Part 6Miscellaneous

Part 6—Miscellaneous 47—Service of notices A notice that an agency is required by this Act to give to a person— (a) may be served personally or by means of a letter posted to the person at the person's address last known to the agency; and (b) is, if it is served by means of a letter, to be taken to have been given to the person at the end of the fifth day after the letter was posted. 48—Burden of proof In any proceedings concerning a determination made under this Act by an agency, the burden of establishing that the determination is justified lies on the agency. 49—Agency taken to have made determinations For the purposes of any proceedings, a determination under this Act that has been made by an officer of an agency is to be taken to have been made by the agency concerned. 50—Protection in respect of actions for defamation or breach of confidence (1) If access to a document is given pursuant to a determination under this Act, and if the person by whom the determination is made honestly believes, when making the determination, that this Act permits or requires the determination to be made— (a) no action for defamation or breach of confidence lies against the Crown, an agency or an officer of an agency, by reason of the making of the determination or the giving of access; and (b) no action for defamation or breach of confidence in respect of any publication involved in, or resulting from, the giving of access lies against the author of the document or any other person by reason of the author or other person having supplied the document to an agency or Minister. (2) Neither the giving of access to a document pursuant to a determination under this Act nor the making of such a determination constitutes, for the purposes of the law relating to defamation or breach of confidence, an authorisation or approval of the publication of the document or its contents by the person to whom access is given. 51—Protection in respect of certain criminal actions If access to a document is given pursuant to a determination under this Act, and if the person by whom the determination is made honestly believes, when making the determination, that this Act permits or requires the determination to be made, neither the person by whom the determination is made nor any other person concerned in giving access to the document is guilty of an offence merely because of the making of the determination or the giving of access. 52—Personal liability A person acting honestly and in the exercise or purported exercise of functions under this Act incurs no civil or criminal liability in consequence of doing so. 53—Fees and charges (1) The fees and charges payable under this Act must be fixed by the regulations or in accordance with a scale fixed in the regulations. (2) The regulations— (a) must provide for such waiver, reduction or remission of fees as may be necessary to ensure that disadvantaged persons are not prevented from exercising rights under this Act by reason of financial hardship; (b) must provide for access to documents by Members of Parliament without charge unless the work generated by the application exceeds a threshold stated in the regulations, and (except as provided by this section) the fees or charges must reflect the reasonable administrative costs incurred by agencies in exercising their functions under this Act. (2aa) A fee or charge can only be required by an agency under this Act in respect of the costs to the agency of finding, sorting, compiling and copying documents necessary for the proper exercise of a function under this Act and undertaking any consultations required by this Act in relation to the exercise of that function. (2a) An agency may, as it thinks fit, waive, reduce or remit a fee or charge in circumstances other than those in which such action is provided for under the regulations. (3) Where an agency determines a fee or charge it must, at the request of the person required to pay, review the fee or charge and, if it thinks fit, reduce it. (4) A person dissatisfied with the decision of an agency on an application for review of a fee or charge may apply to the Ombudsman for a further review and the Ombudsman may, according to his or her determination of what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances of the particular case— (a) waive, confirm or vary the fee or charge; (b) give directions as to the time for payment of the fee or charge. (5) A fee or charge may be recovered by an agency as a debt. 54—Reports to Parliament (1) The Minister administering this Act must— (a) as soon as practicable after 30 June and in any case before 31 October in each year prepare a report on the administration of this Act for the 12 months ending on 30 June; and (b) cause a copy of the report to be laid before both Houses of Parliament within six sitting days after preparation of the report is completed. 54AA—Provision of information to Minister Each agency must— (a) furnish to the Minister administering this Act such information as the Minister requires by notice in the Gazette— (i) for the purpose of monitoring compliance with this Act; and (ii) for the purpose of preparing a report under section 54; and (b) comply with any requirements notified by the Minister in the Gazette concerning the furnishing of that information and the keeping of records for the purposes of this section. 54A—Training to be provided to agencies The Minister administering this Act must, in consultation with the Ombudsman, develop and maintain appropriate training programs to assist agencies in complying with this Act. 55—Regulations The Governor may make such regulations as are contemplated by, or as are necessary or expedient for the purposes of, this Act.