What are the criteria for a vexatious applicant declaration?

In order to declare a person to be a vexatious applicant the Information Commissioner must be satisfied that:

1. the person has repeatedly engaged in access actions that involve an abuse of process
2. the person is engaging in a particular access action that would involve an abuse of process, or
3. a particular access action by the person would be manifestly unreasonable.

See s 89L(1) and Part 12 of the Guidelines.

Can a person’s conduct before 1 November 2010 be considered in a vexatious applicant declaration?

The Information Commissioner will not make a vexatious applicant declaration based only on a person’s freedom of information (FOI) access actions prior to 1 November 2010. However, a prior action may be relevant if it was pursued through all stages of the review process and relates to the same documents or issues that are in a new access application. See Part 12 of the Guidelines.