OS v Mid-Western Regional Council (No 3) [2011] NSWADT 230

OS v Mid-Western Regional Council (No 3) [2011] NSWADT 230

The aerial photograph became personal information within s 4(1) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 when it was used in the Council report identifying OS, his wife and their property. However, the Council was undertaking a lawful investigation into the categorisation of OS' property for rating purposes under specific legislative authority in the Local Government Act 1993, and the Privacy Commissioner's investigative functions Direction exempted the Council from the information protection principles alleged to have been breached. The Tribunal therefore had no jurisdiction to determine the external review application, which was dismissed.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
29 September 2011
Procedural Posture
Application for External Review Under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 / Principal Judgment Following Appeal Panel Orders to Consider Fresh Evidence on Point 6 and Council's Defences
Outcome
The application is dismissed.
Legal Topics
['personal Information' 'information Protection Principles' 'investigative Functions Exemption' 'council Rates Categorisation' 'publicly Available Publication']
['privacy Law' 'administrative Law' 'local Government'] ['personal Information' 'information Protection Principles' 'investigative Functions Exemption' 'council Rates Categorisation' 'publicly Available Publication']

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Procedural Posture

Application for External Review Under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 / Principal Judgment Following Appeal Panel Orders to Consider Fresh Evidence on Point 6 and Council's Defences

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the information contained in the aerial photograph referred to in point 6 of OS' internal review request is personal information within the meaning of s 4(1) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998." 'Whether the Direction relating to the Processing of Personal Information by NSW Public Sector Agencies in relation to their Investigative Function applied so as to exempt the agency from relevant information protection principles.' 'If not, whether the aerial photograph in Point 6 was information about an individual contained in a publicly available publication and therefore excluded from the definition of personal information by s 4(3)(b) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.']

Ratio Decidendi

The aerial photograph became personal information within s 4(1) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 when it was used in the Council report identifying OS, his wife and their property. However, the Council was undertaking a lawful investigation into the categorisation of OS' property for rating purposes under specific legislative authority in the Local Government Act 1993, and the Privacy Commissioner's investigative functions Direction exempted the Council from the information protection principles alleged to have been breached. The Tribunal therefore had no jurisdiction to determine the external review application, which was dismissed.

Court Disposition

The application is dismissed.

Orders

  • ['The application is dismissed.']