Saunders v Department of Housing

In this case, Mr Saunders appealed against a decision of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) that dismissed his privacy complaint. The Tribunal had determined that Mr Saunders had not requested the referral of his privacy complaint to QCAT as soon as possible, and dismissed the referral. The central issue in the appeal was whether section 38(4) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld) applied to require Mr Saunders to request the referral of his privacy complaint ‘as soon as possible’. If so, the Tribunal was correct in dismissing the referral for the failure of Mr Saunders to request it as soon as possible.

The court found that the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) was silent on the time period within which a complainant may request the referral of a privacy complaint to QCAT. The learned member of the Tribunal concluded that in the absence of such a time period, section 38(4) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld) applied. The court held that in the absence of the application of section 38(4), the time for a complainant to request the referral of a privacy complaint to QCAT would arguably remain open ended. However, the court found that the absence of an express time frame in the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) presumptively called for the application of the time requirement in section 38(4) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld). The court concluded that a requirement to request the referral of a privacy complaint upon ‘as soon as possible’ was not inconsistent with the purpose or the terms of the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld). The court found that the requirement was consistent with the Act’s purpose of ensuring the expeditious resolution of disputes.

The court found that the Tribunal was correct in its interpretation of section 38(4) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld) and its application to the referral of privacy complaints to QCAT. The court found that the failure of Mr Saunders to request the referral of his privacy complaint ‘as soon as possible’ rendered invalid the referral. The decision of the Tribunal was set aside, and the matter was returned to the Tribunal.