Victorian Current Acts Victorian Current Acts(1) Subject to this section, a document is an exempt document if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be reasonably likely to—
(a) prejudice the investigation of a breach or possible breach of the law or prejudice the enforcement or proper administration of the law in a particular instance;
(b) prejudice the fair trial of a person or the impartial adjudication of a particular case;
(c) disclose, or enable a person to ascertain, the identity of a confidential source of information in relation to the enforcement or administration of the law;
(d) disclose methods or procedures for preventing, detecting, investigating, or dealing with matters arising out of, breaches or evasions of the law the disclosure of which would, or would be reasonably likely to, prejudice the effectiveness of those methods or procedures; or
(e) endanger the lives or physical safety of persons engaged in or in connection with law enforcement or persons who have provided confidential information in relation to the enforcement or administration of the law.
(2) This section does not apply to any document that is—
(a) a document revealing that the scope of a law enforcement investigation has exceeded the limits imposed by law;
(b) a document revealing the use of illegal methods or procedures for preventing, detecting, investigating, or dealing with matters arising out of, breaches or evasions of the law;
(c) a document containing any general outline of the structure of any programme adopted by an agency for investigating breaches of, or enforcing or administering, the law;
(d) a report on the degree of success achieved in any programme adopted by an agency for investigating breaches of, or enforcing or administering, the law;
(e) a report prepared in the course of routine law enforcement inspections or investigations by an agency which has the function of enforcing and regulating compliance with a particular law other than the criminal law;
(f) a report on a law enforcement investigation, where the substance of the report has been disclosed to the person who, or the body which, was the subject of the investigation—
if it is in the public interest that access to the document should be granted under this Act.
S. 31(3) amended by Nos 30/2006 s. 22(5), 37/2014 s. 10(Sch. item 69.3), 76/2014 s. 7.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, a document is an exempt document if it is a document created by the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence or (whether before or after the commencement of section 22 of the Terrorism (Community Protection) (Further Amendment) Act 2006 ) by the Intelligence and Covert Support Command of Victoria Police.
S. 31(4) inserted by No. 82/2014 s. 29.
(4) Despite anything to the contrary in this section, a document is an exempt document if it is a document contained in the Register established and maintained under section 62 of the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 .
S. 31(5) inserted by No. 20/2017 s. 14.
(5) In deciding whether a document is an exempt document under subsection (1), 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 the Commonwealth or another State or a Territory;
(iii) an authority of 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. 31(6) inserted by No. 20/2017 s. 14.
(6) In deciding whether it is in the public interest to grant access to a document referred to in subsection (2), 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 the Commonwealth or another State or a Territory;
(iii) an authority of 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 in the public interest.
S. 31A inserted by No. 20/2017 s. 15.