Tucker v Commissioner of State Revenue

[2023] VSCA 125

Victorian Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Freedom of Information
2. › Exemptions
3. › Documents of government agencies
4. › Legal professional privilege and confidentiality exemptions
5. › Whether Tribunal correctly applied exemptions under ss 30, 32, 33, 34 of Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic)
6. › Redaction under s 25
7. › Public interest override under s 50(4)
8. › Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic), ss 25, 30(1), 32(1), 33(1), 34(1)(b), 34(4)
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Appeals from VCAT
3. › Leave to appeal on questions of law
4. › Threshold requirement of real prospect of success
5. › Replacement of Hulls test by s 148(2A)
6. › Whether proposed appeal raised questions of law or challenged merits
7. › Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (Vic), ss 148(1), 148(2A)
1. Administrative Law
2. › Tribunal review
3. › Review de novo on the merits
4. › Tribunal not bound by intermediate administrative review decision
5. › Adequacy of reasons
6. › Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (Vic), s 117

Quick Take

Section 148(2A) of the VCAT Act, inserted in May 2018, replaced the former Hulls test with a more burdensome requirement that applicants demonstrate the appeal has a real prospect of success, adopting the same test as s 14C of the Supreme Court Act 1986 for leave to appeal in civil proceedings. A VCAT hearing on review of an OVIC decision is a hearing de novo on the merits, and the Tribunal is not bound to adopt the reasoning of the Information Commissioner.