Quest Community Newspapers and Department of Police

Quest Community Newspapers and Queensland Police Service
(1994 S0178, 8 February 2000) 

The Information Commissioner found that matter relating to internal disciplinary proceedings against an officer of the respondent (who did not object to disclosure of the matter) concerning the officer's handling of a bail application, was not exempt from disclosure in the particular circumstances of the case.  In addition to the officer concerned, two other officers had provided statements for the purposes of the disciplinary proceedings. 

The Information Commissioner found that the information communicated by those officers, consisting merely of a routine description of the circumstances leading up to the bail application, was not exempt under s.46(1) and that their identities were not exempt under s.42(1)(b).  While the Information Commissioner acknowledged that matter of this type may qualify for exemption in the circumstances of a particular case (as I found in McCann and Queensland Police Service (1997) 4 QAR 30), in this case the Information Commissioner rejected claims under s.40(c), s.41(1) and s.42(1)(e) of the FOI Act.  However, the Information Commissioner did find that descriptions of injuries of victims, personal details of offenders, and matter that would disclose whether offenders had been charged, granted bail, or convicted as juveniles, were exempt from disclosure under s.44(1) of the FOI Act.