VK v Department of Education and Training (No 2)

VK was the plaintiff in a case heard by the Federal Court of Australia. VK sought to have certain information removed from a publicly available website maintained by the Department of Education and Training, which VK claimed contained information that was personal and private. VK claimed that the Department's failure to remove this information was a breach of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (Cth). The Department argued that the information was not personal and that there was no requirement to remove it.

The court was required to decide two key issues. First, whether inaction by the Department could be considered "conduct" under the Act. Second, whether information that did not identify an individual could be considered personal information, and thus subject to the Act. The court considered the plain language of the Act, the common law, and relevant legislative history in making its determinations.

The court held that inaction could constitute conduct under the Act, particularly when there is a statutory duty to act. The court also found that information that did not identify an individual could still be considered personal information if it could be used to identify that individual. In this case, the court found that the information in question did not meet this standard and thus was not personal information. The court dismissed VK’s claims, finding that there was no requirement under the Act for the Department to remove the information in question.

The court ordered that the matter be listed for directions on 18 December 2009 at 12:00 noon. The parties were granted leave to attend by telephone should they so wish.