Freedom of Information Act 1982
Part VI (heading) substituted by No 51 of 2010, s 3 and Sch 4 item 30, applicable in relation to requests for access made under section 15 of the Freedom of Information 1982 that are received at or after 1 November 2010; and applications under section 48 of that Act that are received at or after 1 November 2010. The heading formerly read:
PART VI - REVIEW OF DECISIONS
This section applies if an access refusal decision is made in relation to a request to an agency for access to a document, other than a decision made personally by the principal officer of the agency or the responsible Minister.
54(2)
The applicant in relation to the request may apply under this Part for the review (the internal review ) of the access refusal decision.
S 54 substituted by No 51 of 2010, s 3 and Sch 4 item 34, applicable in relation to requests for access made under section
15
of the
Freedom of Information 1982
that are received at or after 1 November 2010; and applications under section
48
of that Act that are received at or after 1 November 2010. S 54 formerly read:
the applicant may, by application in writing to the agency accompanied by any application fee in respect of the application, request a review of the decision. whichever period is longer. the State may, by application in writing to the agency, request a review of the decision. the person, organisation or proprietor may, by application in writing to the agency, request a review of the decision. the person may, by application in writing to the agency, request a review of the decision.
SECTION 54 Internal review
54(1)
Subject to subsection (1A), where a decision has been made, in relation to a request to an agency, otherwise than by the responsible Minister or principal officer of the agency, being:
(a)
a decision refusing to grant access to a document in accordance with a request; or
(b)
a decision granting access to a document but not granting, in accordance with the request, access to all documents to which the request relates; or
(ba)
a decision purporting to grant, in accordance with a request, access to all documents to which the request relates, but not actually granting that access; or
(c)
a decision to defer the provision of access to a document; or
(d)
a decision under section
29
relating to imposition of a charge or the amount of a charge; or
(e)
a decision under section
30A
relating to remission of an application fee; or
(f)
a decision to grant access to a document only to a qualified person under subsection
41(3)
; or
(g)
a decision refusing to amend a record of personal information in accordance with an application made under section
48
; or
(h)
a decision refusing to annotate a record of personal information in accordance with an application made under section
48
;
54(1A)
The application must be made:
(a)
in the case of a decision of a kind mentioned in paragraphs (1)(a), (c), (d), (e), (g) and (h)
-
within 30 days, or such further period as the agency allows, after the day on which the decision is notified to the applicant; or
(b)
in the case of a decision of a kind mentioned in paragraph (1)(b), (ba) or (f):
(i)
within 30 days, or such further period as the agency allows, after the day on which the decision is notified to the applicant; or
(ii)
within 15 days after the day on which the access referred to in that paragraph was granted;
54(1B)
A decision by an agency to allow a further period for making an application may be made whether or not the time for making such an application has already expired.
54(1C)
Subject to subsection (1F), where:
(a)
arrangements of the kind mentioned in section
26A
have been entered into between the Commonwealth and a State; and
(b)
an agency has decided, in relation to a request to the agency for access to a document that relates to the State in a way mentioned in paragraph
26A(1)(a)
, that the document, or an edited copy of the document, is not an exempt document under section
33A
; and
(c)
the decision was not made by the responsible Minister or principal officer of the agency;
54(1D)
Subject to subsection (1F), where:
(a)
on a request of a kind mentioned in subsection
27(1)
being made to an agency, the agency has decided that the document to which the request relates, or an edited copy of the document, being a document or edited copy that contains information concerning a person, organisation or proprietor of an undertaking, is not an exempt document under section
43
by virtue of containing that information; and
(b)
the decision was not made by the responsible Minister or principal officer of the agency;
54(1E)
Subject to subsection (1F), where:
(a)
on a request of a kind mentioned in subsection
27A(1AA)
being made to an agency, the agency has decided that the document to which the request relates, or an edited copy of the document, being a document or edited copy that contains personal information about a person, is not an exempt document under section
41
by virtue of containing that information; and
(b)
the decision was not made by the responsible Minister or principal officer of the agency;
54(1F)
An application under subsection (1C), (1D) or (1E) must be made within 30 days, or such further period as the agency allows, after the day on which notice of the decision was given to the applicant.
54(1G)
An agency's power under subsection (1A) or (1F) to allow a further period for making an application may be exercised by an officer of the agency acting within the scope of authority exercisable by him or her in accordance with the arrangements approved by the responsible Minister or principal officer of the agency.
54(2)
Subject to subsection (3), where an application for a review of a decision is made to the agency under this section, it must as soon as practicable arrange for a person (not being the person who made the decision) to conduct such reviews to review the decision and make a fresh decision.
54(3)
Subsections (1), (1C), (1D) and (1E) do not apply in relation to:
(a)
a decision made on a review under this section; or
(b)
a decision in relation to the provision of access to a document upon a request that is, under subsection
56(1)
or
(3)
, to be deemed to have been given.
54(4)
The provisions of section
26
extend to a decision made under this section.
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