Are names of agency officers exempt?

When are names of agency officers exempt under the Victorian FOI Act?

On 20 February 2018 the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ("Tribunal") decided a case which sets out the correct and preferable approach for agencies in determining whether names of agency officers are exempt from access under s 33(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic).

In Coulson v Department of Premier and Cabinet [2018] VCAT 229 the Tribunal reviewed some earlier cases from 2008, 2010 and 2012 and concluded as follows:

"With the passage of years since those decisions and the increasing prominence of rights of privacy, in my view an approach regarding disclosure of the names of staff holding non-executive positions as unreasonable disclosure is the correct and preferable approach."

As some of you may be aware, an earlier 2008 case held that officers who were of a position of VPS 6 and above were accountable and their names ought to be released, whilst those VPS 5 and below ought not.

The trend more recently has been for the Tribunal to determine that disclosure of the names of non-executive staff was unreasonable.  That this is the correct and preferable approach has now been stated with some certainty by the Tribunal.

If you are unsure about how that may affect your agency in handling FOI requests, please do not hesitate to contact us.