A woman complained about a decision by the Department of Social Welfare to refuse to provide her with the identity of a person who had made serious allegations about her treatment of her children.

The Department informed me that it did not in fact hold the identity of the person who made the allegations against the complainant. However, it did hold a small amount of information about this person that may have been identifying information in the hands of the complainant.

In considering the Department's concerns about the release of this information, I noted that the identity of the person who provides information about another person is considered to be personal information about that other person. Information privacy principles 6 of the Privacy Act provides that person with a right of access to that information but the right is subject to a number of reasons which justify a refusal to make that information available. I considered that section 27(1)(c) of the Act appeared to be relevant to the Department's concerns. That section provides an agency with a reason to refuse to disclose information under principle 6 if the disclosure of the information would be likely:

"to prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences and the right to a fair trial."

I noted that in administering the Children Young Persons and their Families Act the Department relies heavily on receipt of information from sources which understand that their identity will remain confidential. Receipt of such information will often be crucial to the identification of children who are in need of care and control and it is part of the statutory function of the Department to identify such children. I accepted that if the Department released the identifying information about the informant in this case then, in future, this informant and other potential informants would be reluctant to supply information. If the flow of information were to cease or be diminished, then the Department would quite clearly be prejudiced in its maintenance of the law relating to children and young persons.

For these reasons I consider that section 27(1)(c) provided the Department with good reason to withhold the identifying information about the person who supplied information about the complainant.

I noted that the complainant had been given access to the details of the allegations made and advised her of her right to ask the Department to correct this information pursuant to information privacy principles 7 of the Act.

Refusal of Access to Information - Identity of Informant - Information Privacy Principles 6 - Section 27(1)(c) of the Privacy Act 1993.

Access to personal information - Department of Social Welfare - Refusal - Informant identity - Releasing informant identity would be likely to "prejudice the maintenance of the law" - Privacy Act 1993, s 27(1)(c) - Information privacy principle 6