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Peng v BAK10CUT PTY LTD & Anor (No. 3) [2022] QIRC 112

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Date: 28 March 2022
Tribunal: Queensland Industrial Relations Commission
Tribunal Member: McLennan IC
Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) Sections: ss 25, 48
Rights Considered: Right to Privacy and Reputation
Other Legislation: Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) s 451; Industrial Relations (Tribunals) Rules 2011 (Qld) rr 6, 58, 59, 61, 64E, 64F, 226
Keywords: Privacy and Confidentiality

McLennan IC considered whether the interference with the complainant's right to privacy and reputation (section 25) under the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) was justified in granting the disclosure of documents in pre-trial proceedings.

This case concerned an application in existing proceedings where it was considered whether documents produced pursuant to an Attendance Notice issued under the Industrial Relations (Tribunals) Act 2011 (Qld) could be provided to each party in the dispute.

McLennan IC considered that the filing of the Attendance Notice to produce rather than a Notice of Non-Party Disclosure involved a failure to comply with the rules and amounted to a potential abuse of process. However, the failure to comply with the rules was not fatal to seeking production of the documents by the Attendance Notice and was supported by the purpose of the Industrial Relations (Tribunals) Rules 2011 (Qld) under r 6. The Tribunal ultimately decided to grant an order permitting a copy of the documents to be produced to either party on request.

In making the decision, McLennan IC considered the right to privacy and confidentiality in accordance with s 25 of the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) in view that such disclosure of documents interfered with the privacy, family, home or correspondence of the complainant. However, this interference was justified in the ‘interests of justice’ in proceedings where the respondents were defending serious allegations.

Visit the decision: Peng v BAK10CUT PTY LTD & Anor (No. 3) [2022] QIRC 112

See subsequent decision: Peng v BAK10CUT PTY LTD & Anor (No. 4) [2022] QIRC 352