O'Grady and Veterinary Surgeons Board of Queensland
(1998 S0081, 10 September 1998)
The applicant was a veterinary surgeon who sought access to a complaint against him made to the respondent Board by a complainant whose name was specified in the applicant's FOI access application.
The complainant objected to the release of the letter of complaint on the basis that it had been made in confidence. The terms of the Board's response to the applicant's FOI access application had confirmed the complainant's identity (although this would have been obvious to the applicant in any event on account of the complainant's past conduct).
The Information Commissioner found that there was no equitable obligation of confidence binding the Board not to disclose the substance of the complaint to the applicant, as it must have been clear that it would be necessary for the Board to reveal the substance of the complaint to the applicant in order to properly investigate the complaint. The Information Commissioner found that no part of the letter of complaint qualified for exemption from disclosure to the applicant under s.46(1)(a) or s.46(1)(b) of the FOI Act.
