Carpenter and Bureau of Meteorology (Freedom of information)

This matter concerned an application by Mr. Carpenter to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) concerning employment records held by the Bureau of Meteorology. Mr. Carpenter alleged that his numerous transfers within the Bureau, which were documented as "term transfers," should have been classified as "temporary transfers" and that the Bureau's actions were unlawful and improper, leading to a denial of certain allowances. He sought to have these documents amended or annotated to reflect the correct legal classification of his transfers.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed the power, within its review function under the Freedom of Information Act, to re-examine past departmental decisions and amend official records to reflect a different legal classification of employment transfers, particularly when the applicant alleged the original documentation was inaccurate or misleading regarding the lawfulness of the Bureau's conduct. A secondary consideration was whether the application, given its age and lack of apparent practical consequence, could be considered frivolous or vexatious.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, holding that the amendment regime under Part V of the Freedom of Information Act was not intended to serve as a mechanism for re-examining past decisions. The Tribunal reasoned that its review function was not designed to receive extensive evidence to determine the lawfulness or unlawfulness of historical departmental actions. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded it lacked the power to amend the documents as Mr. Carpenter requested, absent the Bureau's consent. The Tribunal noted that if its assessment of the limitations of its review function was correct, it followed that it had no power to grant the requested amendment.