Shafran and Secretary, Department of Veterans' Affairs (Freedom of information)

This matter concerned two freedom of information requests made by Mr Shafran to the Department of Veterans' Affairs. The first request sought evidence relevant to a report prepared under section 137 of the *Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986* (Cth) (VEA). The second request sought a policy document or guideline defining what constitutes "evidence" for the purposes of compiling such reports. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) was required to determine whether the Department had undertaken a reasonable search in response to these requests.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Department's search for documents relevant to the section 137 report was reasonable, and whether a policy or guideline document defining "evidence" for the purposes of section 137 reports existed and, if so, whether a reasonable search for it was conducted. Mr Shafran contended that a reasonable search was not undertaken in relation to the first request, as he believed he should have received less or no material from the report. Regarding the second request, he argued that a policy document must exist, particularly given a previous practice direction had been deemed illegal.

The Tribunal affirmed the decisions made by the Department and the Australian Information Commissioner. In relation to the first request, the Tribunal noted that the Department had provided Mr Shafran with a full copy of the section 137 report prior to his FOI request, and subsequently provided seven pages identified as relevant evidence. The Tribunal found that the Department's actions in identifying and redacting material constituted a reasonable search. For the second request, the Department advised that no such policy or guideline document existed. While a draft guideline was later developed and other related documents were provided to assist Mr Shafran, the Tribunal was satisfied that the Department had conducted a reasonable search and that no specific policy document, as defined by Mr Shafran, was in existence at the time of the request.