GRO and Department of Police

Application number:
1999 S0244
Decision date:
Friday, Mar 31, 2000

GRO and Queensland Police Service
(1999 S0244, 31 March 2000) 

This review concerned a 'sufficiency of search' issue. 

On the material before the Information Commissioner, the Commissioner accepted that it was probable that documents falling within the scope of the applicant's FOI access application were destroyed prior to the access application being made, in accordance with the respondent’s Disposal Schedule. 

Applying the principles detailed in the decision in Shepherd and Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning (1994) 1 QAR 464, the Information Commissioner found that there were no reasonable grounds to believe that further documents falling within the terms of the relevant access application, existed in the possession or control of the respondent.  Further, the Information Commissioner found that the search efforts made by the respondent in an effort to locate any such documents were reasonable in all the circumstances of the case.