Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts(1) An agency or Minister must make open access information of the agency or Minister publicly available unless the information is contrary to the public interest information.
Note Contrary to the public interest information —see s 16.
(2) If open access information is not made available because it is contrary to the public interest information, the agency or Minister must publish—
(a) a description of the information unless the disclosure of the description would, or could reasonably be expected to—
(i) endanger the life or physical safety of a person; or
(ii) be an unreasonable limitation on a person's rights under the Human Rights Act 2004
; or
(iii) significantly prejudice an ongoing criminal investigation; and
(b) for information not made available because it is taken to be contrary to the public interest to disclose the information under schedule 1—
(i) the ground under schedule 1 for the nondisclosure; and
(ii) the findings on any material questions of fact referring to the evidence or other material on which the findings were based; and
(c) for information not made available because disclosure of the information would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest under the test set out in section 17, a statement of reasons for the decision setting out—
(i) the findings on any material questions of fact referring to the evidence or other material on which the findings were based; and
(ii) the relevant factors favouring disclosure; and
(iii) the relevant factors favouring nondisclosure; and
(iv) how the factors were balanced; and
(v) the harm to the public interest that can reasonably be expected to occur from the disclosure; and
(d) a statement that a person may apply to the ombudsman for review of a decision not to make open access information publicly available; and
(e) a statement on how to make the application for review of the decision; and
(f) a statement of the other options available under ACT laws to have the decision reviewed.
(3) If open access information is not made available because it is contrary to the public interest information and the agency or Minister decides not to publish a description of the information for a reason mentioned in subsection (2) (a), the agency or Minister must tell the ombudsman about the decision and the reason for it.