Commonwealth Numbered Acts

Archives Act 1983 No. 79 of 1983 - SECT 29

29. (1) A Commonwealth institution, or a person having authority to act on
behalf of a Commonwealth institution, may, with the concurrence of the
Director-General, determine that a Commonwealth record, or each record in a
class of Commonwealth records, being a record or class of records in the
possession of the Commonwealth institution or relating to the functions of the
Commonwealth institution, is-

   (a)  a record that is not required to be transferred to the custody of the
        Archives under section 27; or

   (b)  a record to which the Archives is not to be entitled to have access
        under section 28 or is not to be entitled to have access under that
        section otherwise than on specified conditions to be observed by the
        Archives,
and such a determination has effect for such period as is specified in the
determination but may at any time be revoked by the Commonwealth institution
or a person having authority to act on behalf of the Commonwealth institution.

(2) Notwithstanding sub-section (1), the responsible Minister may determine
that a Commonwealth record, or each record in a class of Commonwealth records,
is-

   (a)  a record that is not required to be transferred to the custody of the
        Archives under section 27; or

   (b)  a record to which the Archives is not to be entitled to have access
        under section 28 or is not to be entitled to have access under that
        section otherwise than on specified conditions to be observed by the
        Archives,
and such a determination takes effect upon its being notified to the Archives
and has effect for such period as is specified in the determination but may at
any time be revoked by the responsible Minister.

(3) The Archives may agree with a Commonwealth institution that records
accepted into the custody of the Archives from that institution are to be held
on certain conditions to be observed by the Archives, not being conditions
inconsistent with this Part.

(4) Where-

   (a)  the Archives seeks access to a Commonwealth record that is not in the
        custody of the Archives; and

   (b)  a person responsible for the custody of the record considers that it
        might be appropriate for a determination to be made under sub-section
        (2) applying paragraph (2) (b) to the record,
the person so responsible may forthwith notify the Archives that he so
considers and take appropriate action for enabling consideration to be given
by the responsible Minister to the making of such a determination.

(5) Where a notification under sub-section (4) has been given in respect of a
record, the Archives is not entitled to access to the record for a period of
one month from the date on which the notification was given, but, if the
notification is withdrawn by the person responsible for the custody of the
record before the expiration of that period, this sub-section ceases to have
effect in relation to the record.

(6) A record that is in the open access period is not, by virtue of a
determination under sub-section (1), a record to which paragraph (1) (b)
applies unless there is in force a certificate of a Minister under section 34
in respect of the record.

(7) A record that is in the open access period is not, by virtue of a
determination under sub-section (2), a record to which paragraph (2) (b)
applies unless there is in force a certificate of a Minister under section 34
in respect of the record.

(8) The concurrence of the Director-General is not required for the making of
a determination under sub-section (1) by, or by a person having authority to
act on behalf of, any of the following Commonwealth institutions, namely:

   (a)  the Australian Security Intelligence Organization;

   (b)  the Australian Secret Intelligence Service;

   (c)  the Defence Signals Directorate;

   (d)  the Joint Intelligence Organization; and

   (e)  the Office of National Assessments.