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GPO Box 1672
teqsa.gov.au
Melbourne VIC 3001
xxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
Level 11, 452 Flinders Street
1300 739 585
Melbourne VIC 3000
Glen Hamiltonshire
Email
: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Hamiltonshire
1. I refer to your freedom of information (
FOI) request via email received by the Tertiary Education
Quality and Standards Agency (
TEQSA) on 27 November 2025.
2. In that email, you requested access to:
“…all correspondents and documents held by TEQSA relating to Campion College Australia relating
to Stephen McInerney or Stephen Chavura, produced since 1 July 2025”
3. You also asked to exclude duplicates and documents already publicly released, including media
releases, reports, articles and statements to the media, and limit emails to the final message in the
chain as long as previous messages are captured.
4. You agreed to having the names and direct contact details of non-senior staff removed, but
requested that redactions do not include non-personally identifying information including domain and
job titles when redacting email addresses or signature blocks on emails.
Decision on access to documents
5. I am authorised to make decisions under subsection 23(1) of the FOI Act and my decision regarding
your request is set out below.
6. TEQSA has identified 15 documents that fall within the scope of your request (as set out in the
attached schedule). With regard to the documents, I have decided to:
a. Grant access in full to 4 documents.
b. Grant access in part to 11 documents on the basis that they contain information that is:
i. conditionally exempt under section 47F of the FOI Act,
ii. reasonably regarded as irrelevant to your request for access, being:
• names and direct contact details of junior staff of TEQSA, and
• an unintended and incomprehensible transcription on the document at item 2
of the schedule.
7. In reaching my decision, I have taken the following into account:
a) the terms of your request;
b) the document falling within the scope of your request;
c) consultation with TEQSA staff and other third parties about the nature of the document;
d) the FOI Act; and
e) guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI
Act (the
Guidelines).
Conditional exemption – section 47F Personal Privacy
8. Section 47F of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if disclosure would
involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information of any person. ‘Personal information’
means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably
identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or
opinion is recorded in a material form or not (see s 4 of the FOI Act and s 6 of the
Privacy Act
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1988).
9. I have granted partial access to 11 documents that fall within the scope of your request, on the
basis that section 47F applies to personal information contained in those documents, being the full
names (including initials), contact details, and other personal information (including sensitive
information) of senior TEQSA officers and Campion College personnel. I am satisfied that the
disclosure of this personal information would be unreasonable in all the circumstances.
10. In forming this view, I have considered the matters at section 47F(2) separately with respect to the
personal information of the senior TEQSA officers and Campion College personnel.
TEQSA officers
11. I note that the personal information of the senior TEQSA officers is not well known, that the officers
are not known to be associated with the matters in the documents, and that the personal information
is not publicly available. I have also had regard to other matters as permitted by section 47F(2)(d) as
set out below.
12. In particular, I have considered the following:
a. Objections to release of personal information received from the relevant officers (paragraph
6.138 of the Guidelines).
b. It does not appear that any public purpose would be achieved through release of the
personal information (paragraph 6.137(d) of the Guidelines). In forming this view, I note
the information is that of officials that were not involved in any decision-making in relation to
the matter.
c. The FOI Act does not control or restrict any subsequent use or dissemination of
information released under the FOI Act (paragraph 6.138 of the Guidelines).
d. There is no presumption that the names of individual agency staff should be subject to
release under the FOI Act; and in the circumstances, the full names of the officers do not
appear relevant to the objects of the FOI Act as they relate to government accountability
(paragraphs 6.146 – 6.152 of the Guidelines)
13. In addition to considering whether the disclosure would be unreasonable under section 47F, the FOI
Act requires TEQSA to apply a ‘public interest test’ in respect of a conditionally exempt document
(subsection 11A(5) of the FOI Act). In accordance with section 11B of the FOI Act, I have taken into
account the extent to which disclosure of materials otherwise conditionally exempt under section 47F
would:
• promote the objects of the FOI Act;
• inform a debate on a matter of public importance;
• promote effective oversight of public expenditure; and
• allow a person access to his or her own personal information.
