sec.47Grounds on which access may be refused

### sec.47 Grounds on which access may be refused This section sets out grounds on which access may be refused. It is the Parliament’s intention that— the grounds are to be interpreted narrowly; and an agency or Minister may give access to a document even if a ground on which access may be refused applies. On an application, an agency may refuse access to a document of the agency and a Minister may refuse access to a document of the Minister— to the extent the document comprises exempt information under section 48 ; or to the extent the document comprises information the disclosure of which would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest under section 49 ; or to the extent the document is sought under an application by or for a child and comprises the child’s personal information the disclosure of which would not be in the child’s best interests under section 50 ; or to the extent the document comprises an applicant’s relevant healthcare information the disclosure of which might be prejudicial to the physical or mental health or wellbeing of the applicant under section 51 ; or because the document is nonexistent or unlocatable as mentioned in section 52 ; or because other access to the document is available as mentioned in section 53 . Only a principal officer, Minister or appointed healthcare professional may refuse access to a document of an agency as mentioned in paragraph (d) —see sections 30 (5) and 31 (2) . In this section— child means an individual who is under 18 years. (sec.47-ssec.1) This section sets out grounds on which access may be refused. (sec.47-ssec.2) It is the Parliament’s intention that— the grounds are to be interpreted narrowly; and an agency or Minister may give access to a document even if a ground on which access may be refused applies. (sec.47-ssec.3) On an application, an agency may refuse access to a document of the agency and a Minister may refuse access to a document of the Minister— to the extent the document comprises exempt information under section 48 ; or to the extent the document comprises information the disclosure of which would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest under section 49 ; or to the extent the document is sought under an application by or for a child and comprises the child’s personal information the disclosure of which would not be in the child’s best interests under section 50 ; or to the extent the document comprises an applicant’s relevant healthcare information the disclosure of which might be prejudicial to the physical or mental health or wellbeing of the applicant under section 51 ; or because the document is nonexistent or unlocatable as mentioned in section 52 ; or because other access to the document is available as mentioned in section 53 . Only a principal officer, Minister or appointed healthcare professional may refuse access to a document of an agency as mentioned in paragraph (d) —see sections 30 (5) and 31 (2) . (sec.47-ssec.4) In this section— child means an individual who is under 18 years. - (a) the grounds are to be interpreted narrowly; and - (b) an agency or Minister may give access to a document even if a ground on which access may be refused applies. - (a) to the extent the document comprises exempt information under section 48 ; or - (b) to the extent the document comprises information the disclosure of which would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest under section 49 ; or - (c) to the extent the document is sought under an application by or for a child and comprises the child’s personal information the disclosure of which would not be in the child’s best interests under section 50 ; or - (d) to the extent the document comprises an applicant’s relevant healthcare information the disclosure of which might be prejudicial to the physical or mental health or wellbeing of the applicant under section 51 ; or - (e) because the document is nonexistent or unlocatable as mentioned in section 52 ; or - (f) because other access to the document is available as mentioned in section 53 .