Archives Act 1983

Subject to this section, an application may be made to the Administrative Review Tribunal for a review of a decision of the Archives in respect of access to a record, being:

a decision refusing to grant to the applicant access to the record on the ground that the record is an exempt record or is a Commonwealth record to which Division 3 does not apply;

a decision refusing to grant an extension of partial access to the record on the ground that the record is an exempt record and it is not practicable to make arrangements for giving the further access desired by the applicant in a form that would not disclose information or matter by reason of which the record is an exempt record;

a decision refusing to grant to the applicant access to the record on the ground that the record has been withheld from public access pending examination of the record under section 35;

a decision refusing to grant to the applicant access to the record on the ground that a determination has been made under section 37 that the record is to be withheld from public access or refusing to grant to the applicant access to the record otherwise than on specified conditions determined under that section;

a decision refusing to grant to the applicant access to the record in a particular form by reason of paragraph 36(4)(a), (b) or (d); or

a decision refusing to allow a further period for making an application under subsection 42(1) for a reconsideration of a decision.

Subject to subsection (3), where, in relation to a decision referred to in subsection (1), a person is or has been entitled to apply under section 42 for a reconsideration of the decision, that person is not entitled to make an application under subsection (1) in relation to that decision, but may make such an application in respect of the decision made on such a reconsideration.

Subsection (2) does not prevent an application to the Tribunal in respect of a decision where:

the person concerned has applied under section 42 for a reconsideration of the decision;

a period of 30 business days has elapsed since the day on which that application was received by the Archives; and

he or she has not been informed of the result of the review;

Notwithstanding section 18 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024, the period within which (subject to any extension granted by the Tribunal) an application under subsection (1) of this section is to be made in respect of a decision is:

except where paragraph (b) or (c) applies—the period commencing on the day on which notice of the decision was given to the applicant and ending on the sixtieth day after that day;

where the decision is a decision that is deemed by subsection 40(8) or (10) to have been made—the period commencing on the day on which the decision is deemed to have been made and ending on the sixtieth day after that day; or

where subsection 55(4) is applicable—the period commencing on the day on which the Ombudsman has informed the applicant as referred to in that subsection and ending on the sixtieth day after that day.

If an application to the Tribunal for review of a decision is made before a reconsideration of the decision in accordance with section 42 has been completed and the result notified to the applicant, the Tribunal may, if it is satisfied that further time is reasonably necessary to enable the reconsideration to be completed, adjourn the proceedings for such time as it thinks fit.

Section 268 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 does not apply in relation to a decision in respect of which an application may be made to the Tribunal under this section where a notice under subsection 40(5) of this Act has been given to the applicant.

If the Tribunal, upon application for a declaration under this subsection made to it by a person to whom a notice has been furnished under subsection 40(5), considers that the notice does not contain adequate particulars of findings on material questions of fact, an adequate reference to the evidence or other material on which those findings were based or adequate particulars of the reasons for the decision to which the notice relates, the Tribunal may make a declaration accordingly, and, where the Tribunal makes such a declaration, the person responsible for furnishing the notice shall, as soon as practicable but in any case within 28 days after the Tribunal makes the declaration, furnish to the applicant an additional notice or additional notices containing further and better particulars in relation to matters specified in the declaration with respect to those findings, that evidence or other material or those reasons.