Ogawa and Department of Police
(210608, 7 April 2009)
Section 28A(1) of the FOI Act – Refusal of access – document nonexistent or unlocatable
The applicant sought access to documents held by the Department of Police (Department) relating to a charge and complaint made in relation to her.
The Department had relied on section 22(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 1992 (FOI Act) to refuse access to documents, however in the course of the external review, the Department submitted that the requested documents did not exist.
Having considered the Department’s submissions relating to searches and enquiries undertaken by the Department to locate documents, Assistant Commissioner Corby decided that the Department had taken all the reasonable steps necessary to locate any documents responsive to the applicant’s FOI Application and there were reasonable grounds to be satisfied that the requested documents did not exist.
Accordingly, Assistant Commissioner Corby found that access to the requested documents was refused under section 28A(1) of the FOI Act on the basis that the documents did not exist.