77Inspection of exempt documents by Tribunal

77 Inspection of exempt documents by Tribunal (1) Subject to subsection (2) and to any order made by the Tribunal under section 51(2) of the **Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998**, the Tribunal must do all things necessary to ensure that— (a) any document produced to the Tribunal in proceedings under this Act that is claimed to be an exempt document of a kind referred to in section 28(1) of the **Freedom of Information Act 1982**, or the contents of that document, is not disclosed to any person other than— (i) a member of the Tribunal as constituted for the proceedings; or (ii) a member of the staff of the Tribunal in the course of the performance of his or her duties as a member of that staff; and (b) the document is returned to the respondent at the conclusion of the proceedings. (2) The Tribunal may make such orders as it thinks necessary having regard to the nature of the proceedings. S. 77(3) substituted by No. 18/2005 s. 18(Sch. 1 item 48), amended by No. 17/2014 s. 160(Sch. 2 item 47). (3) If the applicant is represented by an Australian legal practitioner, orders under subsection (2) may include an order that the contents of a document produced to the Tribunal that is claimed to be an exempt document be disclosed to that practitioner. (4) In making an order under subsection (2), the Tribunal must be guided by the principle that the contents of a document that is claimed to be an exempt document should not normally be disclosed except in accordance with an order of the Tribunal under section 51(2) of the **Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998**. (5) If a complaint referred to in section 74(1) relates to a document or part of a document in relation to which disclosure has been refused on the grounds specified in section 28 of the **Freedom of Information Act 1982**, the Tribunal may, if it regards it as appropriate to do so, announce its findings in terms which neither confirm nor deny the existence of the document in question.