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Division 4--Miscellaneous

34 Provisions relating to documents exempt under the Freedom of Information Act 1982

(1) The Commissioner shall not, in connection with the performance of the functions referred to in section 27, give to a person information as to the existence or non-existence of a document where information as to the existence or non-existence of that document would, if included in a document of an agency, cause the last-mentioned document to be an exempt document by virtue of section 33 or 33A, or subsection 37(1), of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

(2) The Commissioner shall not, in connection with the performance of the functions referred to in section 27, give to a person information:

(a) about the contents of a document of an agency, or the contents of an official document of a Minister, being a document that is an exempt document; or

(b) about exempt matter contained in a document of an agency or in an official document of a Minister.

(3) An expression used in this section and in the Freedom of Information Act 1982 has the same meaning in this section as in that Act.

35 Direction where refusal or failure to amend exempt document

(1) Where:

(a) an application made under subsection 55(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 for review of a decision under that Act refusing access to a document has been finally determined or otherwise disposed of;

(b) the period within which an appeal may be made to the Federal Court has expired or, if such an appeal has been instituted, the appeal has been determined;

(c) the effect of the review and any appeal is that access is not to be given to the document;

(d) the applicant has requested the agency concerned to amend the document;

(e) the applicant has complained to the Commissioner under this Act about the refusal or failure of the agency to amend the document;

(f) the Commissioner has, as a result of the complaint, recommended under subsection 30(3) of this Act that the agency amend the document, or amend a part of the document, to which the applicant has been refused access; and

(g) as at the end of 60 days after a copy of the report containing the recommendation was served on the agency, the Commissioner:

(i) still thinks that the agency should amend the document in a particular manner; and

(ii) is not satisfied that the agency has amended the document in that manner;

the Commissioner may direct the agency to add to the document an appropriate notation setting out particulars of the amendments of the document that the Commissioner thinks should be made.

(2) An agency shall comply with a direction given in accordance with subsection (1).

(3) In subsection (1), amend, in relation to a document, means amend by making a correction, deletion or addition.

(4) An expression used in this section and in the Freedom of Information Act 1982 has the same meaning in this section as in that Act.

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