{"id":"freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023","name":"Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2023","slug":"freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":235578,"registerId":"sa-freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2023","content":"South Australia\nFreedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2023\nunder the Freedom of Information Act 1991\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n2\tCommencement\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tExempt agencies\n5\tExempt agencies in respect of certain information—education agencies\n6\tExempt agency in respect of certain functions and information—South Australian Skills Commission\n7\tExempt agencies in respect of certain information—investigation into City of Burnside\n8\tExempt agency in respect of certain information—SACE Board\n9\tExempt agency in respect of certain information—Small Business Commissioner\n10\tExempt agency in respect of certain information—Department of Treasury and Finance\n11\tExempt agency in respect of certain information—CTP Regulator\n12\tExempt agencies in respect of certain information—Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service\n13\tExempt agency in respect of certain functions—Public Advocate\nSchedule 1—Repeal of Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2008\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2023.\n2—Commencement\nThese regulations come into operation on the day on which they are made.\n3—Interpretation\n\t(1)\tIn these regulations—\nAct means the Freedom of Information Act 1991.\n\t(2)\tFor the avoidance of doubt, if a provision of these regulations declares an agency to be an exempt agency in respect of a specified class of information, the agency is, from the commencement of the provision, so exempt regardless of whether the information was created or received by the agency before or after that commencement.\n4—Exempt agencies\nFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the following agencies are declared to be exempt agencies:\n\t(a)\tthe Inspector appointed under Schedule 4 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 2012;\n\t(b)\tthe Generation Lessor Corporation, the Distribution Lessor Corporation and the Transmission Lessor Corporation established under the Public Corporations Act 1993;\n\t(c)\tthe commission of inquiry established under the Commission of Inquiry (Children in State Care and Children on APY Lands) Act 2004;\n\t(d)\teach agency established by or under the Health and Community Services Complaints Act 2004.\n5—Exempt agencies in respect of certain information—education agencies\n\t(1)\tFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the following agencies are declared to be exempt agencies in respect of comparative student performance information:\n\t(a)\tthe Minister responsible for the administration of the SACE Board of South Australia Act 1983;\n\t(b)\tthe Minister responsible for the administration of the Education and Children's Services Act 2019;\n\t(c)\tthe Minister responsible for the administration of the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011;\n\t(d)\tthe Department for Education.\n\t(2)\tIn this regulation—\nchildren of compulsory education age has the same meaning as in the Education and Children's Services Act 2019;\ncomparative student performance information means information of any of the following classes (whether presented in a statistical form or otherwise):\n\t(a)\taggregated information relating to the results of any assessments undertaken by senior secondary students or children of compulsory education age;\n\t(b)\taggregated information relating to the tertiary entrance (including tertiary entrance ranks) of senior secondary students;\n\t(c)\taggregated information relating to exemptions granted to children of compulsory education age under the Education and Children's Services Act 2019 from a requirement under that Act that the children be enrolled in an approved learning program;\nsenior secondary students means students as defined in the SACE Board of South Australia Act 1983.\n6—Exempt agency in respect of certain functions and information—South Australian Skills Commission\nFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the South Australian Skills Commission established under section 15 of the South Australian Skills Act 2008 is declared to be an exempt agency in respect of—\n\t(a)\tfunctions set out in section 19(1)(d) of the South Australian Skills Act 2008 regarding complaint handling and dispute resolution, including mediation and advocacy services; and\n\t(b)\tinformation formerly held by the Training Advocate (formerly in existence under the Training and Skills Development Act 2008) relating to functions in respect of which the Training Advocate was an exempt agency under regulation 6 of the Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2008 as in force immediately before 1 July 2021.\nEditorial note—\nThe Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) (South Australian Skills Commission) Variation Regulations 2021 came into operation on 1 July 2021.\n7—Exempt agencies in respect of certain information—investigation into City of Burnside\nFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the following agencies are declared to be exempt agencies in respect of information relating to the investigation into the City of Burnside carried out by the investigator appointed pursuant to instrument of appointment dated 22 July 2009 under section 272 of the Local Government Act 1999 to carry out an investigation into the City of Burnside:\n\t(a)\tany agency that holds information formerly held by the investigator;\n\t(b)\tany agency that assisted in the investigation;\n\t(c)\tthe Minister for Local Government;\n\t(d)\tthe administrative unit of the Public Service that is responsible for assisting a Minister in the administration of the Local Government Act 1999.