Dekker and The University of Queensland

Application number:
1994 S0119
Decision date:
Thursday, Dec 16, 1999

Dekker and The University of Queensland
(1994 S0119, 16 December 1999) 

The applicant applied to the respondent for amendment, under s.53 of the FOI Act, of two 'Employer Form 3' forms that were forwarded by the respondent to the Workers' Compensation Board in response to applications for workers' compensation made by the applicant.  In relation to one of the Form 3s, the applicant argued that it should have included a reference to the fact that she had reported to the respondent that chemicals had affected her adversely at work.  The applicant argued that the other Form 3 incorrectly recorded her date of resignation. 

The Information Commissioner found that the applicant was not entitled to apply to the respondent for amendment of the documents in issue as she had not obtained those documents from the respondent but, apparently, from the Workers' Compensation Board.  The Information Commissioner went on to discuss other reasons why the applicant had no legal entitlement to have the information in those documents amended. 

In relation to the 'report of chemicals' issue, the Information Commissioner found that the statement actually recorded in the Form 3 was not inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date or misleading as there was no evidence that a formal complaint concerning the effects of chemicals on the applicant had been made.  In relation to the 'date of resignation issue', the Information Commissioner found that the date on which a person resigns from their employment is not information that relates to a persons personal affairs but rather, relates to their employment affairs.