Privacy Act s 98 Information Commissioner Initiated Applications
Verity Pane made this Freedom of Information request to Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
I ask that this be dealt with as an administrative information request release first, but failing that, as a s 17 FOI request, for summary details on any exercise by the Information Commissioner of the Privacy Act 1988's s 98 powers, to seek injunctive and/or ancillary relief against another party.
Basically if it has ever happened (if not, an explicit statement to that fact sought), and if it has, when, against whom, and the outcome.
If you have any details on the use of s 98 by other parties, that would be welcome too (if you have such information).
Yours faithfully,
Verity Pane
Our reference: FOIREQ17/00042
Dear Ms Pane
Your Freedom of Information request
I refer to your request for access to a document, made under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI Act), which was received by the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on 14 June 2017.
You sought access to:
… summary details on any exercise by the Information Commissioner of the
Privacy Act 1988's s 98 powers, to seek injunctive and/or ancillary relief
against another party.
Basically if it has ever happened (if not, an explicit statement to that
fact sought), and if it has, when, against whom, and the outcome.
If you have any details on the use of s 98 by other parties, that would be
welcome too (if you have such information).
Timeframes for dealing with your request
Section 15 of the FOI Act requires this office to process your request no
later than 30 days after the day we received it.
We received your request on 14 June 2017 and therefore must process it by
Friday 14 July 2017.
Section 15(6) of the FOI Act allows us a further 30 days when we need to
consult with third parties about certain information, such as business
documents or documents affecting their personal privacy. We will advise
you if this is necessary.
Disclosure Log
Information released under the FOI Act may later be published online on
our disclosure log, subject to certain exceptions (for example, personal
information will not be published where this would be unreasonable.)
If you would like to discuss this matter please contact me on (02) 9284
9802 during business hours or by email at [1][email address].
Regards
Raewyn Harlock | Assistant Director | FOI Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY NSW 2001 | [2]www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: +61 2 9284 9802 | Email: [3][email address]
Protecting information rights – advancing information policy
[4]OAIC banner for email sig
Dear Ms Pane
A decision in response to the freedom of information request you made on
14 June 2017 is attached.
Regards
Raewyn Harlock | Assistant Director | FOI Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY NSW 2001 | [1]www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: +61 2 9284 9802 | Email: [2][email address]
Protecting information rights – advancing information policy
[3]OAIC banner for email sig
References
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Dear Raewyn,
Thank you for your response, and I appreciate the additional information on how to obtain s 98 applications by parties other than the Information Commissioner (even though that was not the explicit subject of my FOI), as something that may be of interest.
It is also pleasing to note, contrary to the way the response on the s 44 exercises was done, you did seek information from relevant parties within the OAIC on whether the Information Commissioner had ever sought a s 98 injunction and provided that too - which is appreciated.
I am satisfied with this FOI response, and thank you for your assistance on this FOI.
Yours sincerely,
Verity Pane
Locutus Sum left an annotation ()
I make this note only for a purpose to make something clear to other users of Right to Know. In the first email the applicant mentions "s 17 FOI request". The expression has the possibility to suggest to a reader that there are different sections for different kinds of requests. This is not so. When a request is made under the Act, it is always made under the rights given to the applicant by s 15 ("Requests for access").
But section 17 is important because it says that when an applicant asks for a document and the document does not actually exist but it could be produced using the agency's computers, then the agency must treat the (s 15) request "as if it were a request for access to a written document so produced". There is more in the section but this is the heart. It is a section about how the agency must behave, not a section about the basis of the applicant's request.
Verity Pane left an annotation ()
While technically a refusal, have decided to mark this response as partial successful, given this is an FOI response that went a little above and beyond, and deserves a little credit.