Harris (pseudonym) v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice (No 2)

The applicant, referred to pseudonymously as Harris, sought orders for suppression and non-publication in relation to a judgment of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales. The Secretary of the Department of Communities and Justice was the respondent. The core of the dispute concerned the potential for the identification of children through the publication of the judgment, either by identifying their parent or by reference to related proceedings.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether to grant the applicant's request for redaction and the use of a pseudonym. Specifically, the court had to consider the risk of identifying children through the information contained within the judgment and whether the proposed measures, including the use of a pseudonym and redaction of specific parts of the judgment, were sufficient to protect their privacy.

The Court reasoned that the applicant's name, where it appeared in a particular paragraph of the first judgment, should be redacted to prevent the identification of children. The court also ordered that the applicant be assigned the pseudonym "Harris" for the purposes of the published judgment. Furthermore, footnotes 1 and 2 of the judgment were to be redacted to mitigate the risk of identification. These orders were made to ensure the privacy and protection of the children involved.