Tasmanian Consolidated Acts Tasmanian Consolidated Acts
(1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would disclose information acquired by an agency or a Minister from a business, commercial or financial undertaking, and –
(a) the information relates to trade secrets; or
(b) the disclosure of the information under this Act would be likely to expose the undertaking to competitive disadvantage.
(2) In deciding for the purpose of subsection (1)(b) whether disclosure of information would expose an undertaking unreasonably to competitive disadvantage an agency or Minister may take account of any consideration the agency or Minister considers relevant including whether the information –
and shall also, in particular, take into account whether there are any considerations in the public interest in favour of disclosure that outweigh considerations of any competitive disadvantage to the undertaking.(a) is generally available to competitors of the undertaking; or
(b) would be exempt information if it were generated by an agency or a Minister; or
(c) could be disclosed without causing substantial harm to the competitive position of the undertaking –
(3) If –
an agency or Minister shall, before deciding whether the disclosure of the information under this Act would be likely unreasonably to expose the undertaking that provided the information to competitive disadvantage –(a) a request is made for information under this Act; and
(b) the information was provided to an agency or Minister by an undertaking by way of information contained in a record –
(c) notify the undertaking that the agency or Minister has received a request for the information; and
(d) state the nature of the information requested; and
(e) seek the undertaking's view as to whether the information should be provided.
(4) If an agency or Minister, after seeking an undertaking's view in accordance with subsection (3), decides to provide the information requested the agency or Minister shall notify the undertaking of the decision.
(5) A notice under subsection (4) shall –
(a) state the nature of the information to be provided; and
(b) if the decision was made on behalf of an agency – state the name and designation of the person who made the decision; and
(c) inform the undertaking of –
(i) its right to apply for a review of the decision; and
(ii) the authority to which the application for review can be made; and
(iii) the time within which the application must be made.
(6) An agency or Minister shall not provide the information referred to in a notice given to an undertaking under subsection (4) until –
(a) 28 days after the undertaking has been notified; or
(b) if during those 28 days the undertaking applies for a review of that decision – that review or any subsequent review determines that the information should be provided.