Crewdson v New South Wales Department of Community Services & Anor (No. 6) [2002] NSWIRComm 306

Crewdson v New South Wales Department of Community Services & Anor (No. 6) [2002] NSWIRComm 306

The Commission held that documents concerning 1994 and 1995 communications and incidents involving Ms Alldiss, and records of a Guardianship Board dispute over her financial guardianship, were not sufficiently proximate to the issues in Mr Crewdson's declaratory relief application to have a legitimate forensic purpose. Documents concerning the transfer of Ms Carmel Niland to the unattached list also served no legitimate forensic purpose. The Commission accepted the evidence that other documents were not in the relevant Department's possession, while requiring the Premier's Department to complete a further search in relation to particular misunderstood requests.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
20 November 2002
Procedural Posture
Application for Declaratory Relief Under S 154 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 / Interlocutory Judgment on Notices of Motion Seeking to Set Aside Parts of Summonses for Production
Outcome
Notices of motion substantially upheld in relation to documents found to lack legitimate forensic purpose or not in the Departments' possession; access granted to documents produced; further search required for certain Premier's Department documents.
Legal Topics
['declaratory Relief' 'summons for Production' 'notice to Produce' 'abuse of Process' 'legitimate Forensic Purpose']
['industrial Relations' 'practice and Procedure'] ['declaratory Relief' 'summons for Production' 'notice to Produce' 'abuse of Process' 'legitimate Forensic Purpose']

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Procedural Posture

Application for Declaratory Relief Under S 154 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 / Interlocutory Judgment on Notices of Motion Seeking to Set Aside Parts of Summonses for Production

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether paragraphs of summonses for production directed to the Director General, Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care and the Director General, Premier's Department should be set aside as an abuse of process for lacking a legitimate forensic purpose." 'Whether documents sought by Mr Crewdson were sufficiently connected to the issues in his application for declaratory relief to require production.' 'Whether non-production was justified where documents were not in the possession of the relevant Department.']

Ratio Decidendi

The Commission held that documents concerning 1994 and 1995 communications and incidents involving Ms Alldiss, and records of a Guardianship Board dispute over her financial guardianship, were not sufficiently proximate to the issues in Mr Crewdson's declaratory relief application to have a legitimate forensic purpose. Documents concerning the transfer of Ms Carmel Niland to the unattached list also served no legitimate forensic purpose. The Commission accepted the evidence that other documents were not in the relevant Department's possession, while requiring the Premier's Department to complete a further search in relation to particular misunderstood requests.

Court Disposition

Notices of motion substantially upheld in relation to documents found to lack legitimate forensic purpose or not in the Departments' possession; access granted to documents produced; further search required for certain Premier's Department documents.

Orders

  • ['Documents produced under the summonses were made available to Mr Crewdson.' 'The Commission did not require production of documents in the possession of the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care that lacked a legitimate forensic purpose.' 'The Commission accepted that there was no basis to question the...