Victorian Current Acts

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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 - SECT 56

Inspection of exempt documents by Tribunal

S. 56(1) amended by No. 10155 s. 67(1)(l)(i)(ii), repealed by No. 52/1998 s. 311(Sch. 1 item 32.5).

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S. 56(2) amended by Nos 10155 s. 67(1)(l)(i)(iii), 52/1998 s. 311(Sch. 1 item 32.6(a) (i)(ii)).

    (2)     Subject to subsection (3) and to any order made by the Tribunal under section 51(2) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 , the Tribunal shall do all things necessary to ensure that any document produced to the Tribunal in proceedings under this Act that is claimed to be an exempt document, or the contents of that document, is not disclosed to any person other than a member of the Tribunal as constituted for the proceedings, or a member of the staff of the Tribunal in the course of the performance of his duties as a member of that staff, and to ensure the return of the document to the defendant at the conclusion of the proceedings.

S. 56(3) amended by Nos 10155 s. 67(1)(l)(i)
(iii)–(v), 52/1998 s. 311(Sch. 1 item 32.6(b) (i)(ii)), substituted by No. 18/2005 s. 18(Sch. 1 item 45), amended by No. 17/2014 s. 160(Sch. 2 item 45).

    (3)     The Tribunal may make any orders as it thinks fit having regard to the nature of the proceedings, including where the applicant is represented by an Australian lawyer, an order that the contents of a document produced to the Tribunal that is claimed to be an exempt document be disclosed to that practitioner.

S. 56(4) amended by No. 10155 s. 67(1)(l)(i), repealed by No. 10155 s. 67(1)(l)(vi), new s. 56(4) inserted by No. 18/2005 s. 18(Sch. 1 item 45).

    (4)     In making an order under subsection (3), the Tribunal must be guided by the principle that the contents of a document should not normally be disclosed except in accordance with an order of the Tribunal under section 51(2) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 .

S. 56(5) amended by Nos 10155 s. 67(1)(l)(i), 7/2003 s. 44(5), 6/2012 s. 12(4), 20/2017 s. 48.

    (5)     Where an application under section 50(1) or (3D) relates to a document or part thereof in relation to which disclosure has been refused on the grounds specified in section 28, section 29A, section 31 or section 31A, the Tribunal may, if it regards it as appropriate to do so, announce its findings in terms which neither confirm nor deny the existence of the document in question.

S. 56(5A) inserted by No. 23/2017 s. 27.

    (5A)     If an application under section 50(1) or (3D) relates to a document or part of a document in relation to which disclosure has been refused on the grounds that it would involve an unreasonable disclosure of personal affairs for the reason that it would increase the risk to a primary person's safety from family violence, the Tribunal may, if it regards it as appropriate to do so, announce its findings in terms which neither confirm nor deny the existence of the document in question.

S. 56(6) repealed by No. 52/1998 s. 311(Sch. 1 item 32.5), new s. 56(6) inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 37.

    (6)     If an application under section 50(1) or (3D) relates to a document or part of a document in relation to which disclosure has been refused on the grounds that it would involve an unreasonable disclosure of personal affairs for the reason that it would increase the risk to the safety of a child or group of children, the Tribunal may, if it regards it as appropriate to do so, announce its findings in terms which neither confirm nor deny the existence of the document in question.

S. 57 amended by Nos 10155 s. 67(1)(m), 35/1996 s. 453(Sch. 1 item 34), repealed by No. 6/2012 s. 22.

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S 58 amended by No. 10155 s. 67(1)(n)
(i)–(iii), repealed by No. 52/1998 s. 311(Sch. 1 item 32.7).

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S. 59 amended by No. 10155 s. 67(1)(o)(i)(ii), substituted by No. 52/1998 s. 311(Sch. 1 item 32.8).



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