Gaming Machines Act 2001

A CMS licensee or person applying for a CMS licence may, when providing information to the Minister in connection with a CMS licence, claim that the information is confidential if there are sufficient grounds for such a claim.

There are sufficient grounds for a claim that information is confidential only if it appears that disclosure of the information—

could adversely affect the competitive position of the licensee, applicant or any other person, or

would result in the licensee or applicant being in breach of a duty of confidentiality owed to another person.

A claim that information is confidential must be accompanied by a detailed statement of the reasons in support of the claim and is not duly made unless accompanied by such a statement.

The Minister must take all reasonable steps to prevent the disclosure of information that is claimed to be confidential unless the disclosure is authorised by this section.

The disclosure of information that is claimed to be confidential is authorised if—

the disclosure is for the purposes of the administration of this Act to a person engaged in the administration of this Act, or

the disclosure is made with the consent of the person who provided the information and (if disclosure could adversely affect the competitive position of another person) that other person, or

the disclosure is authorised or required under any other Act or law, or

the disclosure is authorised or required by a court, or

the disclosure is, in the opinion of the Minister, in the public interest and the Minister is of the opinion that the public benefit in disclosing the information outweighs any detriment that might be suffered by any person as a result of the disclosure.

This section does not prevent the disclosure of information that is claimed to be confidential if—

the Minister is of the opinion that there are insufficient grounds for the claim and the Minister has notified the Minister’s opinion to the person who provided the information, or

the Minister is of the opinion that the information is CMS information, or

the disclosure is made to a person or body prescribed by the regulations.

A disclosure of information authorised by this section does not constitute a breach of any duty of confidentiality (either by the person making the disclosure or by the CMS licensee).

In this section, information is provided in connection with a CMS licence if the information is provided in connection with any of the following—

an application for a CMS licence,

activities authorised by a CMS licence,

a direction to provide a mandatory ancillary CMS service,

an application to provide an approved ancillary CMS service.