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The risk that interview recordings from a misconduct investigation might end up on the internet has been deemed a "significant" consideration in weighing up an employee's access request.

In 2020, the former Department of Defence employee, who had been the subject of a code of conduct investigation, requested to receive voice recordings from one-to-one interviews the investigator held with other staff.

The Department, which had already provided full transcripts of the four relevant interviews, refused the request, citing the personal privacy exemption in section 47F and the operations of agencies exemption in section 47E(d), of the Freedom of Information Act.

The employee sought a review of the decision, arguing the transcripts might have been falsified, and implying that any failure to produce the recordings might mean they didn't exist...