Taggart and Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Freedom of information)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Taggart against a decision of the Australian Information Commissioner regarding access to documents held by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). The dispute centred on whether certain documents were exempt from disclosure under the *Freedom of Information Act 1982* (Cth) by reason of legal professional privilege. The appeal was heard by Deputy President S A Forgie.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether communications between CASA's in-house legal services division and other divisions within CASA were made for the dominant purpose of giving or obtaining legal advice, and whether the legal services division operated with sufficient independence to attract legal professional privilege. The Tribunal was also required to consider whether any privilege that might have existed had been waived.

The Tribunal's reasoning involved an assessment of the independence of CASA's legal services division and the purpose for which the documents were created. It applied the principles of legal professional privilege, considering the dominant purpose test and the potential for waiver. The Tribunal noted that since the Commissioner's initial decision, CASA had granted access to some documents in full and parts of others.

The Tribunal varied the Commissioner's decision. It affirmed the decision in relation to Document 21(a). For several other documents, it decided that certain parts, including address blocks and signature blocks, were not exempt. For other documents, it determined that specific substantive paragraphs or attachments were exempt, while subject lines and other portions were not. In some instances, the Tribunal found that documents were not exempt at all.