High Court Appeal

On 23 June 2010 the High Court handed down its decision resulting in the grant of access to numerous legal advices previously provdied to the Government.  The case was based on an error of law made by the Court of Appeal which does not have any practical bearing on the application of the FOI Act for decision makers.

However, there were some important findings in relation to the public interest override in s 50(4) of the Victorian FOI Act.  The High Court emphasised that when considering whether to override any exempt documents and before the power to do so can be exercised, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal must first identify a "high-threshold public interest".  It is not enough that access to documents could be justified in the public interest.  The public interest override section was an evaluative standard requiring restraint in the exercise of the power.