Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014

Subject to subsection (2) and to any order made by VCAT under section 51(2) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998, VCAT must do all things necessary to ensure that—

any document produced to VCAT in proceedings under this Act that is claimed to be an exempt document of a kind referred to in section 28(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, or the contents of that document, is not disclosed to any person other than—

a member of VCAT as constituted for the proceedings; or

a member of the staff of VCAT in the course of the performance of the member's duties as a member of that staff; and

the document is returned to the respondent at the conclusion of the proceedings.

VCAT may make such orders as it thinks necessary having regard to the nature of the proceedings.

If the applicant is represented by an Australian legal practitioner, orders under subsection (2) may include an order that the contents of a document produced to VCAT that is claimed to be an exempt document be disclosed to that practitioner.

In making an order under subsection (2), VCAT must be guided by the principle that the contents of a document that is claimed to be an exempt document should not normally be disclosed except in accordance with an order of VCAT under section 51(2) of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998.

If a complaint under section 73 relates to a document or part of a document in relation to which disclosure has been refused on the grounds specified in section 28 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, VCAT may, if it regards it as appropriate to do so, announce its findings in terms which neither confirm nor deny the existence of the document in question.