The Federal Court held that whether a document is an 'official document of a Minister' under the FOI Act must be determined by reference to facts at the time of the FOI request, not at the time of any subsequent review decision. The Court found that Ministers have an implied duty not to deal with documents subject to pending FOI requests in ways that would frustrate the requesting party's right to have their request determined according to law. The Court also held that successive Ministers are entitled to demand production of documents from predecessors to discharge FOI obligations.
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