CNC v NSW Police Force

The case of CNC v NSW Police Force involved the applicant seeking access to health information held by the respondent, which was provided to the respondent's solicitors. The applicant argued that the disclosure of this information breached certain privacy laws. The court was tasked with determining whether the provision of health information to the solicitors constituted a use or disclosure of information and if the information was used for the purpose for which it was collected. The court also needed to consider whether non-compliance with access principles could be justified by legal professional privilege and if issue estoppel applied to a determination made in interlocutory privacy proceedings.

The court found that the provision of health information to the solicitors was indeed a use of that information, not merely a disclosure. It was also determined that there was no reasonable and definite inference that could be made regarding the purpose for which the health information was collected. Consequently, the matter needed to be relisted to obtain sufficient evidence about the purpose of the collection. Regarding legal professional privilege, the court found that common law principles applied rather than statutory principles, and therefore, advice privilege did not extend to letters of instruction from a solicitor to an expert. The court ruled that issue estoppel did not apply because the issues in the substantive proceedings were different from those determined in the interlocutory decision.

The court ordered that the respondent must provide the applicant with access to specific health information within 30 days. The proceedings were also relisted to review the alleged contravention of a health privacy principle. Furthermore, the non-disclosure orders were varied to accommodate the respondent's compliance with the access order.