Checklist · Administrative & Public Law

Public interest factors for a conditionally exempt document

A worksheet of the factors in the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) sections 11A and 11B for a document the principal has already marked as conditionally exempt.

Kind
Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
Where it applies
Commonwealth
AI use
Red You write the text. The tool writes nothing into the document. Where permitted, it may check, clarify or collect data, and anything it checks or collects is verified.
Law stated as at
22 October 2026
Status
Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for Commonwealth.
Version
1
Source
Written for this library

When to use it

Use when an agency or Minister is working out whether access to a conditionally exempt document would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest. It does not decide that question.

Used for these tasks

Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.

How AI may be used

AI may place a fact from the document or the file next to a factor in section 11B, and must not weigh the factors or decide whether access is given.

AI may

  • List the factors in section 11B(3) and the irrelevant factors in section 11B(4)
  • Place a passage the principal has marked next to the factor the principal names

AI must not

  • Must not decide that access would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest
  • Must not decide that the document is conditionally exempt or exempt
  • Must not take an irrelevant factor into account, or paraphrase the objects in sections 3 and 3A
  • Must not quote Information Commissioner guidelines that the principal has not supplied

The lawyer checks

  • The document has been marked conditionally exempt by the principal, under a provision the principal has opened
  • Section 11A(6) is considered where the document may also be an exempt document
  • Any guidelines issued for section 11B(5) are identified and read
  • The balance, and the notice of decision, are written by the principal

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

Read the full text

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