57Required period for deciding application

#### 57 Required period for deciding application 57 Required period for deciding application > > (1) An agency must decide an access application and give the applicant notice of the agency’s decision within 20 working days (the decision period) after the agency receives the application. > > > (2) The decision period can be extended by up to 10 working days for either or both of the following reasons (with a maximum extension under this subsection of 15 working days for any particular access application)— > > > > > (a) consultation with another person is required under a provision of this Act, > > > > > (b) records are required to be retrieved from a records archive. > > > > Note. > > > > The decision period can only be extended to allow for mandatory consultation, not just consultation that the agency chooses to do. > > > (3) The regulations can also provide for the extension (and further extension) of the decision period. > > > (4) The decision period can also be extended (and further extended) by agreement with the applicant. > > > > Note. > > > > A decision by an agency to refuse to agree to extending the decision period is not a reviewable decision. > > > (5) The agency must as soon as practicable after the decision period is extended (and in any case within 5 working days after it is extended) give the applicant notice of any extension of the decision period (including any extension by agreement with the applicant), indicating the date on which the extended decision period will end. > > > (6) An access application is considered to have been decided within time if the agency decides the application and gives the applicant notice of the agency’s decision within the decision period. The decision period is also referred to in other provisions of this Act as the period within which an application is required to be decided.