The State of Qld v F N Albietz, Information Comm

In the case of The State of Queensland v. F N Albietz, Information Comm, the applicant, the State of Queensland, sought to challenge the decision of the Information Commissioner (Qld) who had set aside the decision of the Under Treasurer to withhold certain information from the respondent, John Paul Murphy, in response to a Freedom of Information Act application. The Commissioner had determined that Murphy should have access to the documents in their entirety, without the exclusion of the names of the departmental officers. The State's application to set aside the decision of the Information Commissioner was brought under the Judicial Review Act 1991. The primary issues before the court were whether the Commissioner breached the requirements of "natural justice", misinterpreted the relevant sections of the Act, and incorrectly applied the "personal affairs" exemption. The court found that the Commissioner did not breach the requirements of "natural justice" as he was entitled to make his own inquiries to test the competing claims. The Commissioner also did not misinterpret the relevant sections of the Act as the words "could reasonably be expected to" required an objective assessment by the Commissioner. Lastly, the court found that the Commissioner correctly applied the "personal affairs" exemption as the names of the departmental officers were not pieces of information concerning their "personal affairs". The application by the State of Queensland to set aside the decision of the Information Commissioner was dismissed, and the applicant was ordered to pay the second respondent's costs of and incidental to the application to be taxed.