KP v Narrandera Shire Council

Administrative Decisions Tribunal

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

KP v Narrandera Shire Council (GD) [2011] NSWADTAP 15

Hearing dates:

9 December 2010

Decision date:

01 April 2011

Before:

Magistrate N Hennessy, Deputy President
S Montgomery, Judicial Member
E Hayes, Non-Judicial Member

Decision:

1. The Tribunal's decisions to take no action is set aside.

2. The matter is remitted to a differently constituted Tribunal to be heard and decided again with the hearing of further evidence.

Catchwords:

APPEAL - Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act - scope of Tribunal's jurisdiction - whether Tribunal bound to make a finding as to whether there has been a contravention of the Information Protection Principles before deciding to take no further action

Legislation Cited:

Administrative Decisions Tribunal Act 1997
Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009
Powers of Attorney Act 2003

Cases Cited:

KO and KP v Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police (GD) [2005] NSWADTAP 56
AW v Vice Chancellor, University of Newcastle [2008] NSWADT 86
NW v New South Wales Fire Brigades (No 2) [2006] NSWADT 61
McDonald v Director-General of Social Security (1984) 1 FCR 354
NS v Commissioner, Department of Corrective Services [2004] NSWADT 263

Texts Cited:

Williams CR, Burdens and Standards in Civil Litigation (2003) Sydney Law Review 9

Category:

Principal judgment

Parties:

KP (Appellant)
Narrandera Shire Council (Respondent)

Representation:

Counsel
MA Robinson (Respondent)
KP (Appellant - in person)
Henningham Law (Respondent)

File Number(s):

109022

 Decision under appeal 

Before:

General Division

File Number(s):

093011

reasons for decision

Background

1. KP has appealed against a decision of the Tribunal under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act) that no action be taken in relation to his application . KP is entitled to appeal on a question of law but must obtain the Appeal Panel's leave before appealing against the merits of the Tribunal's decisions: ADT Act, s 113.

1. KP is a resident of the local government area under the control of Narrandera Shire Council. In 2006 he complained to the NSW Ombudsman about the way certain Council employees had treated him. These proceedings concern a letter written by the then General Manager of the Council to the NSW Ombudsman's Office on 5 December 2006 responding to those complaints. The letter stated that KP had been prohibited from accessing Council's offices. The reasons for that decision were said to be the 'vexatious complaints' made by KP and, more recently, his 'unstable' behaviour. That behaviour was alleged to have included:

(a)   verbal outbursts with staff;

(b)   photographing a Councillor's residence;

(c)   causing problems at the airport including unauthorised access to the airside section of the airport and attempting to seek information on aviation fuel; and

(d)   attempting self harm.

1. On 13 December 2008, KP applied for an internal review of Council's conduct pursuant to the PPIP Act . When asked to identify the specific conduct he was complaining about, KP wrote:

The collection of personal information for unlawful means (PPIP Act 1998 -…