Archives Act 1983

Nothing in this Act shall be taken to require the Archives to give information as to the existence or non‑existence of a record where information as to the existence or non‑existence of that record, if included in a Commonwealth record, would cause that last‑mentioned record to be an exempt record by virtue of paragraph 33(1)(a), (b) or (e) or subsection 33(4A) or (4C).

Where an application to the Archives for access to a record relates to a record that is, or if it existed would be, of a kind referred to in subsection (1), the Archives may give notice in writing to the applicant that the Archives neither confirms nor denies the existence, as a Commonwealth record, of such a record but that, assuming the existence of such a record, it would be an exempt record, and, where such a notice is given:

section 40 applies as if the decision to give such a notice were a decision referred to in that section; and

the decision to give the notice shall, for the purposes of Division 4, be deemed to be a decision of the Archives refusing to grant the applicant access to the record on the ground that the record is an exempt record under paragraph 33(1)(a), (b) or (e) or subsection 33(4A) or (4C), as the case may be.