Chapman v Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police

Chapman filed an application under the Australian Government Information (AGI) Act, seeking access to a number of documents held by the New South Wales Police Force. The Commissioner of Police sought to refuse access to some of the documents on the basis of various exemptions under the Privacy Act. Chapman then sought internal review of the decisions made by the Commissioner, which were again refused on the basis of the same exemptions. Chapman then sought review of the internal review decisions by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The central issue before the Tribunal was whether the exemptions applied to the documents in question. The application sought access to a variety of documents, including photographs, notebooks, and emails, and the Commissioner had refused access to some of these on the basis of exemptions relating to privacy and operational capacity. Chapman argued that the exemptions were not applicable to the documents in question.

The Tribunal found that the Commissioner's decisions to refuse access to some of the documents were flawed, and were set aside and remitted for reconsideration. The Tribunal found that the Commissioner had not properly considered whether the documents were held by the agency, and had not properly considered the balance of public interest factors. The Tribunal also found that the Commissioner had not properly considered the relevance of the documents to Chapman's research. The Tribunal set aside the decisions and remitted them for reconsideration, and also made new decisions to grant access to some of the documents in question.