21Confidential information

21 Confidential information

(1) A party may: (a) inform the ACCC that, in the opinion of the party, a specified part of a document contains confidential commercial information; and (b) request the ACCC not to give a copy of that part to another party. (2) On receiving a request, the ACCC must: (a) inform the other party that the request has been made and of the general nature of the matters to which the relevant part of the document relates; and (b) ask the other party whether it objects to the ACCC complying with the request. (3) If the other party objects to the ACCC complying with the request, that party may inform the ACCC of the objection and of the reasons for the objection. (4) After considering: (a) a request; and (b) any objection; and (c) any further submissions that any party has made in relation to the request; the ACCC may decide not to give to the other party a copy of so much of the document as contains confidential commercial information that the ACCC reasonably believes should not be given to the other party.

Note: A decision by the ACCC may be a document discoverable under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Under that Act, a person has a right to obtain access to a document of an agency, other than an exempt document. Section 55 of that Act provides for Administrative Appeals Tribunal review of a decision refusing to grant access to a document.