Smith v Pittwater Council

Smith sought access to information held by the Pittwater Council under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW). The information related to his application for a development approval. The Council withheld the information on the basis that it was exempt from disclosure because disclosure would expose Smith to a serious risk of harm, harassment, or intimidation. Smith applied to the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales for a review of the decision. The Court found that the information was exempt from disclosure because it contained personal information that was provided to the Council in confidence and disclosure would expose Smith to a serious risk of harm, harassment, or intimidation.

The Court was required to decide whether the information was exempt from disclosure under the Act and, if so, whether the exemption was justified in the circumstances. The Court found that the information was exempt from disclosure because it contained personal information that was provided to the Council in confidence. However, the Court also found that the exemption was not justified in the circumstances because the Council had not adequately balanced the public interest considerations against the risk to Smith.

The Court held that the Council had not adequately considered whether the risk to Smith was serious and whether the information was necessary to expose that risk. The Court also held that the Council had not adequately considered whether the risk to Smith outweighed the public interest in disclosure of the information. The Court found that the Council had not made a sufficient search for alternative information that could be disclosed instead of the personal information. The Court held that the Council's decision was unreasonable and set it aside.

The Court ordered that the decision under review be set aside and that the information be released to Smith except for the personal information that was provided to the Council in confidence. The Court ordered that the Council was to pay Smith's costs of the application for review.