Section 41 - Agency or Minister may amend record

Forms of correction or amendment of information under Part V include:

• altering the information;⁵
• adding a notation;⁶

or in limited circumstances:

• deleting or expunging the information;⁷ or
• destroying the document.⁸

Section 41 gives an agency or Minister the discretion as to how an amendment is made.

Altering a record is one way an agency or Minister may make an amendment. An alteration may involve:

• striking through the incorrect information;
• inserting information next to the incorrect information;
• using explanatory language to make it clear any change to the record was done under the Act (for example, ‘amended under section 39 of the Act’).

Altering a record helps maintain the integrity of the record by keeping the original information.

Section 42 outlines the requirements for adding a notation on a record.