EG v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Service

The case of EG v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Service, was before the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The applicant, EG, challenged the disclosure of certain information by the NSW Police Service to the Legal Practitioners Admission Board. The applicant sought a review of the agency's conduct under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. The primary issue for the Tribunal was whether the information disclosed by the NSW Police Service constituted "personal information" as defined by the Act. This required an analysis of the content of three separate paragraphs of a letter sent by the agency to the Board.

The Tribunal carefully examined the content of each paragraph of the letter to determine whether it contained "personal information." The definition of "personal information" in section 4 of the Act was applied to each paragraph. The Tribunal found that the first and third paragraphs contained "personal information," while the second paragraph did not. The Tribunal noted that "personal information" includes information or an opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent or can be reasonably ascertained from the information or opinion. The Tribunal concluded that the first and third paragraphs contained such information, whereas the second paragraph did not, as it related to the general operations of the agency and not to any specific individual.

In light of its findings, the Tribunal ruled that it had jurisdiction to review the agency's conduct in disclosing the first and third paragraphs of the letter, as they contained "personal information." However, the Tribunal found that it did not have jurisdiction to review the disclosure of the second paragraph, as it did not contain "personal information." Consequently, the Tribunal ordered that the registry re-list the matter for a further planning meeting to address the issues concerning the disclosure of the first and third paragraphs of the letter. This outcome underscores the importance of accurately identifying "personal information" when considering privacy complaints under the Act.