Chand v Administrative Decisions Tribunal

The applicant, Ms Chand, sought relief from the Supreme Court of New South Wales, appealing against a decision of the Appeal Panel of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal. The Appeal Panel had dismissed Ms Chand's appeal from a review by the Tribunal of an agency's determination concerning her application for access to documents under the *Freedom of Information Act 1989* (NSW). RailCorp was the respondent agency.

The primary legal issues before the Supreme Court were whether the Tribunal had failed to ensure the disclosure of all relevant material as required by section 73(5)(b) of the *Freedom of Information Act 1989*, and whether Ms Chand was entitled to access documents that were not in existence at the time of her application. The court also considered other complaints raised by Ms Chand.

The court reasoned that there was no occasion for the Tribunal to make further enquiries regarding the existence of additional relevant material, as the applicant's complaints did not establish such a need. Furthermore, the court held that an applicant's entitlement to documents under the Act is limited to those in existence at the time the application is made, and therefore, access could not be granted to documents not yet created. The court found no merit in Ms Chand's other complaints.

Consequently, the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal against the Appeal Panel's decision as to costs and dismissed the appeal against the Appeal Panel's dismissal of the appeal to it. Ms Chand's application for relief by way of judicial review was also dismissed, and she was ordered to pay RailCorp's costs.