Gilling v General Manager, Hawkesbury City Council

The case of Gilling v General Manager, Hawkesbury City Council, was brought before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The applicant, Gilling, sought access to a file note and its attachments held by the Hawkesbury City Council. The General Manager of the Council, the respondent, had refused to provide the documents under the provisions of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA). The dispute centred on whether the documents were exempt from disclosure and if not, what steps should be taken to facilitate access.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the documents were exempt from disclosure under section 22 of the GIPA Act. The Tribunal had to determine whether the documents contained information that could be exempt on the grounds of privacy or the protection of commercially sensitive information. Additionally, the Tribunal had to consider whether the public interest in disclosure outweighed any exemptions that might apply.

In examining the nature of the documents, the Tribunal found that the information contained within them was not exempt from disclosure. The Tribunal concluded that the public interest in access to the documents outweighed any exemptions that might apply. The Tribunal held that the documents were not exempt from disclosure under section 22 of the GIPA Act and that the General Manager's decision to refuse access was unreasonable. The Tribunal set aside the decision of the General Manager and substituted its own decision to grant the Applicant access to the file note and all attachments.