Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Freedom of Information Act 1982 - SECT 8

Certain documents to be available for inspection and purchase

8. Certain documents to be available for inspection and purchase



(1) This section applies, in respect of an agency, to documents that are
provided by the agency for the use or guidance of, or are used or may be used
by, the agency or its officers-

   (a)  in making decisions or recommendations, or in providing advice to
        persons outside the agency, with respect to rights, privileges or
        benefits, or to obligations, penalties or other detriments, to or for
        which persons are or may be entitled, eligible or subject, being-

   (i)  documents containing interpretations or particulars of Acts or schemes
        administered by the agency, not being particulars contained in another
        Act; or

   (ii) manuals, rules of procedure, statements of policy, records of
        decisions, letters of advice to persons outside the agency, or similar
        documents containing rules, policies, guidelines, practices or
        precedents; and

   (b)  in enforcing Acts or schemes administered by the agency where a member
        of the public might be directly affected by that enforcement, being
        documents containing information on the procedures to be employed or
        the objectives to be pursued in the enforcement of the Acts or
        schemes.

(2) The principal officer of an agency shall-

   (a)  as from a date as soon as practicable after the commencement of this
        Part-

   (i)  cause copies of all documents to which this section applies in respect
        of the agency to be made available for inspection and for purchase by
        members of the public; and

   (ii) cause to be published in the prescribed form a statement (which may
        take the form of an index) specifying the documents that 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

   (b)  within twelve months after the publication of the first statement
        under paragraph (a) and thereafter at intervals of twelve months,
        cause to be published in a prescribed form statements bringing up to
        date the information contained in the previous statement or
        statements.

(3) This section does not require a document of the kind referred to in
subsection (1) containing exempt matter to be made available in accordance
with subsection (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 subsection (2).

(4) A document from which exempt matter has been excluded in accordance with
subsection (3) shall indicate, to the extent practicable without exempt matter
being disclosed, the nature of the matter excluded.

(5) Notwithstanding the opinion of the principal officer that a document of
the kind referred to in subsection (1) is an exempt document, if the fact of
the existence of that document can be published in accordance with subsection
(2)(a)(ii) without exempt matter being disclosed, the principal officer of the
agency shall cause that fact to be published.

(6) An agency that comes into existence after the commencement of this Part
shall comply-

   (a)  with the provisions of subsection (2)(a) as soon as practicable after
        the day on which the agency comes into existence and not later than
        twelve months after that day; and

(b) with the provisions of subsection (2)(b) as if the reference to "first
publication" in that paragraph were a reference to first publication in
compliance with this subsection.