NTIn ForceAct
Information Act 2002
5Public sector organisations
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5 Public sector organisations
(1) Subject to this section, a public sector organisation is any of the
(a) an Agency;
(b) a Government Business Division;
(c) a Government owned corporation;
(d) a local government council;
(e) a statutory corporation;
(f) a person appointed, or body established, by or under an Act or
by the Administrator or by a minister;
(g) the Police Force of the Northern Territory;
(h) a person holding an office or position under an Act;
(i) a court of the Territory;
(j) a tribunal of the Territory;
(k) a person or body declared by the Regulations to be a public
(2) The following are not public sector organisations:
(a) the Commissioner;
(b) a person or body declared by the Regulations not to be a
public sector organisation.
(3) The following are not Agencies:
(a) an Agency that is a Government Business Division;
(b) if a Government Business Division forms part of an Agency –
that part of the Agency.
(4) A Government Business Division or Government owned corporation
is a public sector organisation for personal information only.
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(4A) A public sector organisation may be declared by the Regulations to
be a public sector organisation for personal information only.
(5) This Act does not apply to:
(a) a court in relation to its judicial functions; or
(b) except as expressly provided in Parts 7A and 8 – a tribunal in
relation to its decision-making functions; or
(c) a coroner as defined in section 3 of the Coroners Act 1993 in
relation to an inquest or inquiry under that Act; or
(d) the Local Court in relation to a preliminary examination under
Part V of the Local Court (Criminal Procedure) Act 1928.
(6) For this Act, other than Part 2 (General principles about disclosure
of information) and Part 9 (Records and archives management), a
public sector organisation includes a minister, but only to the extent
that the minister holds government information connected with his
or her responsibilities as the holder of that office.
(6A) To avoid doubt, for Part 3, a minister and a member of the staff of a
minister (each a ministerial entity) is not a public sector
organisation in relation to recorded information in any form,
(including data in a computer system), including a part or copy of
that information, held by the ministerial entity that:
(a) was created or received by the ministerial entity; and
(b) has not been shared with or provided to a public sector
organisation other than another ministerial entity.
(7) A reference to a public sector organisation includes a reference to
the following:
(a) the chief executive officer of the organisation;
(b) an officer, employee or agent of the organisation;
(c) a contract service provider to the extent of the services it
provides under the service contract;
(d) an employee or agent of a contract service provider to the
extent of the employee's or agent's involvement in collecting
or handling personal information under the service contract;
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(e) a person (other than a contract service provider) who provides
services to the organisation under a contract between the
organisation or the Territory and that person or another person
to the extent of the services provided.
(8) A reference to a court or tribunal includes a reference to the
(a) the members of the court or tribunal;
(b) the registrar (however described) and the other officers of the
court or tribunal;
(c) the staff in the registry and other offices of the court or
tribunal;
(d) the personal staff of the members of the court or tribunal;
(e) any other staff of the court or tribunal.