Robbins and Brisbane North Regional Health Authority
(1993 S0220, 19 August 1994)
This case commenced on the basis of a deemed refusal of access, but during the course of the review, the respondent agency agreed to give access to documents falling within the terms of the FOI access application.
The applicant, however, asserted an entitlement to additional documents. The Information Commissioner held that those documents did not fall within the terms of the FOI access application, and that it is not possible for an applicant to unilaterally extend the terms of an FOI access application at the external review stage (although there would be no impediment to the terms of the FOI access application being extended by agreement with the respondent agency, and there is nothing to prevent an applicant from making a fresh application for access to matter which falls outside the scope of an earlier FOI access application).