Jennings and Department of Justice and Attorney-General
(1993 S0186, 26 September 1994)
In this case, the Information Commissioner invoked s.77(1) of the FOI Act, by deciding not to deal further with the applicant’s application for review because it was misconceived and lacking in substance. It was inherently unlikely that the respondent agency would hold any documents containing the particular statistics which the applicant sought ('statistics re perjury cases in Family Law that have been prosecuted last 7 years') since they relate to matters which are the responsibility of Commonwealth government agencies. Having been informed of this, the applicant failed to put forward any evidence to suggest that the information he sought was in the possession or control of the respondent agency, or otherwise to cast doubt on the correctness of the decision under review. In these circumstances, the Information Commissioner exercised the power conferred by s.77 of the FOI Act.