DMW and DMX v NSW Local Land Services [2019] NSWCATAD 128

DMW and DMX v NSW Local Land Services [2019] NSWCATAD 128

NSW Local Land Services did not breach the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. The Applicants' personal information was disclosed while officers were attempting to answer DMW's original inquiry about whether permission was needed to clear regrowth along a fence line. The disclosures to the Council and the LMBC were directly related to the purpose for which the information was collected, and the Respondent had no reason to believe that DMW or DMX would object. In any event, the disclosures were reasonably necessary to enable the inquiry to be referred between public sector agencies in the context of a complex statutory land-clearing scheme involving multiple agencies,...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
02 July 2019
Procedural Posture
Administrative Review of Alleged Breach of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 / Final Decision After Hearing
Outcome
No breach of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 found; no further action taken.
Legal Topics
['disclosure of Personal Information' 'information Protection Principles' 'inter Agency Referral of Inquiries' 'exemptions for Information Exchanges Between Public Sector Agencies']
['administrative Law' 'privacy and Personal Information'] ['disclosure of Personal Information' 'information Protection Principles' 'inter Agency Referral of Inquiries' 'exemptions for Information Exchanges Between Public Sector Agencies']

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Procedural Posture

Administrative Review of Alleged Breach of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 / Final Decision After Hearing

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether NSW Local Land Services breached the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 by disclosing the Applicants' personal information to Hawkesbury City Council and the Office of Environment and Heritage's Land Management Biosecurity Conservation Helpdesk." 'Whether the disclosure was directly related to the purpose for which the information was collected and NSW Local Land Services had no reason to believe the Applicants would object under section 18(1)(a) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.' 'Whether the disclosure was reasonably necessary to enable inquiries to be referred between public sector agencies under section 27A of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.']

Ratio Decidendi

NSW Local Land Services did not breach the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. The Applicants' personal information was disclosed while officers were attempting to answer DMW's original inquiry about whether permission was needed to clear regrowth along a fence line. The disclosures to the Council and the LMBC were directly related to the purpose for which the information was collected, and the Respondent had no reason to believe that DMW or DMX would object. In any event, the disclosures were reasonably necessary to enable the inquiry to be referred between public sector agencies in the context of a complex statutory land-clearing scheme involving multiple agencies,...

Court Disposition

No breach of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 found; no further action taken.

Orders

  • ['The Tribunal determines to take no further action on the matter.']