In ‘ATP’ and ‘ATR’ (Privacy) [2025] AICmr 18 the Privacy Commissioner decided that the respondent, a membership body, did not interfere with the privacy of the complainant when it disclosed his personal information in documents relating to the respondent’s 2020 Annual General Meeting, which it published on its website.

The complainant and 9 other members sought to requisition 38 special motions for consideration at the respondent’s 2020 AGM.

The Respondent’s Board decided the motions could not be legally valid put to members and published a copy of the Notice of Meeting, the 38 proposed motions, and an accompanying Information Sheet on its website, prior to the AGM.

The Privacy Commissioner found that that the complainant ought to have reasonably expected that the respondent would disclose his personal information for the secondary purpose of addressing the proposed motions and the contextual factors relevant to its decision to its members, in circumstances where:

• the complainant was the requisitioning member that prepared and lodged the proposed motions for the respondent’s AGM. While the names of the other 9 members were not disclosed by the respondent, the complainant was the primary requisitioning member;
• the complainant had published details of the proposed motions on his own website, albeit his name was not publicly included on his website, and had raised issues about the respondent publicly;
• the complainant had contacted the respondent’s members directly in an effort to seek support for the proposed motions;
• members had expressed concern to the respondent, including one member who stated that it ‘should provide a response / explanation’ in response to the issues raised by the complainant in the proposed motions; and
• irrespective of the fact that the proposed motions were ultimately not progressed, the respondent considered it necessary to inform its members of the proposed motions and the reasons why it decided not to put those proposed motions to members, for transparency, governance and to address the complainant’s concerns.

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Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
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The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.