14. I have determined that the disclosure of the relevant personal information would not inform debate
on a matter of public importance, has no relevance to public expenditure, and would not provide a
person with access to their own personal information.
15. I accept that disclosure of any information requested under the FOI Act may promote the objects
of the FOI Act:
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16. However, I consider this to be outweighed by the following considerations:
a. As noted above, the FOI Guidelines make clear that the names of individual staff (other
than decision-makers) have limited relevance to the principles of transparency and
scrutiny in the FOI Act.
b. Disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice the officers’ right to privacy and
TEQSA’s obligations under the
Privacy Act 1998, as discussed above in my consideration
of the application of section 47F.
c. There is no other obvious public benefit in the officers’ name being made available to you
or the public.
17. Based on consideration of these factors, I have decided that in the circumstances of this particular
matter, the public interest in disclosing the information referred to above is outweighed by the
public interest against disclosure. Accordingly, I have decided to partially release these documents
to you with the exempt information redacted.
Campion College personnel
18. I note that the relevant personal information of the Campion College personnel are not well known,
and while the personnel are known to be associated with the matters in the documents, the personal
information is not publicly available. I have also had regard to other matters as permitted by section
47(2)(d) as set out below.
19. In particular, I have considered the following:
a. The release of the personal information would cause stress to the personnel (paragraph
6.137(c) of the Guidelines).
b. It does not appear that any public purpose would be achieved through release of the
personal information (paragraph 6.137(d) of the Guidelines). In forming this view, I note
the information also includes sensitive information.
c. The opposition to disclosure likely to be held by that person(s) (paragraph 6.138).
d. The disclosure of the information would not advance the public interest in government
transparency and integrity (paragraph 6.138).
20. In applying the public interest outlined in paragraph 13, I have determined that the disclosure of the
relevant personal information would not inform debate on a matter of public importance, has no
relevance to public expenditure, and would not provide a person with access to their own personal
information.
21. While disclosure of any information requested under the FOI Act may promote the objects
of the FOI Act, I consider this to be outweighed by the following considerations:
a. Disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice the personnel’s right to privacy and
TEQSA’s obligations under the
Privacy Act 1998, as discussed above in my consideration
of the application of section 47F.
b. There is no other obvious public benefit in the personal information being made available to
you or the public.
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22. Based on consideration of these factors, I have decided that in the circumstances of this particular
matter, the public interest in disclosing the information referred to above is outweighed by the
public interest against disclosure. Accordingly, I have decided to partially release these documents
to you with the exempt information redacted.
Irrelevant information
23. Further to the above, I have decided that documents also contain information that would reasonably
be regarded as irrelevant to your request for access, being names and direct contact details of junior
staff of TEQSA (at items 2, 6, 7, 14 and 15) and an unintended and incomprehensible transcription
(at item 2 of the schedule – redaction under
“Question 6”). and can be modified by redacting the
irrelevant information.
Rights of review
24. If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply in writing within 30 days of receiving this
notice for an internal review of the decision by a different decision maker within TEQSA under
section 54 of the FOI Act. Applications for internal review should be sent to
xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx and
include any submissions regarding the reason(s) for requesting an internal review of the decision.
25. In accordance with section 54L of the FOI Act, you may also apply to the Australian Information
Commissioner to review my decision. An application for review by the Information Commissioner
must be made in writing within 60 days of the date of this letter, and be lodged in one of the following
ways:
online:
www.oaic.gov.au
email:
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
post:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW,
2001
26. More information about Information Commissioner Review is available on the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner website i
n Part 10 of the Guidelines issued by the Information
Commissioner.
27. If you have any questions about this matter, please contac
t xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx.
Kind regards,
Lenka Ucnik
FOI Decision Maker
9 February 2026
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