Tasmania’s Ombudsman has ruled that Hobart Lord Mayor, Anna Reynolds, breached privacy laws when she passed on information about a planned women’s rights event to a LGBTIQ rights activist.
In September 2023, Lord Mayor Reynolds shared confidential information about Councillor, Louise Elliot’s personal request to book the Hobart Town Hall ballroom for a community forum on the subject of ‘women’s rights and free speech’ with local activist, Rodney Croome.
Councillor Elliot lodged a formal complaint about the Lord Mayor’s actions with the Ombudsman, Richard Connock, who this week released a scathing report in which he identified four separate privacy breaches involving Council’s Connected City Director, Lord Mayor Reynolds and the Council.
As part of the Ombudsman’s investigation, Lord Mayor Reynolds submitted that while she may have shared the complainant’s personal information, it was for “lawful and legitimate purposes”, based on her own view that the complainant’s booking request was discriminatory toward a particular community group.
Ombudsman Connock found that the Council breached the use and disclosure principles of the Act on three occasions, including when the Lord Mayor shared Cr Elliot’s personal information and plans with Mr Croome.
The Council was found to have failed to take reasonable steps to protect Cr Elliot’s personal information from misuse and disclosure.
“The Lord Mayor advised the spokesperson [Mr Croome] that the complainant was attempting to book the venue on behalf of a well-known political activist with opposing views to the spokesperson. The Lord Mayor suggested that the spokesperson contact Council and provided them with the CEO’s contact details,” the Ombudsman’s report details.
The Ombudsman ruled that the Council failed to comply with its own privacy and other policies, which state that breaches may result in disciplinary action.
“After a former Acting CEO breached the Act by disclosing my information to the Lord Mayor, the Lord Mayor then spread that information and lies further out into the community and was straight into Rodney Croome’s inbox, encouraging him to lobby the CEO to block my event,” Cr Elliot said in a statement following the release of the Ombudsman’s report.
“Rodney’s lobbying was successful as I was ultimately lied to about the availability of Town Hall. The length the Hobart City Council – including its Lord Mayor – have gone to stop a womens rights private event from happening is unfathomable. Three laws have been broken; discrimination, privacy and right to information.”
The Ombudsman’s report stated that, “it is concerning that the Lord Mayor, whose role necessarily involves access to personal and sensitive information about members of the community on a regular basis, was not aware that information they may receive in the course of their duties is subject to privacy considerations.”
“We have a Lord Mayor that doesn’t have a grip on the fundamental basics of governance like privacy and discrimination law and thinks they’re above the law, even if she understood it. It’s clear she also thinks her views are so enlightened that anything she does is justified. Astoundingly, the Lord Mayor maintains that was she did was ‘lawful and legitimate’,” said Cr Elliot.
The Ombudsman made two recommendations:
- That Council as a matter of priority requires and ensures that all management staff and elected members, including the Lord Mayor, undergo mandatory training on their obligations to protect personal information under the PIP Act, and on Council’s policies and procedures outlining those responsibilities and the disciplinary action to be taken in light of any breach;
- Council reviews its periodic education and training requirements for all staff, and implements regular and periodic mandatory refresher training for all staff and elected members on its privacy obligations under the PIP Act.
At a Special Council Meeting in July last year, Council formally acknowledged and apologised to Cr Elliot for sharing her personal information in breach of the PIP Act, among other matters. Cr Elliot was also provided with a written apology.
