RAL and Medical Board of Queensland

RAL and Medical Board of Queensland
(1999 S0239, 31 March 2000) 

The applicant sought access to documents held by the respondent concerning her complaint to the respondent against a medical practitioner.  The matter in issue comprised parts of a letter written by another medical practitioner to the respondent, setting out his treatment of the applicant and his comments in relation to the applicant's complaint.  He claimed that his letter was exempt under s.41(1) of the FOI Act. 

The Information Commissioner decided that, even if the letter comprised deliberative process matter for the purposes of s.41(1)(a) of the FOI Act (and the Information Commissioner was not satisfied in that regard in relation to all of the information contained in the letter), disclosure of the letter would not, on balance, be contrary to the public interest.  The Information Commissioner therefore decided that the letter was not exempt from disclosure under s.41(1) of the FOI Act.