\n8—Exempt agency in respect of certain information—SACE Board\n\t(1)\tFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the SACE Board is declared to be an exempt agency in respect of the following classes of information:\n\t(a)\tinformation relating to the results of students in SACE assessments;\n\t(b)\tcomparative school performance information;\n\t(c)\tinformation comprising, relating to or used in the application of standards of marking (however described) in the assessment of students;\n\t(d)\tinformation contained in a report prepared by a person or body appointed or established by the SACE Board to determine grade levels, or to ensure consistency in grading, and any information used in the preparation of such a report;\n\t(e)\tinformation comprising, or relating to, an examination paper for an examination that has not yet occurred at the time of an application under the Act relating to the information;\n\t(f)\tinformation relating to the assessment of students with disabilities;\n\t(g)\tinformation relating to the alternative assessment of students on compassionate or other grounds;\n\t(h)\tinformation used, or to be used, by the SACE Board to determine recipients of prizes, awards or commendations (however described);\n\t(i)\tinformation received by the SACE Board in the course of, or in relation to, a dispute resolution process (whether relating to a particular student or class of students, and however described);\n\t(j)\tinformation identifying a member of the SACE Board or a person exercising a power or performing a function under the SACE Board of South Australia Act 1983.\n\t(2)\tIn this regulation—\ncomparative school performance information means information of either of the following classes (whether presented in a statistical form or otherwise):\n\t(a)\taggregated information relating to the results of any assessments undertaken by students at a particular school or group of schools;\n\t(b)\taggregated information relating to the tertiary entrance ranks of students at a particular school or group of schools;\nSACE Board means the SACE Board of South Australia continued under the SACE Board of South Australia Act 1983.\n9—Exempt agency in respect of certain information—Small Business Commissioner\nFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the Small Business Commissioner is declared to be an exempt agency in respect of information other than—\n\t(a)\tfinancial and administrative information relating to the operations of the Small Business Commissioner; and\n\t(b)\tstatistical information that does not identify any particular person or business.\n10—Exempt agency in respect of certain information—Department of Treasury and Finance\nFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the Department of Treasury and Finance is declared to be an exempt agency in respect of information formerly held by the RESI Corporation (formerly in existence under the Electricity Corporations Act 1994).\n11—Exempt agency in respect of certain information—CTP Regulator\nFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the CTP Regulator established under the Compulsory Third Party Insurance Regulation Act 2016 is declared to be an exempt agency in respect of the following classes of information:\n\t(a)\tinformation relating to a claim or action under Part 4 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959;\n\t(b)\tinformation gained under Part 3 of the Compulsory Third Party Insurance Regulation Act 2016 that is confidential information within the meaning of section 17(1) of that Act.\n12—Exempt agencies in respect of certain information—Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service\n\t(1)\tFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, any agency that—\n\t(a)\tholds information formerly held by the Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service; or\n\t(b)\tprovided information to, or received information from, the Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service in connection with the advisory services provided by the Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service,\nis declared to be an exempt agency in respect of that information.\n\t(2)\tIn this regulation—\nParliamentary Budget Advisory Service means the Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service formerly in existence as an attached office under the Public Sector Act 2009.\n13—Exempt agency in respect of certain functions—Public Advocate\nFor the purposes of the definition of exempt agency in section 4(1) of the Act, the Public Advocate established under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1993 is declared to be an exempt agency in respect of—\n\t(a)\tfunctions exercised as a guardian; and\n\t(b)\tinvestigations of the affairs of persons under section 28 of the Guardianship and Administration Act 1993; and\n\t(c)\tfunctions under the Advance Care Directives Act 2013 relating to dispute resolution; and\n\t(d)\tfunctions under the Consent to Medical Treatment and Palliative Care Act 1995 relating to dispute resolution.\nSchedule 1—Repeal of Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2008\nThe Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2008 are repealed.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal regulations\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2023\n80\nGazette 3.8.2023 p2590 \n3.8.2023: r 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The regulations repeal the Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2008 (Schedule 1) and replace them with an updated list of exempt agencies and focused exemptions for particular classes of information and functions. They also provide that an exemption applies regardless of when the information was created (r 3(2)), and transfer legacy exemptions/holdings for certain bodies (e.g. regs 6, 10, 12)."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple agencies declared exempt with differing, targeted classes of information and functions (regs 4–13) — increases interpretive complexity.","Cross-references to other statutes and bodies (e.g. SACE Board Act, South Australian Skills Act, Guardianship and Administration Act) requiring statutory interpretation.","Specialised definitions for classes of information (e.g. 'comparative student performance information', 'comparative school performance information') that are fact-sensitive (regs 5, 8).","Retrospective operation clause: exemptions apply regardless of when information was created (r 3(2)), affecting existing records.","Repeal of the 2008 regulations and transfer/legacy holdings (Schedule 1; regs 6, 10, 12) creates potential record-location and custodianship issues.","Targeted carve-outs and exceptions (for example r 9 excludes certain Small Business Commissioner records) require granular application.","Some exemptions depend on confidentiality definitions in other Acts (for example CTP Regulator referring to confidentiality in the Compulsory Third Party Insurance Regulation Act) (r 11)."