Overview of Section 44(1) FOI Act

Section summary

Matter that relates to the personal affairs of a person is exempt, unless its disclosure would, on balance, be in the public interest. However, this exemption does not apply to matter relating solely to the personal affairs of the applicant.

Other relevant FOI Act sections

Section 6 FOI Act
Section 6 provides that the fact that a document contains matter relating to the personal affairs of the applicant is to be taken into account when deciding the public interest in disclosing the matter and the effect that disclosure might have.

Section 50A FOI Act
Section 50A(3) of the FOI Act provides that access can be refused to matter containing the personal affairs of a child if access would not be in the best interests of the child.

Section 53 FOI Act
Section 53 of the FOI Act provides that a person may apply for amendment to information relating to the person’s personal affairs, that they claim is inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date or misleading.

Section 105 FOI Act
This section outlines precautions to be taken when granting access to documents that relate to the personal affairs of a person.