24Commercial confidentiality

24 Commercial confidentiality

(1) A claim by an occupier of a reporting facility that particular information should be treated as confidential on the grounds of commercial confidentiality will, unless the existing law of the relevant participating jurisdiction provides otherwise, be dealt with in accordance with subclauses 24(3) and 24(4).

(2) However, if the existing law of the relevant participating jurisdiction does provide otherwise, the information must be dealt with under that law.

(3) If subclause 24(2) does not apply and the claim has not been assessed, the information provided by the occupier under clause 9 will not be made publicly available on the National Pollutant Inventory.

(4) If subclause 24(2) does not apply and the claim has been granted, the information for which the claim was granted should not be included on the National Pollutant Inventory unless it is included in a way (such as by aggregation with other information) that preserves the confidentiality of the information.

(5) A claim to which subclause 24(2) does not apply should be:

(a) assessed by the State or Territory within which the reporting facility is located using the procedures agreed between participating jurisdictions and taking account of the principles described in subclause 24(6); and

(b) after the assessment—granted or refused by the State or Territory concerned.

(6) The principles are:

(a) the occupier is to justify the claim for confidentiality to the State or Territory concerned; and

(b) the State or Territory is to weigh the interest of the occupier against the public interest in disclosure of the information.