Australia, Sept. 6 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 5:

1. This is an application for administrative review of a decision of Insurance and Care NSW (the respondent) concerning an application made under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act) for access to information contained in a Cost of Claims Report (CCR).

2. The applicant sought orders in these proceedings for her name to be suppressed on the basis that there had been previous proceedings under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) (the PPIP Act) in which she might be identified if her name were published in relation to these proceedings.

3. The respondent, Insurance and Care NSW (icare) did not object to the suppression of the applicant's name. I accept that the applicant's name has previously been suppressed in relation to proceedings under the PIPP Act and that publishing her name in these proceedings might undermine those orders. Accordingly I have made orders that disclosure of the applicant's name is prohibited under s 64(1)(a) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) (the NCAT Act). Consistently with previous proceedings, the applicant is known as FMM for the purposes of these proceedings.

4. On 29 January 2025, a delegate of the respondent found that the application was invalid under s 43 of the GIPA Act because the information was excluded information under Sch 2, cl 3 of the GIPA Act.

5. I have decided to set aside the decision under review and remit the matter for reconsideration by the respondent in accordance with the reasons set out below, in particular that the access application was made to Insurance and Care NSW and not to the Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer (the Nominal Insurer).

Background

6. The parties to these proceedings have past dealings in relation to the PPIP Act. Of those proceedings, two matters have been appealed to the Administrative Division of the Tribunal; FMM v Insurance and Care NSW [2023] NSWCATAD 114 (FMM1) and FMM v icare NSW [2024] NSWCATAD 374 (FMM2).

7. The respondent appealed FMM1 to the Appeal Panel in Insurance and Care NSW v FMM [2024] NSWCATAP 43 (FMM AP) and was successful on a point which is relevant to the dispute in this matter.

8. The issue in FMM2 was the disclosure by the respondent of a previous version of a CCR which included the applicant's personal information.

9. On 9 May 2022 the respondent sent an email attaching a CCR intended for the applicant's former employer to Mr Kyle Howes, Director of Workers Comp Savings Pty Ltd. Mr Howes was unconnected with the applicant's former employer and he was not authorised by it to act as its agent or representative in relation to workers compensation matters.

10. A CCR containing the applicant's and other claimants' personal information was subsequently sent to the applicant in the circumstances described in FMM2 at [1] - [7]:

1) The applicant is seeking review of a decision relating to the conduct of the respondent in providing her with information that included her name, names of others and other personal data in a spreadsheet entitled "Cost of Claims Report" (CCR).

2) The disclosure occurred in the context of earlier Tribunal proceedings which concerned an email sent to a third party on 9 May 2022: see FMM v Nominal Insurer [2023] NSWCATAD 114 (FMM1); Insurance and Care NSW v FMM [2024] NSWCATAP 43 (FMM AP). The email sent on 9 May 2022 to an insurance broker had attached to it a spreadsheet containing personal and health information of the applicant. The recipient had opened the email but upon realising that it had been sent in error, deleted it before reading the attachment.

3) In the course of preparing for the hearing of the matter resulting in the FMM1 decision, the applicant applied for the issue of a summons on 14 November 2022 by which she sought production of, among other things, "a full unedited version of the original email that icare sent out to the incorrect employer/broker who received a Report with my personal and sensitive health information complete with attachments, inclusive of the message contained in the body of the email and also including the recipients and sender of this email".

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/198727d281b91c33c3c26f3a)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.