Federal Court. May there "be overlap between a failure to afford an opportunity to be heard, and a reasonable apprehension of bias on the ground of pre-judgment, because the former may give rise to the latter"?
Some of the questions to the Federal Court (FCA) were as follows:
Question 1: Can it be said that, "unlike general law rights of action and remedies that are available for a breach of confidence, or a threatened breach of confidence, individuals are unable to take direct action under the Privacy Act for remedies arising from interferences with their privacy"?
Question 2: May there "be overlap between a failure to afford an opportunity to be heard, and a reasonable apprehension of bias on the ground of pre-judgment, because the former may give rise to the latter"?
Question 3: Does the Privacy Act reveal a clear legislative intention contrary to the general principle according to which administrative decision-makers owe a duty to afford procedural fairness?
The FCA answered those questions as follows: