Archives Act 1983

The Minister or a person authorized by him or her may, in accordance with arrangements approved by the Prime Minister, cause all records in a particular class of Commonwealth records not in the open access period to be available for public access.

The Minister or a person authorised by the Minister may, in accordance with arrangements approved by the Prime Minister, cause Commonwealth records to be made available to a person in such circumstances as are specified in the regulations notwithstanding that the Commonwealth records concerned are not otherwise available for public access under this Act.

A person commits an offence if:

records are made available to the person under subsection (2) on conditions to be observed by the person; and

the person engages in conduct; and

the person’s conduct contravenes such a condition.

An arrangement approved by the Prime Minister under subsection (2) shall be recorded in writing, and the Minister shall cause a copy of the arrangement to be made available to the Council.

The Minister shall, not later than 3 months after the commencement of this Part and thereafter at intervals of not more than 3 months, cause to be made available to the Council a statement setting out particulars of:

each request for access to a document under subsection (2) that is made during the period to which the statement relates; and

the decision of the Minister or authorized person in relation to each such request;