Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts30. Information about third parties
(1) For the purposes of this section, information is about a third party if disclosure of the information might:
(a) prejudice inter-governmental relations between an Australian body politic and a body politic overseas or between 2 or more bodies politic in Australia or in the Territory;
(b) be an interference with a person's privacy;
(c) disclose information about an Aboriginal sacred site or Aboriginal tradition; or
(d) disclose information obtained by a public sector organisation from a business, commercial or financial undertaking that is:
(i) a trade secret; or
(ii) other information of a business, commercial or financial nature and the disclosure is likely to expose the undertaking unreasonably to disadvantage.
(2) The public sector organisation must not decide to provide access to information about a third party unless the organisation has sought the views (if any) of the third party, the third party being:
(a) if the disclosure would prejudice inter-governmental relations between 2 or more bodies politic - each of those bodies politic;
(b) if the disclosure would be an interference with a person's privacy:
(i) the person whose privacy would be interfered with; or
(ii) if that person is a child, has a disability or is deceased - a person who under section 155 may make a complaint on that person's behalf;
(c) if information about an Aboriginal sacred site would be disclosed - the Aboriginal custodians of the site;
(d) if information about Aboriginal tradition would be disclosed - the community or group to whom the tradition belongs; or
(e) if information obtained from a business, commercial or financial undertaking would be disclosed - that undertaking.
(3) The public sector organisation may decide to provide access to the information even though:
(a) the third party's views were unable to be obtained after all reasonable attempts were made to do so;
(b) the third party did not respond to a request for his or her views within 30 days after receiving the request; or
(c) the third party expressed the view that the organisation should not provide access to the information.
(4) The public sector organisation must notify the third party in writing of its decision about the application.
(5) The notices of decision under subsection (4) and section 20 are to include a statement to the effect that access will be provided:
(a) 30 days after the third party receives the notice of decision; or
(b) if within that 30-day period the third party makes a complaint to the Commissioner about the decision - subject to the Commissioner's determination of the complaint, after that determination is made.
(6) If the third party is aggrieved by the decision of the public sector organisation to provide access to the information, the third party may make a complaint to the Commissioner about the decision within the 30-day period referred to in subsection (5) and Part 7 (Complaints to Information Commissioner) applies (with the necessary changes) as if the third party had made a complaint under section 103 and the organisation and the applicant were the respondents.
(7) If the public sector organisation refuses to provide access to the information, for the purposes of a complaint made by the applicant under section 103 in connection with that refusal, Part 7 (Complaints to Information Commissioner) applies (with the necessary changes) as if the organisation and the third party were the respondents.
(8) All notices that the Commissioner is required to give to the complainant under Part 7 (Complaints to Information Commissioner) as applied by subsection (6) or (7) must also be given to the respondents.
Subdivision 1. How is an application made and how is it processed?