Commonwealth Numbered Acts

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 No. 3 of 1982 - SECT 34

34. (1) A document is an exempt document if it is -

   (a)  a document that has been submitted to the Cabinet for its
        consideration
or is proposed by a Minister to be so submitted, being a document that
was brought into existence for the purpose of submission for
consideration
by the Cabinet;

   (b)  an official record of the Cabinet;

   (c)  a document that is a copy of, or of a part of, or contains an extract
from, a document referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); or

   (d)  a document the disclosure of which would involve the disclosure of
any deliberation or decision of the Cabinet, other than a document by
which a decision of the Cabinet was officially published.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a certificate signed by the Secretary to the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet certifying that a document is one
of a kind referred to in a paragraph of sub-section (1) establishes
conclusively, subject to the operation of Part VI, that it is an exempt
document of that kind.

(3) Where a document is a document referred to in paragraph (1) (c) or (d) by
reason only of matter contained in a particular part or particular parts of
the document, a certificate under sub-section (2) in respect of the document
shall identify that part or those parts of the document as containing the
matter by reason of which the certificate is given.

(4) For the purposes of this Act, a certificate signed by the Secretary to the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet certifying that a document as
described in a request would, if it existed, be one of a kind referred to in a
paragraph of sub-section (1) establishes conclusively, subject to the
operation of Part VI, that, if such a document exists, it is an exempt
document of that kind.

(5) Where a certificate in accordance with sub-section (4) has been signed in
respect of a document as described in a request, the decision on the request
may be a decision that access to a document as described in the request is
refused on the ground that, if such a document existed, it would be an
exempt document referred to in the paragraph of sub-section (1) that is
specified in the certificate.

(6) A reference in this section to the Cabinet shall be read as including a
reference to a committee of the Cabinet.