Price and Department of Justice and Attorney-General

Application number:
1996 S0079
Decision date:
Friday, Feb 19, 1999

Price and Department of Justice and Attorney-General
 (1996 S0079, 19 February 1999) 

The applicant wished to obtain access to birth certificates which he considered might be of relevance in legal proceedings, and to records of an attempt to have a dispute between himself and a third party mediated by the Community Justice Program. 

Applying the principles in Shepherd and Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning (1994) 1 QAR 464, the Information Commissioner found that the searches conducted to locate two birth certificates (of persons who may or may not have been born in Queensland) were reasonable in all the circumstances of the case. 

The Information Commissioner found that the matter in issue (including a birth certificate of a person other than the applicant, and information relating to the personal affairs of the third parties contacted in the course of attempts to initiate mediation with the applicant) was exempt matter under s.44(1) of the FOI Act.