McEwan v Port Stephens Council [2018] NSWCATAP 211

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: McEwan v Port Stephens Council [2018] NSWCATAP 211 Hearing dates: 1 March 2018; 1 May 2018 Date of orders: 14 September 2018 Decision date: 14 September 2018 Jurisdiction: Appeal Panel Before: P Durack SC, Senior Member S Higgins, Senior Member Decision: (1) The appeal is allowed. (2) The decision of the Tribunal to affirm the decision under review made on 20 March 2017 be set aside. (3) The matter be remitted to a differently constituted Tribunal for redetermination. Catchwords: APPEAL – ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – access to objections to development application – balancing of interests for and against disclosure where information sought is open access information – public interest considerations against disclosure – application of appeal right where part of reasons not disclosed to appellant – adequacy of reasons – need to address material evidence against existence of factor relied upon to refuse disclosure. Legislation Cited: Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 Government Information (Public Access) Regulation 2009 Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 Cases Cited: Bushell v Repatriation Commissioner [1992] 175 CLR 408 Collins v Urban [2014] NSWCATAP 17 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Paul McEwan Port Stephens Council (Respondent in both appeals) Representation: The Appellant was self-represented.

Ms Marshall, Legal Services Manager of the Respondent on 1 March 2018.