Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to this section, a document is an exempt document if its disclosure under this Act—
(a) would disclose matter in the nature of, or relating to, opinion, advice or recommendation obtained, prepared or recorded, or consultation or deliberation that has taken place, in the course of, or for the purposes of, the deliberative processes involved in the functions of an agency or Minister or of the Territory; and
(b) would be contrary to the public interest.
(2) In the case of a document of the kind referred to in section 8 (1), the matter referred to in subsection (1) (a) of this section does not include matter that is used or to be used for the purpose of the making of decisions or recommendations referred to in section 8 (1).
(3) This section does not apply to a document only because of purely factual material contained in the document.
(4) This section does not apply to—
(a) reports (including reports concerning the results of studies, surveys or tests) of scientific or technical experts, whether employed within an agency or not, including reports expressing the opinions of such experts on scientific or technical matters; or
(b) reports of a prescribed body or organisation established within an agency; or
(c) the record of, or a formal statement of the reasons for, a final decision given in the exercise of a power or of an adjudicative function.
(5) Where a decision is made under part 3 that an applicant is not entitled to access to a document because of this section, the notice under section 25 shall state the ground of public interest on which the decision is based.