DWC v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2020] NSWCATAD 10

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: DWC v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2020] NSWCATAD 10 Hearing dates: 11 December 2019 Date of orders: 09 January 2020 Decision date: 09 January 2020 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: S Montgomery, Senior Member Decision: (1) Pursuant to section 55(2) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 no action is taken in this matter. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – privacy – personal information – alleged disclosure of personal information about the applicant – absence of evidence of breach Legislation Cited: Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 (NSW) Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) Cases Cited: Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Force v Fine [2014] NSWCA 327 Category: Principal judgment Parties: DWC (Applicant) Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice (Respondent) Representation: Solicitors: Applicant (Self Represented) Department of Communities and Justice Legal (Respondent) File Number(s): 2019/00152049 Publication restriction: An order is made under section 64(1) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 prohibiting or restricting the disclosure of the name of the applicant.

Reasons for Decision

Introduction 1. This is an application for a review of the conduct of an officer of the Department of Communities and Justice ("the Respondent" or "DCJ"). DCJ was formerly known as Family and Community Services ("FACS"). DWC has been employed by DCJ and FACS for many years. 2. The conduct that is under review was the subject to an Internal Review application under Part 5 of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 ("the PPIP Act"). 3. In this matter an order is made under section 64(1) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 prohibiting or restricting the disclosure of the name of the Applicant. In these proceedings the Applicant is referred to as DWC. I have limited the discussion of the facts and anonymised the names of various individuals so as to avoid the possibility that the Applicant's identity will be revealed. 4. I have reviewed the conduct which fell within the scope of the Internal Review application. I have found that the evidence that is before me does not establish that there is breach of an Information Protection Principle ("IPP") under the PPIP Act.