REASONS FOR THE IC DECISION
41 The written reasons for the IC Decision are published as Rex Patrick and Attorney-General [2023] AICmr 9 (28 February 2023). The outcome of the review is summarised in the opening paragraphs:
1. Under s 55K of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), I vary the decision made by an authorised officer in the Office of the Attorney-General on 14 April 2020, which refused access to the document at issue on the basis that the document was exempt from disclosure under the Cabinet documents exemption (s 34) and the legal professional privilege exemption (s 42) of the FOI Act.
2. Following changes to the person occupying the role of 'Attorney-General' I am satisfied that the current Attorney-General does not have possession of any document at issue. This means that, for the purposes of this Information Commissioner (IC) review, any relevant document is no longer an 'official document of the Minister' to which the mandatory access rule in s 11A(3) of the FOI Act applies.
42 The Commissioner referred to the "mandatory access rule" in s 11A(3) of the FOI Act. She said that whether the Document was in the possession of Mr Dreyfus and therefore an "official document of a Minister" was determinative of the application of that rule. She identified the issue for consideration as whether the Document "remains an 'official document of a Minister' to which access can be provided". The Commissioner said that the issue to be determined was whether the document was in the possession of the current Attorney-General.
43 The Commissioner referred to three earlier administrative decisions in which it was found that a document that was not in the possession of a newly appointed Minister (after a change of Government) no longer met the description of an official document of the Minister, notwithstanding that it might previously have met that description: Phillip Morris Ltd and Treasurer [2013] AICmr 88 (13 December 2023), Thomas and Prime Minister [2014] AICmr 18 (20 February 2014) and 'ACY' and Attorney-General (Freedom of Information) [2023] AICmr 7 (22 February 2023).
44 The Commissioner went on to explain why she was satisfied that the Document was not in the possession of the current Attorney-
