XY Limited, c/o JS Solicitors and Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (FOI Act 2014)

In conducting this review, I have had regard to the submissions of the applicant, to the submissions of the Department, to the content of the records, and to the provisions of the FOI Acts. I have decided to conclude the review by making a formal, binding decision.

I should explain the approach to the granting of access to parts of records. Section 2 of the FOI Act defines "record" as including "a copy or part of any thing that falls within paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d)" of the definition of a record. Section 18 of the FOI Act provides for the deletion of exempt information and the granting of access to a copy of a record with such exempt information removed. This should be done where it is practicable to do so and where the copy of the record thus created would not be misleading.

Section 22(12)(b) of the FOI Act provides that a decision to refuse to grant access to a record "shall be presumed not to have been justified unless the head concerned shows to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that the decision was justified."

Although I am obliged to give reasons for my decision, Section 25(3) of the FOI Act requires the me to take all reasonable precautions in the course of a review to prevent disclosure of information contained in an exempt record. This means that the extent to which I can describe the content of the records or give detailed reasons for my decision is limited.

The release of a record under the FOI Act is understood, effectively, to be equivalent to its release to the world at large.