A claim for public interest immunity must be supported by evidence demonstrating the currency and sensitivity of the information, so as to constitute a compelling case for maintaining secrecy
For a lesson in how not to run a claim for public interest immunity, see the judicial critique of the woeful effort in Holloway v Commonwealth of Australia [2016] VSC 317. Since succeeding in a claim for public interest immunity in WA v Christie (2005) 30 WAR 514, I’ve argued many of these cases. There are some basic lessons here:
- the deponent of your affidavit in support should read the all the documents the claim relates to ([19]);
- the basis of redactions should be explained if it is not self-evident ([22])
- distinctions between reasons for redaction should be indicated ([55]); and, above all,
- your claims should be consistent and not over material already in the public domain: [130].
The case can be found in JADE: https://jade.io/article/480393