Evans v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue

In Evans v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue, the plaintiff sought access to documents held by the Commissioner under the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Vic). The plaintiff, who was contesting a tax assessment, believed that the documents would be relevant to their case. The dispute was heard by the Supreme Court of Victoria, which had to determine whether the Commissioner was correct in denying the plaintiff access to the documents, claiming they were exempt as they constituted "government information" under the Act.

The central issue before the court was the interpretation of the term "government information" as it appeared in the Information Privacy Act. Specifically, the court needed to decide whether documents created by the Commissioner in the course of performing their statutory functions qualified as "government information" and, if so, whether this classification justified their non-disclosure. This required an examination of the statutory language and the purpose of the Act, as well as consideration of whether the creation of these records was an integral part of the Commissioner’s functions.

The court concluded that the documents in question were indeed "government information" within the meaning of the Act, as they were created in the course of the Commissioner's statutory functions. The court found that the purpose of the Act was to protect the privacy of individuals and that the creation of these documents was integral to the Commissioner’s role in tax administration. The court held that the documents were exempt from disclosure because their release could potentially compromise the privacy of individuals and the integrity of the tax administration process. Consequently, the decision of the Commissioner was affirmed, upholding the denial of access to the documents.