Achieve Australia Ltd v Department of Family and Community Services

Achieve Australia Limited sought access to certain documents held by the Department of Family and Community Services. The application was objected to on the grounds that the disclosure of the information was likely to prejudice the operations of the Department. Following a complaint to the Ombudsman, a report was issued which led to a review by the Information and Privacy Commission of Queensland. The issue before the Commission was whether certain information was excluded from the definition of 'government-held document' under section 42(1) of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (Qld).

The Commission considered the definition of 'government-held document' under the GIPA Act, and whether the report issued by the Ombudsman constituted an excluded document. The Commission found that the report was an excluded document as it was prepared for the purpose of a review or inquiry and was not a document in the custody or under the control of the Department. The Commission also found that the access application was not a valid access application as it did not comply with the requirements of section 43(2) of the GIPA Act.

The Commission set aside the decision under review and decided in substitution that the access application was not a valid access application. The Commission found that the applicant had not provided sufficient information to enable the Department to identify the documents subject to the access application. The Commission noted that the applicant had not provided a description of the documents or the period to which they related. The Commission also found that the applicant had not provided an explanation of the purpose for which the documents were required.

The decision under review is set aside and the Tribunal decides in substitution that Ms Seach's access application is not a valid access application pursuant to section 43(2) of the GIPA Act.