Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to this section, in proceedings under this part, the ACAT has power, in addition to any other power, to review any decision that has been made by an agency or Minister in respect of the request and to decide any matter in relation to the request that, under this Act, could have been, or could be, decided by an agency or Minister, and any decision of the ACAT under this section has the same effect as a decision of the agency or Minister.
(2) Where, in proceedings under this Act, it is established that a document is an exempt document, the ACAT does not have power to decide that access to the document, so far as it contains exempt matter, is to be granted.
(3) Where a certificate under section 37A is in force in respect of a document, the powers of the ACAT do not extend to reviewing the decision to give the certificate but the ACAT, constituted in accordance with section 64, may determine such question in relation to that certificate as is provided for in whichever of subsections (4) and (5) applies to that certificate.
(4) Where an application is made to the ACAT for the review of a decision refusing to grant access to a document in accordance with a request, being a document that is claimed to be an exempt document under section 37A and in respect of which a certificate (other than a certificate of a kind referred to in subsection (5)) is in force under that section, the ACAT shall, if the applicant so requests, determine the question whether reasonable grounds exist for that claim.
(5) If application is made to the ACAT for review of a decision refusing to grant access to a document in relation to which a certificate is in force under section 37A (4), the ACAT must, if the applicant requests, determine whether reasonable grounds exist for the claim that information about the existence or non-existence of the document would cause the document to be an exempt document under section 37A (1).
(6) The powers of the ACAT under this section extend to matters relating to charges payable under this Act in relation to a request.
(7) Where—
(a) application is made to the ACAT for review of a decision refusing to grant a person access to a document in accordance with a request; and
(b) the agency to which or the Minister to whom the request was made—
(i) has given to the applicant a notice under this Act of the decision, being a notice that does not include a statement to the effect that access to the document is being refused because of the operation of section 11 (3) or of that subsection as modified by regulations under section 11 (4); or
(ii) informs the ACAT, either before or in the course of the proceeding for the review of the decision, that the agency or the Minister does not intend, or does not any longer intend, to refuse access to the document for the reason referred to in subparagraph (i);
then, for the review by the ACAT of that decision, section 11 (3) and (4) shall be disregarded.