How do the Information Privacy Principles apply during a social media misconduct investigation?

In Jurecek v Director, Transport Safety Victoria [2016] VSC 285 (11 October 2016) (Jurecek), the Supreme Court of Victoria (the Court) clarified the application of the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) to an investigation of employee misconduct on Facebook.

In Jurecek, the Supreme Court of Victoria confirmed that the IPPs operating under Victorian privacy legislation may apply to information on an employee's social media account.

However, the findings of the Court indicate that the IPPs need not be interpreted by employers in a manner that jeopardises an investigation into misconduct on social media. The Court took a practical approach, largely adopting the assessment of the factual circumstances by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) at first instance.¹