Victorian Current Acts

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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 - SECT 29A

Documents affecting national security, defence or international relations

    (1)     A document is an exempt document if disclosure of the document under this Act would, or could reasonably be expected to, cause damage to—

        (a)     the security of the Commonwealth or any State or Territory; or

        (b)     the defence of the Commonwealth; or

        (c)     the international relations of the Commonwealth.

S. 29A(1A) inserted by No. 30/2006 s. 22(2), amended by No. 37/2014 s. 10(Sch. item 69.3), substituted by No. 76/2014 s. 6.

    (1A)     Without limiting subsection (1), a document is an exempt document if it is a document held or created by Victoria Police for the purpose of—

        (a)     counterterrorism or a purpose relating to counterterrorism; or

        (b)     the protection of critical infrastructure within the meaning of section 74B of the Emergency Management Act 2013 on—

              (i)     the Victorian Critical Infrastructure Register under section 74J of the Emergency Management Act 2013 ; or

              (ii)     any corresponding register kept by an agency of the Commonwealth.

S. 29A(1B) inserted by No. 30/2006 s. 22(2), substituted by No. 76/2014 s. 6.

    (1B)     Without limiting subsection (1), a document is an exempt document if it is a document

        (a)     created for or with respect to emergency risk management arrangements for critical infrastructure resilience under Part 7A of the Emergency Management Act 2013 for the purposes of administering, complying with, or enforcing that Part; or

        (b)     which contains information about, or which could lead to the identification of, a document to which paragraph (a) applies.

S. 29A(1C) inserted by No. 76/2014 s. 6.

    (1C)     Without limiting subsection (1), a document
is an exempt document if subsection (1B) as in force before the commencement of section 6 of the Emergency Management Amendment (Critical Infrastructure Resilience) Act 2014 would apply to or in respect of the document had  section 6 of the Emergency Management Amendment (Critical Infrastructure Resilience) Act 2014 not come into operation.

S. 29A(1D) inserted by No. 20/2017 s. 13(1).

    (1D)     In deciding whether a document is an exempt document under this section, an agency or Minister, if practicable, must—

        (a)     notify any of the following that are relevant that the agency or Minister has received a request for access to the document

              (i)     another agency or Minister;

              (ii)     an agency of another country or the Commonwealth or another State or a Territory;

              (iii)     an authority of another country or the Commonwealth or another State or a Territory; and

        (b)     seek the view of that agency, authority or Minister as to whether the document should be disclosed.

S. 29A(2) amended by No. 30/2006 s. 22(3), substituted by No. 20/2017 s. 13(2).

    (2)     For the purposes of this Act—

        (a)     a certificate signed by a Department Head or the Chief Commissioner of Police certifying that a document as described in a request is or, if it existed, would be one of a kind referred to in subsection (1), (1A) or (1B) establishes that the document is or, if it existed, would be an exempt document;

        (b)     a certificate signed by a Department Head or the Chief Commissioner of Police certifying that a document as described in a notice to produce or attend is or, if it existed, would be one of a kind referred to in subsection (1), (1A) or (1B) establishes that the document is or, if it existed, would be an exempt document;

        (c)     a certificate signed by a Department Head or the Chief Commissioner of Police certifying that information described in a notice to produce or attend would, if included in a document, make that document one of a kind referred to in subsection (1), (1A) or (1B), establishes that the information described is information that if included in a document would make that document an exempt document.

S. 29A(3) amended by Nos 30/2006 s. 22(4), 6/2012 s. 11(2), substituted by No. 20/2017 s. 13(3).

    (3)     The Information Commissioner must not conduct a review, handle a complaint or conduct an investigation in respect of—

        (a)     a certificate under subsection (2); or

        (b)     a question whether a document is, or whether a document including the information would be, of a kind referred to in subsection (1), (1A) or (1B); or

        (c)     a decision to sign a certificate under subsection (2).

    (4)     In this section a reference to a document includes a reference to a document whether created before or after the commencement of section 42 of the Terrorism (Community Protection) Act 2003 .

S. 29B inserted by No. 1/2014 s. 67.



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