Tanner and Gold Coast City Council

Application number:
2004 F0231
Decision date:
Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004

Tanner and Gold Coast City Council
 (2004 F0231, 30 June 2004) 

Identity of a confidential source of information 

The applicant sought access to the identity of a person who complained to the respondent about the applicant's unregistered dog.  (The dog was of a breed not allowed to be kept on the Gold Coast and was subsequently removed from the applicant's home.)  The applicant stated during the course of the review that she did not want to pursue access to the identity of any genuine complainant.  However, she maintained that the respondent was concealing the identity of an officer of the respondent who had visited the applicant's home, and whom the applicant believed was the real source of the complaint.  AC Barker decided that the matter in issue, comprising the name and the initials of the complainant, was exempt matter under s.42(1)(b) of the FOI Act.  The name and initials were not those of any officer of the respondent who investigated the complaint or ordered the removal of the dog.