Port Stephens Council v Webb [2017] NSWCATAD 341

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Port Stephens Council v Webb [2017] NSWCATAD 341 Hearing dates: 19 July 2017 Date of orders: 22 November 2017 Decision date: 22 November 2017 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: Dr J Lucy, Senior Member Decision: (1) Application is dismissed. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – Government information – Application for restraint order – Where agency determined it did not hold information sought by applicant in four applications made in previous two years – Where three of those applications the subject of Tribunal review - Whether access applications lacked merit – Whether discretionary factors favoured making of restraint order – Whether proportion of Council's resources taken up by access applicant was a relevant discretionary factor – Whether alleged conduct of applicant in writing voluminous correspondence to Council and making defamatory statements was a relevant factor Legislation Cited: Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) Cases Cited: Palerang Council, Queanbeyan City Council & Goulburn Mulwaree Council v Powell [2015] NSWCATAD 44 Pittwater Council v Walker [2015] NSWCATAD 34 Texts Cited: New South Wales Ombudsman, 'Opening Up Government – Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1989,' a Special Report to Parliament under s 31 of the Ombudsman Act 1974, 5 February 2009 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Port Stephens Council (Applicant) Telina Webb (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Local Government Legal (Applicant) In Person (Respondent) File Number(s): 2017/00153702