A formal complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman has been lodged after Police refused an Official Information Act (OIA) request relating to the country’s new roadside oral-fluid drug testing regime, describing the request as “vexatious.”
Nigel Gray said he had spent several months submitting a series of OIA requests seeking information about the legal authority, scientific validation, safety measures, training, procedures, thresholds and public rights associated with the testing programme. While Police did not refuse the requests on substantive grounds, Gray said he was surprised by the reasoning used to reject his latest application.
According to Gray, Police cited section 18(h) of the Official Information Act, which allows agencies to refuse requests considered “vexatious”. He claims the refusal letter referenced his public social media activity, stating Police had become aware of his Facebook posts. Gray argues the correspondence did not identify which posts were reviewed, when they were made, or how they were relevant to the request.
Gray also took issue with what he described as Police forming a judgement about his views, saying the response suggested he held a “fixed position” on the issue and was not seeking information for legitimate reasons. He argues the OIA process should focus on the information requested rather than the beliefs of the requester.
The refusal letter also referred to Gray’s dissatisfaction with previous Police responses and his stated intention to complain to the Ombudsman. Gray contends that disagreeing with an agency’s response or seeking an Ombudsman review should not be grounds for refusing an information request.
Among his other concerns, Gray noted that Police claimed he already had access to the information despite the latest request containing 11 new questions. He also highlighted that the response came from a different officer than those who had handled previous correspondence, describing the change in personnel and tone as notable.
Gray confirmed he has now lodged a formal complaint with the Ombudsman’s Office, which has acknowledged receipt of the matter. He says the complaint will seek an independent review of the Police decision, while the questions he originally submitted about the roadside drug testing programme remain unanswered.
As it is, roadside alcohol testing is a ‘guilty until you prove your innocence’ logic; which is not supposed to be how the law works.