Balancing the treatment of 'personal information' under FOI and privacy laws: A comparative Australian analysis. Part 2

Part 1 of this paper, published in 'AIAL Forum' 80, looked briefly at: (a) What privacy regime, if any, exists in each Australian jurisdiction, and how is it manifested? (b) What does each privacy regime protect? What falls within the protection offered - for example does it govern a broader concept of 'personal information', or does it exclude certain matters, such as 'health information'? Part 2 of the paper addresses the treatment of personal privacy as a concept under Australia's freedom of information laws. Each Australian jurisdiction deals directly or indirectly with protection of personal privacy to some extent when disclosure of documents under freedom of information laws is being considered. Despite this commonality of approach and the recognition that personal privacy deserves some protection, there appear to be sufficiently divergent approaches taken in how exemptions are applied, and substantial differences in the features which apply to these exemptions, to warrant closer examination and comparison. In Part 2, I look at: (a) How each Australian jurisdiction deals with protection of personal privacy in relation to applications for access under their freedom of information/right to information legislation? What is the nature and scope of each relevant personal privacy related exemption provision or equivalent? (b) How the different jurisdictions manage the balance between privacy and freedom of information in how they treat personal information?