EVANS V. AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES INVESTMENT COMMISSION [1999] AATA 138
Commonwealth AAT – 12 March 1999
FACTS
ASIC has a database for queries by members of the public about unclaimed monies held by ASIC in their name. The unclaimed monies are moneys resulting from the acquisition of shares from dissenting shareholders which have not been paid to the former shareholder under Part 9.7 Corporations Law. The database facilitates payment of approved claims for payment of unclaimed monies.
Evans was successful at putting persons in touch with unclaimed monies due to them. He produced evidence of letters sent to him by writers who had recovered the unclaimed monies due to them and whom paid him a fee for his help. He said that he had been pursuing such investigations since 1989 as an income producing business. He requested that information in the database be released to him. ASIC refused the request on the grounds that the database contained personal information which was not to be disclosed in accordance with section 41 of the FOI Act.
ISSUES
What is personal information under the Act?
Could personal information be disclosed to a person other than the person listed on the database under the Act?
Would disclosure of personal information to the public be unreasonable disclosure and therefore prohibited under the Act?
FINDING
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