Choi v NSW Department of Justice [2019] NSWCATAD 248

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Choi v NSW Department of Justice [2019] NSWCATAD 248 Hearing dates: 26 November 2019 Date of orders: 05 December 2019 Decision date: 05 December 2019 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: K Ransome, Senior Member Decision: (1) The applicant's application to extend time for the lodging of the application is dismissed.

(2) The applicant's application to the Tribunal for administrative review of the respondent's decision is also dismissed. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – Freedom of information -application for review out of time - whether reasonable explanation for the delay Legislation Cited: Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 Cases Cited: Choi v University of Technology Sydney [2017] NSWCATAD 198 Thomson v Sydney Trains [2015] NSWCATAD 257 Turner v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force [2014] NSWCATAP 4 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Jae Hee Choi (Applicant) Department of Justice (Respondent) Representation: J H Choi (Self Represented) Legal, Department of Justice and Communities (Respondent) File Number(s): 2019/00305164 Publication restriction: Nil

REASONS FOR DECISION 1. The applicant, Ms Jae Hee Choi, applied to the Tribunal on 24 September 2019 for review of a decision made by the respondent, the Department of Justice (the Department), under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (the GIPA Act). The decision under review was made on 4 July 2019 and emailed to Ms Choi that day. Under s 101(1) of the GIPA Act Ms Choi was required to make her application with the Tribunal within 40 working days after she was given notice of the decision. She was therefore required to make the application on or before 29 August 2019. (Ms Choi states she had until 30 August 2019 as 5 August 2019 was a bank holiday. I note that a bank holiday applies only to banks and certain financial institutions and is not a general public holiday.) Ms Choi's application to the Tribunal was therefore lodged out of time. 2. The issue that I must decide is whether Miss Choi should be granted an extension of time within which to make her application to the Tribunal. Under s 101(4) of the GIPA Act the Tribunal can, on the application of a person wanting to make an application, extend the time for the making of an application if it "is of the opinion that the person has provided a reasonable excuse for the delay in making the application". Both Ms Choi and the Department have made written submissions about whether Ms Choi has provided a reasonable excuse for delay in making the application. The parties appeared before the Tribunal at a hearing on 26 November 2019 and Ms Choi was assisted by an interpreter in the Korean language.