A Queensland priest at the centre of a sexual assault investigation attempted to gain access to the police investigation against him, including the recorded interview with the alleged child victim, so he could appeal a decision made against him by the Catholic Church and sue the complainant.
The man, who had no charges laid against him as a result of the investigation 15 years ago, applied for access to 99 pages and two cassette tape recordings relating to the police investigation under the Right to Information Act.
He said he was entitled to the information because they contained his personal information and because "there is a strong public interest in QPS being accountable for the way it conducts its investigations".
His request was denied late last year on the grounds it was contrary to public interest.
The man appealed his decision to the Office of the Information Commissioner [OIC] which reviewed the decision last month.
"The applicant states that he is seeking information to include in an application for review of findings made against him in the [Catholic Church's] Towards Healing process and also considers that the information will assist him in commencing a defamation action against the complainant," The Assistant Information Commissioner reported.
During the original application, it emerged that the QPS lost an audio recording of an interview officers held with the man in 1999. The man wanted further inquiries into how the cassette was lost.
He also wanted the OIC to determine whether the complainant "is an honest person" in order to protect the public interest and considered she had acted in "bad faith" when she objected to the documents being released."
"The applicant has submitted that he is already aware of the complainants' personal information and that therefore, this factor should be given full weight in favour of disclosure, the commissioner reported.
"I acknowledge that the applicant and the complainant are known to each other and that the applicant may be generally aware of some of the complainant's personal information.
"However, in the investigation documents, the complainant's personal information appears in the specific context of the QPS's investigations into allegations of sexual assault against a child. There is no evidence available to OIC to indicate that the complainant has provided the applicant with a copy of her statement, nor the specific details of the complaint to the QPS.
"In fact, when consulted by QPS about this application, the complainant raised strong objections to the disclosure of her personal information."
The former minister told the OIC he was pursuing defamation action against the complainant and had requested a review of the Towards Healing findings against him and needed the police investigation files for both actions.
As a result of the complaint, he was removed from active ministry by the church and placed in early retirement and refused permission to visit former parishioners. He maintains this has left his reputation damaged and caused his mental and physical wellbeing to suffer.
He told the OIC he expects documents within the police investigation would "contradict" the complaint and "demonstrate it was false".
"The applicant submits that statements from other individuals, contained in his Towards Healing submission, contradict the complaint," the commissioner said in his review.
"It appears that the applicant relies on this material to support his belief that the complaint was false."
While the OIC found that the investigation files would help provide the man with background for his Towards Healing review, the commissioner did not find it was enough to allow the release of the documents and recording.
The appeal was denied, on the grounds it was not, on balance, in the public interest and it could potentially dissuade people from coming forward with complaints in the future.
