Legal win for Renee Eaves after police files accessed

A FORMER bikini model who says she felt like a “sitting duck” after her police file was allegedly accessed more than 1400 times, has had a win in court over details of who accessed the records.

Social justice advocate Renee Eaves won a battle to have unedited Queensland Police Service documents released to her lawyers. Picture: AAP/Dave Hunt

A FORMER bikini model turned social justice advocate, whose police file was allegedly accessed more than 1400 times, has won a legal battle to have unedited Queensland Police Service documents released to her lawyers.

Renee Eaves. Picture: AAP/Dave Hunt

Renee Eaves last year lodged legal action against the QPS for breach of privacy in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Ms Eaves, who won a harassment payout for an unlawful arrest case in 2011, has been a fierce critic of the QPS over a number of scandals.

Her legal action came after a 2016 Freedom of Information request found officers had accessed her personal information through QPRIME more than 1400 times in the past 10 years.

It is unlawful for police officers to access QPRIME files unless in the course of their duty.

Ms Eaves lodged the legal action last year after making a complaint to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

An internal investigation was also conducted.

As part of the QCAT action, Ms Eaves asked for a copy of her QPRIME activity records.

She was only given a redacted report with the names of the officers, their ranks and stations being removed, court documents show.

Earlier this month, QCAT ordered the unedited document be provided to her legal team on a confidential basis to determine whether information should be disclosed, but formally refused Ms Eaves’ application for the disclosure of all the documents.

The decision, published today, also said the original figure of 1400 accesses may have “been overstated” but that 200 officers and staff had accessed her records.

The QCAT decision says an internal investigation found only two of the accesses were not for official purposes.

Ms Eaves told The Courier-Mail QPRIME was not “the yellow pages” and she felt like a “sitting duck” knowing many people had accessed her private details.