Wong and Medical Board of Queensland

Wong and Medical Board of Queensland

(2003 F0385, 22 January 2004)

Sufficiency of search – Legal professional privilege

The applicant sought access to documents that concerned her health assessment and the decision of the respondent to de-register her as a medical practitioner.  The applicant raised a number of 'sufficiency of search' issues.  The respondent was unable to locate one folio that was listed as an attachment to a particular letter, and the applicant also asserted that certain reports and other documents relating to the supervision of her while she was employed as a medical practitioner at a medical centre had not been located or dealt with by the respondent.

Applying the principles stated in Shepherd and Department of Housing, Local Government & Planning (1994) 1 QAR 464, Assistant Commissioner Moss was satisfied that the searches and inquiries which the respondent had conducted in an effort to locate the requested documents had been reasonable in all the circumstances of the case, and that there were no reasonable grounds for believing that there were any additional relevant documents in the respondent's possession or under its control.

AC Moss decided that the matter remaining in issue was exempt matter under s.43(1) of the FOI Act, as that matter comprised confidential communications between the respondent and its solicitors made for the dominant purpose of obtaining or giving legal advice or professional legal assistance.