47Giving access—form of access

47 Giving access—form of access (1) Access to government information under this part may be given to a person in 1 or more of the following ways: (a) by giving a copy of an electronic record containing the (b) by giving a printed copy of the record containing the (c) if the information is contained in a sound recording or a record in which words are in shorthand writing or in a codified form— by giving a written transcript of words contained in the record; (d) if the application relates to information that is not contained in a written record held by an agency or Minister—by providing a written document using equipment usually available to the agency or Minister for retrieving or collating stored information. (2) For subsection (1) (a) to (c), a reference to government information or a record includes a reference to a copy from which information has been deleted under section 50. (3) As far as practicable, access to government information under this part must be given— (a) either— (i) in a way that complies with the web content accessibility guidelines, level AA; or (ii) if another way is prescribed by regulation—in that way; and

Giving access to information Division 5.4 (b) in a form that provides at least the same range of functions to the applicant as was available to the respondent before the access was given. 1 electronically searchable text document 2 unsecured text document that allows a user to copy and paste from the document (4) Subject to this section and section 50, if an applicant has requested access in a particular form, access must be given in that form. (5) However, access may be given in a form (an alternative form) other than that requested by the applicant if— (a) it is not reasonably practicable for the respondent to give access in the form requested; and (b) the respondent is reasonably satisfied that the applicant can receive the information given in the alternative form. (6) If an applicant is given access to government information in a form different to the form requested by the applicant, the applicant must not be required to pay a fee that is more than would have been payable if access had been given in the form requested by the applicant.