australian Law Reform Commission, Report 108: For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice (August 2008) NSW Law Reform Commission, Report 26: "Access to Personal Information" (2010) Category: Principal judgment Parties: APV APW Office of Finance and Services NSW Privacy Commissioner Representation: Z Heger (Appellant) A Munro (Respondent) K Luis (NSW Privacy Commissioner) File Number(s): AP 14/46306 (AP 14/0029) Publication restriction: Disclosure of the names of the Respondents is prohibited. Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 150001 Citation: [2014] NSWCATAD 10 Date of Decision: 2014-02-10 00:00:00 Before: Naida Isenberg, Senior Member File Number(s): 133077