RFPC and National Disability Insurance Agency

This matter concerned an objection by the Applicant to the National Disability Insurance Agency (Respondent) inspecting certain documents produced under summons. The dispute arose in the context of a review application before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The presiding member was K Buxton SM.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the documents produced under the summons fell outside the scope of the summons request and whether those documents were immaterial and irrelevant to the proceedings. The Tribunal was required to determine the extent to which the Respondent should be granted leave to inspect the documents produced under the summons.

The Tribunal considered the broad power to issue summons under section 40A of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) and the power to grant inspection of such documents under section 40B. The Tribunal inspected the summons material and found that some documents produced by GPs A and C were unrelated to the supports in dispute and others related to the Applicant's general health, rendering them immaterial to the review application. The Tribunal applied the principle that documents produced under summons must be relevant to the proceedings and capable of assisting in arriving at the correct or preferable decision.

The Tribunal upheld the Applicant's objection. It ordered that the Respondent's leave to inspect the material produced by GP A and GP C be limited to the unredacted portions of that material, as the redacted portions were found to be immaterial and irrelevant to the review application.