Freedom of InformationNo. 3, 1982
in making decisions or recommendations, under or for the purposes of an enactment or scheme administered by the agency, with respect to rights, privileges or benefits, or to obligations, penalties or other detriments, to which persons are or may be entitled or subject, being—
- (a) manuals or other documents containing interpretations, rules, guidelines, practices or precedents including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, precedents in the nature of letters of advice providing information to bodies or persons outside the Commonwealth administration;
- (b) documents containing particulars of such a scheme, not being particulars contained in an enactment as published apart from this Act;
- (c) documents containing statements of the manner, or intended manner, of administration or enforcement of such an enactment or scheme; or
- (d) documents describing the procedures to be followed in investigating breaches or evasions or possible breaches or evasions of such an enactment or of the law relating to such a scheme,
but not including documents that are available to the public as published otherwise than by an agency or as published by another agency.
(2) The principal officer of an agency shall—
- (a) cause copies of all documents to which this section applies in respect of the agency that are in use from time to time to be made available for inspection and for purchase by members of the public;
- (b) not later than 12 months after the commencement of this Part, cause to be published in the Gazette a statement (which may take the form of an index) specifying the documents of which copies 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
- (c) during the year commencing on 1 January next following the publication of the statement under paragraph (b) and during each succeeding year, cause to be published in the Gazette statements bringing up to date the information contained in the previous statement or statements.
(3) The principal officer is not required to comply fully with paragraph (2) (a) before the expiration of 12 months after the commencement of this Part, but shall, before that time, comply with that paragraph so far as is practicable.
(4) This section does not require a document of the kind referred to in sub-section (1) containing exempt matter to be made available in accordance with sub-section (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 sub-section (2).
