Kline v Official Secretary to the Governor-General

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAFRENCH CJ,CRENNAN, KIEFEL, BELL AND GAGELER JJKAREN KLINE  APPELLANTANDOFFICIAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL & ANOR  RESPONDENTSKline v Official Secretary to the Governor General[2013] HCA 526 December 2013B47/2013ORDERAppeal dismissed with costs.On appeal from the Federal Court of AustraliaRepresentationR Merkel QC with E M Nekvapil for the appellant (instructed by Bartley Cohen Solicitors)J T Gleeson SC, Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth with N Kidson and C L Lenehan for the first respondent (instructed by Australian Government Solicitor)Submitting appearance for the second respondentNotice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSKline v Official Secretary to the Governor General Administrative law − Freedom of information − Request for access to documents − Section 6A(1) of Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) provided that documents held by Official Secretary to the Governor-General were excluded from disclosure unless they related to "matters of an administrative nature" − Whether documents relating to nomination of person to Order of Australia were excluded from disclosure by operation of s 6A(1).Words and phrases − "matters of an administrative nature".Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), ss 5, 6, 6A.FRENCH CJ, CRENNAN, KIEFEL AND BELL JJ. The appellant, Ms Kline, made a request under s 15 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) ("the FOI Act") for access to certain categories of documents held by the first respondent, the Official Secretary to the Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia ("the Official Secretary"). The second respondent,...