Stewart and Department of Police

Stewart and Queensland Police Service
(1999 S0060, 28 July 1999) 

The issue for determination was whether the applicant was required to pay a $30.00 application fee in order to obtain access to the documents concerning an incident involving a police officer, the applicant, and the applicant's son. 

The Deputy Information Commissioner was satisfied that some of the documents in issue contained information which was properly to be characterised as information which solely concerned the applicant's personal affairs; some were properly to be characterised as containing information which solely concerned the personal affairs of the applicant's son; and the remainder were properly to be characterised as containing information which concerned the shared personal affairs of the applicant and his son. 

The Deputy Information Commissioner held that the fact that one requested document contained no information which could properly be characterised as information concerning the applicant's personal affairs meant that, in accordance with s.6 of the FOI Regulation, a $30.00 fee was payable in respect of the applicant's FOI access application.  The Deputy Information Commissioner observed that even if the applicant's son had made his own FOI access application, an application fee would still have been payable by him, as some of the documents in issue comprised information which solely concerned his father's personal affairs.