Miskelly v Transport for NSW [2017] NSWCATAD 207

Miskelly v Transport for NSW [2017] NSWCATAD 207

Transport for NSW did not establish that disclosure of the RailSys database information as at 12 April 2016 could reasonably be expected to cause any of the asserted prejudicial effects under clauses 1(e), 1(f), 1(h) or 4(e) of the Table to s 14 of the GIPA Act. The information was a historical snapshot of a database updated and superseded daily, there was no evidence that disclosure would prejudice deliberations, agency functions, a review, research, industrial relations, or infrastructure projects, and the possibility of misunderstanding could not be taken into account. The cumulative or mosaic-effect argument was not made out. The public interest in disclosure, including informing the...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
26 June 2017
Procedural Posture
Administrative Review of a Decision Concerning Access to Government Information Under the Government Information (public Access) Act 2009 / Principal Judgment After Hearing
Outcome
The respondent's decision was set aside and the requested RailSys database information was ordered to be released in addition to information already provided to the applicant.
Legal Topics
['government Information (public Access) Act 2009' 'overriding Public Interest Against Disclosure' 'public Interest Considerations in Favour of Disclosure' 'deliberative Process of an Agency' 'effective Exercise of Agency Functions' 'rail Sys Database and Train Timetabling Information']
['administrative Law' 'government Information Access'] ['government Information (public Access) Act 2009' 'overriding Public Interest Against Disclosure' 'public Interest Considerations in Favour of Disclosure' 'deliberative Process of an Agency' 'effective Exercise of Agency Functions' 'rail Sys Database and Train Timetabling Information']

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Procedural Posture

Administrative Review of a Decision Concerning Access to Government Information Under the Government Information (public Access) Act 2009 / Principal Judgment After Hearing

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether there was an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information requested by the applicant as contained in the RailSys database as at 12 April 2016.' 'Whether disclosure could reasonably be expected to reveal a deliberation so as to prejudice the deliberative process of Transport for NSW.' "Whether disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice the effective exercise of Transport for NSW's functions." 'Whether disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice the conduct of any review by revealing its results.' 'Whether disclosure could reasonably prejudice the conduct of research by revealing its results.' 'Whether the cumulative effect of disclosure with information ordered to be released in earlier proceedings justified refusal of access.']

Ratio Decidendi

Transport for NSW did not establish that disclosure of the RailSys database information as at 12 April 2016 could reasonably be expected to cause any of the asserted prejudicial effects under clauses 1(e), 1(f), 1(h) or 4(e) of the Table to s 14 of the GIPA Act. The information was a historical snapshot of a database updated and superseded daily, there was no evidence that disclosure would prejudice deliberations, agency functions, a review, research, industrial relations, or infrastructure projects, and the possibility of misunderstanding could not be taken into account. The cumulative or mosaic-effect argument was not made out. The public interest in disclosure, including informing the...

Court Disposition

The respondent's decision was set aside and the requested RailSys database information was ordered to be released in addition to information already provided to the applicant.

Orders

  • ['The decision of the respondent is set aside.' 'In addition to the information already provided to the applicant, the following information is to be released: the information requested by the applicant as contained in the RailSys database as at 12 April 2016.']