FF and Department of Police

FF and Queensland Police Service
(2004 F0313, 24 September 2004) 

Identity of a confidential source of information 

The applicant sought access to witness statements relating to an allegation that she was involved in the commission of an offence.  (Following an investigation by the QPS no charges were laid against the applicant.)  The applicant contended that she knew the identity of the persons who provided statements and that the allegations had been made mischievously in an attempt to harm her. 

Applying the principles in McEniery and Medical Board of Queensland (1994) 1 QAR 349, and in Bayliss and Queensland Health (1997) 1 QAR 4, Assistant Commissioner Barker found that all of the matter in issue was exempt under s.42(1)(b) of the FOI Act. 

AC Barker also found, applying the principles in Stewart and Department of Transport (1993) 1 QAR 227, that the matter in issue was properly to be characterised either as information which solely concerned the personal affairs of persons other than the applicant, or as information which concerned the shared personal affairs of those persons and the applicant, and that it was prima facie exempt from disclosure under s.44(1) of the FOI Act, subject to the application of the public interest balancing test incorporated within s.44(1).  AC Barker then evaluated the public interest considerations weighing for and against disclosure of the matter in issue, and decided that disclosure of the matter in issue would not, on balance, be in the public interest.