Faint and Wide Bay Regional Health Authority

Application number:
1995 S0163
Decision date:
Wednesday, Jun 12, 1996

Faint and Wide Bay Regional Health Authority
(1995 S0163, 12 June 1996) 

The Information Commissioner considered the sufficiency of search conducted for documents relating to the applicant, in accordance with the principles set out in Shepherd and Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning (1994) 1 QAR 464.  The Information Commissioner found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that a medical file relating to the applicant had, at least at one time, been held by the Bundaberg Base Hospital. 

The Information Commissioner concluded that it was most likely that the applicant's file had been destroyed after being contaminated with asbestos in 1986.  In any event, the Information Commissioner found that, given the extensive searches undertaken by the Authority, its search efforts had been reasonable in all the circumstances.