Styles v Wollondilly Shire Council [2016] NSWCATAD 182

Styles v Wollondilly Shire Council [2016] NSWCATAD 182

The Tribunal held that the access application, as clarified by the Applicant's letter of 26 November 2015, remained broad, was not confined to information dated between 1920 and 1970, extended at least to information concerning the 2013 renaming of the playground to Emmett Park, and did not exclude microfiche until 9 December 2015. The Council was therefore entitled and obliged to undertake the microfiche and TRIM searches it performed before that date and to estimate further processing work, including assessment and possible consultation. The decision to require an advance deposit was justified. However, because the Applicant had already applied for Tribunal review of the advance deposit...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
19 May 2016
Procedural Posture
Administrative Review Concerning a Formal Access Application Under the Government Information (public Access) Act 2009 / Review of the Respondent's Decision to Request an Advance Deposit and Purported Decision to Refuse to Deal With the Access Application
Outcome
The refusal to deal with the access application was set aside, and the decision to request payment of an advance deposit was affirmed with the payment date extended to 16 June 2016.
Legal Topics
['government Information' 'processing Charge' 'advance Deposit' 'access Application Scope' 'refusal to Deal With Access Application']
['administrative Law' 'government Information Access'] ['government Information' 'processing Charge' 'advance Deposit' 'access Application Scope' 'refusal to Deal With Access Application']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Administrative Review Concerning a Formal Access Application Under the Government Information (public Access) Act 2009 / Review of the Respondent's Decision to Request an Advance Deposit and Purported Decision to Refuse to Deal With the Access Application

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the Respondent had power to refuse to deal with the access application after the Applicant had applied to the Tribunal for review of the decision to require an advance deposit.' 'Whether the access application was broad enough to require searches of microfiche records and records concerning Emmett Park up to around 2013.' "Whether the Respondent's decision to require payment of an advance deposit was justified by the work already undertaken and estimated further work."]

Ratio Decidendi

The Tribunal held that the access application, as clarified by the Applicant's letter of 26 November 2015, remained broad, was not confined to information dated between 1920 and 1970, extended at least to information concerning the 2013 renaming of the playground to Emmett Park, and did not exclude microfiche until 9 December 2015. The Council was therefore entitled and obliged to undertake the microfiche and TRIM searches it performed before that date and to estimate further processing work, including assessment and possible consultation. The decision to require an advance deposit was justified. However, because the Applicant had already applied for Tribunal review of the advance deposit...

Court Disposition

The refusal to deal with the access application was set aside, and the decision to request payment of an advance deposit was affirmed with the payment date extended to 16 June 2016.

Orders

  • ['The decision of the Respondent to refuse to deal with the access application is set aside.' 'The decision of the Respondent to request payment of an advance deposit is affirmed. The date for payment is extended to 16 June 2016.']