Rate NSW Dept of Communities & Justice
There are occasions when the public decides to exercise its right to access NSW court records and other NSW departmental records.
For example, these records may have originated with NSW Family & Community Services (FACS) and may be inclusive of fundamental government records, or as some FACS cases require formal court decisions, incorporate court records.
Another example of court records would be, documents concerning Administrative Review matters heard through NCAT, inclusive of Statements, Submissions, and Evidence.
Clearly there are numerous records originating from a number of NSW government agencies that fall under the umbrella of record keeping with the NSW Department of Communities & Justice, better known as Justice NSW.
One of the difficulties in understanding a Determination in response to a request for information is the reasoning given for withholding requested records.
The GIPA Act 2009 sets out a number of considerations an agency can apply to the content of records resulting in withholding the information requested (either in part or in whole), for reasons ranging from the prevention of disclosing personal information details, to medical record information, to information classified as legal professional privilege, to a blanket Exempt Information categorisation which sees the entirety of the documents of interest refused for release.
The only considerations an Agency can take into account are those listed at Section 14 of the GIPA Act 2009, which are set out in a series of Tables. As such, Agencies are expected to process requests for information on the merits of the request and most definitely not on the personal opinions of the officer processing the request(s).
It may be difficult to understand how and why Justice NSW is the department to lodge a request for information, and moreso how Justice NSW formed its decision.
This section of the site offers the public the opportunity to raise any concerns, in particular to openly discuss experiences had while interracting with Justice NSW in relation to freedom of information requests.
This is the first time the public will have access to a platform that gives them a voice.
All feedback is welcome, whether positive or negative. To Rate Justice NSW, please complete the form immediately below.
Name Withheld for Privacy Reasons, 11.02.2025
"Dear Telina,As you have been fully aware we are laypersons, we have no legal experience whatsoever and no access to solicitors; we found the GIPA Act and the Court’s processes complicated, confusing and time consuming, with the decisions they made overly technical and full of unnecessary legal jargon.
We wanted to walk away and give up so many times. Well today we finally did. We still don’t understand why they wouldn’t work with us; they’re so out of touch with regular people. As you know we still don’t have any answers, we're still a very long way from the truth.
This was about the pain of losing of our beautiful son under suspicious circumstances, and also about his legacy; OUR son, nobody else's. This was about OUR family! We weren’t invading anyone’s privacy! This fiasco and atrocious example of our government services gone mad has left us angry and caused us more trauma and suffering if that were possible. If it wasn’t for your assistance and support along the way we would have been totally alone.
We had nowhere else to go, as far as we can tell this is the only service helping the public understand how freedom of information works in NSW. We couldn’t believe all your time and assistance was totally free! So a huge thank you Telina from our whole family and for all the work you do ,” wrote a representative of the family. (Excerpt)
We wanted to walk away and give up so many times. Well today we finally did. We still don’t understand why they wouldn’t work with us; they’re so out of touch with regular people. As you know we still don’t have any answers, we're still a very long way from the truth.
This was about the pain of losing of our beautiful son under suspicious circumstances, and also about his legacy; OUR son, nobody else's. This was about OUR family! We weren’t invading anyone’s privacy! This fiasco and atrocious example of our government services gone mad has left us angry and caused us more trauma and suffering if that were possible. If it wasn’t for your assistance and support along the way we would have been totally alone.
We had nowhere else to go, as far as we can tell this is the only service helping the public understand how freedom of information works in NSW. We couldn’t believe all your time and assistance was totally free! So a huge thank you Telina from our whole family and for all the work you do ,” wrote a representative of the family. (Excerpt)
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August & September 2022 - NSW Right to Information
(2) Right to Information officers within Justice NSW issued Determinations on a request for the same information, that is an initial request and a request for internal review of Determination, which revealed officers trawled through case law and the internet searching for information about a GIPA Applicant that would have a direct negative impact on whether or not requested information would be released.
Officers referred to the Applicant as being "fixated, querulous, and vexatious" within their Determinations. Damning case law was relied upon, albeit the Applicant won her appeal and succeeded in having that case law overturned on the basis the NCAT Tribunal Member had acted with bias.
There was no mention of the succeeding case law..................
Both officers neglected to identify themselves, effectively issuing their Determinations anonymously. This is the kind of example of what to expect from NSW government Right to Information officers, who cowardly hide behind their agency whilst causing maximum damage to a member of the public (supposedly) exercising their legally enforceable right.
This example of what to expect eminates from the top of the state's hierarchy, that is NSW Dept of Communities & Justice, or Justice NSW, placing itself as a role model in the freedom of information arena.
A member of the public would, following such a Determination, find themselves fighting to clear their name against an anonymous ghost figure, a figure with full access to agency resources including representation by the NSW Crown Solicitor, whilst standing alone and un-represented before the NCAT.
Currently NSW Right to Information & Privacy Officers employed by NSW government agencies are not mandated to undertake formal training or obtain formal qualifications.
One NSW Agency has confirmed it currently has a Right to Information Officer in place that occupied the role of Weigh Bridge Operator immediately preceeding the Information Access role.
The NSW Information & Privacy Commissioner has advised any training currently available to these officers is not regulated.