3Interpretation

## 3 Interpretation (a) an authority, body, tribunal or organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated, established for a public purpose: (i) by, or in accordance with the provisions of, an Act, regulations made under an Act or a law of a Territory other than the Northern Territory; (f) a body established by or under an enactment within the meaning of the Australian Capital Territory (Self‑Government) Act 1988; > Cabinet notebook means a notebook or other like record that contains notes of discussions or deliberations taking place in a meeting of the Cabinet or of a committee of the Cabinet, being notes made in the course of those discussions or deliberations by, or under the authority of, the Secretary to the Cabinet. > Census information means information transferred to the custody of the Archives under section 8A of the Census and Statistics Act 1905. (a) the Commission of inquiry within the meaning of the Quarantine Act 1908 (as in force immediately before its repeal); or > Commonwealth‑controlled association means an association over which the Commonwealth is in a position to exercise control, but does not include an association that is declared by the regulations not to be a Commonwealth‑controlled association. > Commonwealth‑controlled company means an incorporated company over which the Commonwealth is in a position to exercise control, but does not include a company that is declared by the regulations not to be a Commonwealth‑controlled company. (b) a record that is to be deemed to be a Commonwealth record by virtue of a regulation under subsection (6) or by virtue of section 22; > current Commonwealth record means a Commonwealth record that is required to be readily available for the purposes of a Commonwealth institution, other than purposes under this Act. > Director‑General means the person for the time being occupying the office, or performing the duties of the office, of Director‑General of the National Archives of Australia under the Public Service Act 1999. (a) material included in the memorial collection within the meaning of the Australian War Memorial Act 1980, other than material to which a regulation under subsection (6) applies; or (e) material included in a collection maintained by an institution declared by the regulations to be a custodial institution for the purposes of this definition; > Independent Review means the Independent Review into the workplaces of Parliamentarians and their staff conducted under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner (within the meaning of that Act). (a) a document given to, or received by, the Independent Review, or a person performing functions in relation to the Review, for the purposes of the Review; or (b) a document brought into existence by the Independent Review or a person performing functions in relation to the Review. > material of the Archives means records in the care of the Archives (other than current Commonwealth records relating to the administration of the Archives). > object does not include a building or other structure or a vessel, aircraft or vehicle, other than a prescribed vessel, aircraft or vehicle. (a) a document given to, or received by, any of the following bodies in connection with the performance of the body’s functions: (c) a document transferred to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service under item 4 of Schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2023; > record means a document, or an object, in any form (including any electronic form) that is, or has been, kept by reason of: > responsible Minister, in relation to a Commonwealth record, means the Minister to whose ministerial responsibilities the record is most closely related. > Royal Commission means a Commissioner or Commissioners appointed by the Governor‑General in the name of the Sovereign to make inquiry and report upon any matter. (2) For the purposes of this Act, the archival resources of the Commonwealth consist of such Commonwealth records and other material as are of national significance or public interest and relate to: (b) the legal basis, origin, development, organization or activities of the Commonwealth or of a Commonwealth institution; (e) an international or other organization the membership of which includes, or has included, the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth institution; (f) material that, in the opinion of the Minister, ought to be in the archives of another country or in the archives of an international organization; (g) material that relates only or principally to the history or government of a State or the Northern Territory or of a Colony that became part of the Commonwealth, not being: (h) material, other than Commonwealth records, relating only to a place that has been, but has ceased to be, a Territory; or (3A) In this Act, a reference to the provision of a discretionary service for a person is a reference to the doing of an act by the Archives, being an act that the Archives has power to do and that it does at the person’s request, other than an act that: (5) For the purposes of this Act, a record held by or on behalf of the Parliament or a House of the Parliament shall be taken to be the property of the Commonwealth. (6) The regulations may make provision under which, in specified cases or circumstances, records of which the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth institution has, or is entitled to have, possession are to be deemed to be Commonwealth records for the purposes of the provisions, or specified provisions, of this Act. (7) For the purposes of this Act, subject to sections 22A, 22B and 22C, work out when a record is in the open access period in accordance with the following table: <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin-left:0.25pt; border-collapse:collapse"><thead><tr><td colspan="3" style="width:343.5pt; border-top:1.5pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext" style="page-break-after:avoid"><span style="font-weight:bold">Open access period for records</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:1.5pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext" style="page-break-after:avoid"><span style="font-weight:bold">Item</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:1.5pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext" style="page-break-after:avoid"><span style="font-weight:bold">If the record came into existence in any of the following years (ending on 31</span><span style="font-weight:bold"> </span><span style="font-weight:bold">December):</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:1.5pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext" style="page-break-after:avoid"><span style="font-weight:bold">the record is in the open access period on and after the following day:</span></p></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:1.5pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:1.5pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>a year (the </span><span style="font-weight:bold; font-style:italic">creation year</span><span>) before 1980</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:1.5pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January in the year that is 31 years after the creation year.</span></p><p class="notemargin" style="margin-left:38.35pt; text-indent:-38.35pt"><span>Example:</span><span style="width:3.86pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block"> </span><span>A record that came into existence in the year 1979 is in the open access period on and after 1</span><span> </span><span>January 2010.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>2</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1980 or 1981</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2011.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>3</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1982 or 1983</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2012.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>4</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1984 or 1985</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2013.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>5</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1986 or 1987</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2014.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>6</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1988 or 1989</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2015.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>7</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1990 or 1991</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2016.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>8</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1992 or 1993</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2017.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>9</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1994 or 1995</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2018.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>10</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1996 or 1997</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2019.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>11</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1998 or 1999</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2020.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>12</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>2000</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January 2021.</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="width:24.9pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:1.5pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>13</span></p></td><td style="width:129.25pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:1.5pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>a year (the </span><span style="font-weight:bold; font-style:italic">creation year</span><span>) after 2000</span></p></td><td style="width:167.75pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:1.5pt solid #000000; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="Tabletext"><span>1</span><span> </span><span>January in the year that is 21 years after the creation year.</span></p><p class="notemargin" style="margin-left:38.35pt; text-indent:-38.35pt"><span>Example:</span><span style="width:3.86pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block"> </span><span>A record that came into existence in the year 2001 is in the open access period on and after 1</span><span> </span><span>January 2022.</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table> ``` (a) material, being Commonwealth records, that was held at the commencement of Part II by a State, the Northern Territory or Norfolk Island or by an authority of a State, of the Northern Territory or of Norfolk Island and has continued since that time to be so held by that State, that Territory or that authority; or (b) material, other than Commonwealth records, that is held at any time by a State or by a Territory or authority referred to in paragraph (a);