SCATTERGOOD & TERRITORY AND MUNICIPAL SERVICES & COMMISSIONER FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (Administrative Review)

The matter before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal involves an application by Scattergood for an internal review of a decision by the Territory and Municipal Services (TMS) to refuse requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1989 (FOI Act) for the disclosure of two Price Reports. The decision of TMS was reviewed by the Commissioner for Public Administration, who affirmed the decision of TMS. The applicant, Scattergood, sought internal review of the Commissioner’s decision. The legal issues at hand were whether the Price Reports were exempt from disclosure under the FOI Act, the relevance of the reports being described as “draft” or “interim,” the confidentiality of the reports under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1994, and the question of whether the reports were the product of applied science. The court also considered the issue of costs.

In addressing these issues, the Tribunal examined the provisions of the FOI Act and found that the material redacted from the Price Reports was not exempt from disclosure under section 36 or section 38. The Tribunal noted that references to the reports filed with the Tribunal were not to be considered as references to confidential information protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act. The Tribunal also found that the Price Reports were not the product of applied science and therefore were not exempt from disclosure under section 37 of the FOI Act. Regarding the costs, the Tribunal noted that the applicant was not entitled to costs as the Commissioner for Public Administration had acted reasonably in affirming the decision of TMS.

The Tribunal ordered that the respondents provide the applicant with the Price Reports in unredacted form, with certain specified redactions only. The Tribunal also noted that the respondents were to provide the Price Reports within seven days of the date of the order.