Commonwealth Numbered Acts

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 No. 3 of 1982 - SECT 9

9. (1) This section applies, in respect of an agency, to documents that are
provided by the agency for the use of, or are used by, the agency or its
officers in making decisions or recommendations, under or for the purposes of
an enactment or scheme administered by the agency, with respect to rights,
privileges or benefits, or to obligations, penalties or other detriments, to
which persons are or may be entitled or subject, being -

   (a)  manuals or other documents containing interpretations, rules,
        guidelines, practices or precedents including, but without limiting
        the generality of the foregoing, precedents in the nature of letters
        of advice providing information to bodies or persons outside the
        Commonwealth administration;

   (b)  documents containing particulars of such a scheme, not being
        particulars
contained in an enactment as published apart from this Act;

   (c)  documents containing statements of the manner, or intended manner,
of administration or enforcement of such an enactment or scheme; or

   (d)  documents describing the procedures to be followed in investigating
        breaches or evasions or possible breaches or evasions of such an
        enactment or of the law relating to such a scheme, but not including
        documents that are available to the public as published otherwise than
        by an agency or as published by another agency.

(2) The principal officer of an agency shall -

   (a)  cause copies of all documents to which this section applies in respect
of the agency that are in use from time to time to be made available
for inspection and for purchase by members of the public;

   (b)  not later than 12 months after the commencement of this Part, cause
to be published in the Gazette a statement (which may take the form
of an index) specifying the documents of which copies are, at the time
of preparation of the statement, so available and the place or places
where copies may be inspected and may be purchased; and

   (c)  during the year commencing on 1 January next following the publication
        of the statement under paragraph (b) and during each succeeding year,
        cause to be published in the Gazette statements bringing up to date
        the information contained in the previous statement or statements.

(3) The principal officer is not required to comply fully with paragraph (2)
(a) before the expiration of 12 months after the commencement of this Part,
but shall, before that time, comply with that paragraph so far as is
practicable.

(4) This section does not require a document of the kind referred to in
sub-section (1) containing exempt matter to be made available in accordance
with sub-section (2), but, if such a document is not so made available, the
principal officer of the agency shall, if practicable, cause to be prepared a
corresponding document, altered only to the extent necessary to exclude the
exempt matter, and cause the document so prepared to be dealt with in
accordance with sub-section (2).

(5) The Minister may, by writing under his hand, extend, in respect of an
agency, the time specified in paragraph (2) (b) or sub-section (3) where he is
satisfied, after consulting the responsible Minister of the agency, that it is
reasonable to extend the time by reason of special circumstances applicable to
the agency.

(6) Where the Minister is satisfied, after consulting the responsible Minister
of the agency concerned, that the form or nature of the documents to which
this section applies in respect of an agency that are in existence at the
commencement of this Part, or of some of those documents, is such that
complete compliance with this section in respect of those documents would
impose on the agency such a workload as would unreasonably divert its
resources from its other operations, the first-mentioned Minister may, by
writing under his hand, direct that the application of this section in respect
of the agency is to be subject to such modifications as he specifies, being
modifications that, in his opinion, are reasonably required by reason of the
circumstances referred to in this sub-section.

(7) The report of the Minister under section 93 in respect of a year shall
include - (a) particulars of any extensions of time made, or directions given,
under this section by the Minister during that year; and (b) a statement
concerning compliance by agencies with the requirements of this section during
that year.

(8) Notwithstanding the fact that statements of the kind referred to in
sub-section (2) (b) in relation to documents of an agency are not required to
be published at more frequent intervals than once in each year, the principal
officer of the agency shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that in any
case where a person is seeking to inspect or to purchase a document or
documents of a particular kind, being a document of a kind or documents of
kinds to which this section applies, the attention of that person will be
drawn to any document of that agency of that kind that has become a document
to which this section applies since that statement was so published.

(9) Sub-sections (2) and (3) apply in relation to an agency that comes into
existence after the commencement of this Part as if the references in those
sub-sections to the commencement of this Part were references to the day on
which the agency comes into existence.