Blackburn and Mackay City Council

Blackburn and Mackay City Council

(2004 F0653, 30 August 2005)

Sufficiency of search

The applicant sought access to documents held by the respondent in relation to complaints regarding premises in a neighbouring industrial estate.  The applicant raised concerns that further documents were held by the respondent and had not been provided to her in response to her FOI access application. 

Applying the principles stated in Shepherd and Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning (1994) 1 QAR 464, Commissioner Taylor was satisfied that the searches and inquiries conducted by the respondent in an effort to locate additional documents had been reasonable in all the circumstances of the case, and that there were no reasonable grounds for believing that additional responsive documents existed in the respondent’s possession or under its control.