40AConsideration period for applications for access to records

## 40A Consideration period for applications for access to records (1) The consideration period for an application to which section 40 applies is the period starting on the day after the application is received by the Archives and ending: (b) if the initial period is extended on one or more occasions under this section—at the end of the initial period as so extended. (2) The Director‑General may, with the applicant’s written agreement and before the end of the consideration period, by written notice given to the applicant extend the application’s initial period (including that period as previously extended under this section) by a specified number of business days. (3) If the Director‑General requests the applicant to enter into an agreement for the purposes of subsection (2), the Director‑General must inform the applicant that he or she is not obliged to comply with the request. (4) The Director‑General may, before the end of the consideration period, by written notice given to the applicant extend the application’s initial period (including that period as previously extended under this section) by a specified number of business days, if the Director‑General reasonably believes that: (b) the number of items that describe the records covered by those one or more applications exceeds the following number: (5) For the purposes of paragraph (4)(b), an item is the smallest discrete unit used by the Archives to describe a record in a series for purposes related to the care, management or retrieval of the record. (6) A particular extension under subsection (4) must not have the effect that an application’s initial period is extended under that subsection by more than the number of business days worked out using the following formula (rounding up to the nearest whole number):  > items requested means the number of items that the Director‑General reasonably believes describe the records covered by the one or more applications mentioned in paragraph (4)(b) in relation to the extension. > unextended initial period means the number of business days in the initial period under subparagraph (1)(a)(i) or (ii), disregarding any extensions under this section. (7) The Director‑General may vary or revoke an extension under subsection (4) by written notice given to the applicant before the end of the period of the extension. This subsection does not limit subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. (8) For the purposes of applying subsection (6) in relation to an extension that is varied under subsection (7), the number of items mentioned in paragraph (4)(b) is to be determined on the basis of applications made by the applicant as at the time of the variation. (9) The Director‑General must take into account the matters (if any) prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection in: