Mullen and Chief Executive Officer, Australian Aged Care Quality Agency (Freedom of information)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an appeal by Mr. Mullen against a decision by the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency (the Agency) concerning a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The dispute centred on whether certain documents requested by Mr. Mullen were exempt from disclosure under the *Freedom of Information Act 1982* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether the documents sought by Mr. Mullen constituted "protected information" as defined by the *Aged Care Act 1997* (Cth), and consequently, whether their disclosure was prohibited under the FOI Act. This required an assessment of the nature of the information within the requested documents and its relationship to the regulatory framework governing aged care services.

Deputy President Kendall affirmed the Agency's decision, finding that the documents contained information that was protected under section 85-3 of the *Aged Care Act 1997*. This section prohibits the disclosure of certain information obtained by the Aged Care Quality Agency in connection with its functions, where disclosure would be contrary to the public interest. The Tribunal reasoned that the purpose of this prohibition was to ensure the effective operation of the aged care regulatory scheme, and that disclosure of the requested information would undermine this purpose. The Tribunal concluded that the documents were therefore exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act.