Price and Gatton Shire Council
(2006 F0139, 2 March 2007)
s.22(a) documents to which access may be refused – Sufficiency of search
The applicant sought access to a recording of a general Council meeting. Assistant Commissioner Gittins found that the Council had correctly exercised its discretion to refuse access to the recording under section 22(a) of the FOI Act on the grounds that such a recording can be purchased from the Council under access arrangements made by the Council.
The applicant also sought access to a recording of a meeting of the Environment Advisory Committee of the Council. The Council submitted that the recording was destroyed the day after the meeting following the completion of the minutes of the meeting. The applicant did not dispute the fact that the recording had been destroyed, but contended that the destruction was unlawful. AC Gittins found that there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the recording on the Environment Advisory Committee meeting continued to exist in the possession, or under the control, of the Council. Further, AC Gittins stated that, while there was no evidence to suggest that the Council had acted improperly in destroying the recording, the Information Commissioner does not have power under Part 5 of the FOI Act to make findings regarding whether or not an agency has acted improperly in destroying a document.
