Concerns raised about Daniel Andrews’ former lawyer using personal account for some work matters

Daniel Andrews’ former lawyer used a private email address for some work matters, raising concerns about potential security issues.

Daniel Andrews’ former lawyer used a personal account for some work matters.

Daniel Andrews’ office has refused to detail its policy on the use of private email ­addresses after it was revealed his former lawyer used a ­personal account for some work matters.

Steve Palmer, who worked as general counsel to the Premier from 2015 until his resignation last year, used the private Gmail address for some matters, in place of his government-issued email.

Sources close to the Premier’s office said the email was used for work-related purposes not directly connected to the function of executive government. But the move has raised concerns about the potential thwarting of public access to government material under Freedom of Information and archive laws.

The Premier’s office has ­refused to detail its policy on private email address use, or whether other staff use personal email addresses for work.

The Herald Sun understands that Mr Palmer requested former Labor MP Kaushaliya Vaghela email him on his personal ­address documents which may have included key identification material, in ­relation to a bullying complaint she had raised with the Premier’s office.

It’s understood Labor MP Kaushaliya Vaghela was asked to send personal documents, which may have included key identification material, to Mr Palmer’s private email. Picture: David Caird

Victoria’s information commissioner, Sven Bluemmel, said the use of private email raised potential security issues.

“Using a personal email address could introduce substantial risks as the email systems are not under the control of Victorian public sector agency,” Mr Bluemmel said.

Such use could breach the Privacy and Data Protection Act. And searching for documents in response to a FOI ­application may miss those not stored on an agency’s systems, “such as those that are sent or received using a personal email address”. That could potentially undermine transparency and accountability.

A government spokesman said the Premier had never used a private email address for a work purpose. “All ministerial staff are provided with a work email address,” he said.