Section 61ZB - Production under notice of document claimed to be exempt under section 28, 31 or 31A

Where a person claims that a document required to be produced is exempt under either section 28, 31 or 31A, the person must provide access to it by inspection at the agency or Minister’s premises or by secure electronic means, instead of providing a copy of the document to the Information Commissioner.³

If the person provides access to the document by inspection in accordance with section 61ZB, then they have complied with the notice even if the notice requires the person to produce the document by sending a copy of it to the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC).⁴

Production by inspection applies to documents that are claimed to be exempt under:

• section 28 (Cabinet documents);
• section 31 (law enforcement documents); or
• section 31A (documents relating to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission).⁶

OVIC may inspect a document by inspecting it at the premises of the agency which, or the Minister who, claims that the document is exempt under section 28, 31 or 31A.¹²

Alternatively, OVIC may request that the person provides the document for inspection by secure electronic means (for example, by secure file exchange).¹³ If OVIC requests to inspect a document electronically, it must destroy the document as soon as practicable after inspecting it.¹⁴ When OVIC has destroyed the document, it must let the agency or Minister know in writing that the inspection is complete and that the document has been destroyed.¹⁵

OVIC cannot take or make copies of a document they inspect.¹⁶

A person who provides access to a document by inspection must still comply with the timeframes outlined in the notice.¹⁸