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations declare specific agencies and defined classes of information or functions to be exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act 1991. As a result, the named bodies (education ministers and Department for Education, SACE Board, South Australian Skills Commission, Small Business Commissioner, Department of Treasury and Finance, CTP Regulator, Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service, Public Advocate and others) can refuse FOI requests for the specified material.\n\nThis narrows public access to the listed records, shifts the cost and risk of contested disclosures to applicants, and gives agencies clear withholding powers (see regs 3–13 and Schedule 1)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Unable to assess whether the scope changed from original intent — the legislative text was not retrievable. The page returned a 404 error from the SA legislation website, likely due to a URL change following a site update on 24 March 2026."},"complexity_factors":["Analysis is based only on the legislation title — no actual legislative text was available for review","Exempt agency regulations are typically short, list-based instruments with low inherent complexity","However, the broader FOI framework they operate within can be moderately complex for laypeople to navigate","Without the actual text, no assessment of drafting complexity, cross-references, or definitions is possible"],"plain_english_summary":"The Freedom of Information (Exempt Agency) Regulations 2023 (SA), inferred from its title (the original text was unavailable), would identify government bodies removed from ordinary FOI obligations. That means people and organisations in South Australia cannot use FOI to access documents from listed agencies. Such regulations matter because they narrow public access to information and reduce avenues for oversight and accountability."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains the established scope of FOI exempt agency regulations. It is a consolidation and update of the 2008 Regulations, adding new agencies (CTP Regulator, updated Skills Commission references) and removing/replacing defunct bodies, but does not represent a significant expansion beyond the original purpose of designating FOI exemptions."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple nested exemption categories: agencies exempt entirely vs. agencies exempt only for specific information classes vs. agencies exempt for specific functions","13 separate regulations each with distinct exemption triggers, requiring cross-referencing with at least 15 other Acts (Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 2012, Public Corporations Act 1993, Commission of Inquiry Act 2004, etc.)","Temporal complexity in regulations 6, 10, and 12: exemptions apply to 'information formerly held by' defunct bodies (Training Advocate, RESI Corporation, Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service), creating succession-of-records issues","Specific event-based exemption in regulation 7: exemption tied to specific investigation (City of Burnside, 2009) with four distinct agency categories affected","Defined terms scattered across multiple regulations rather than centralized: 'comparative student performance information' (reg 5), 'comparative school performance information' (reg 8), 'SACE Board' (reg 8), 'Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service' (reg 12), 'children of compulsory education age' (reg 5)","Function-based exemptions (regs 6, 13) requiring reference to specific sections of other Acts to determine scope","Double-negative construction in regulation 9: Small Business Commissioner exempt 'in respect of information other than' listed exceptions"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a South Australian law that decides which government agencies and departments can keep certain information secret from the public under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.\n\n**What it does:**\nNormally, anyone can ask to see government documents under FOI laws. But some agencies or types of information are \"exempt\" (protected) — meaning they don't have to hand over certain documents. These regulations list exactly which agencies are exempt and what information they can keep secret.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Completely exempt agencies:** The Inspector from the anti-corruption commission, certain electricity corporations, a commission of inquiry about children in state care, and health complaints agencies. These bodies are entirely outside FOI laws.\n- **Partially exempt agencies:** Many other agencies are only exempt for specific types of information, including:\n  - **Education agencies:** Can keep secret comparative student performance data (like school league tables and aggregated test results)\n  - **SACE Board:** Can keep secret exam results, marking standards, unreleased exam papers, and student assessment information\n  - **Small Business Commissioner:** Can keep secret most information except basic financial and non-identifying statistics\n  - **CTP Regulator:** Can keep secret insurance claim information and confidential data\n  - **Public Advocate:** Can keep secret information about guardianship appointments and medical dispute resolution\n  - **Skills Commission:** Can keep secret complaint handling and dispute resolution records\n  - **Department of Treasury:** Can keep secret old records from a former electricity corporation\n  - **Various agencies:** Can keep secret information from a 2009 investigation into the City of Burnside council, and records from the former Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law draws the line between government transparency and legitimate secrecy. It protects sensitive information like student results, anti-corruption investigations, personal medical decisions, and commercial data — but it also means the public can't access these records even if they want to. The regulations replace older 2008 rules and update which agencies have what exemptions."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023","history":"/api/acts/freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023/history","analysis":"/api/acts/freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/freedom-of-information-exempt-agency-regulations-2023/documents"}}