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Records Information – Special Access
Public Records Act (1973) Sub-Section 9(2) Closure of Personal Records
Records closed under Section 9 (personal or private affairs)
account for well over 90% of all closures under the Act. The general rule is
that records containing personal information on the data subject will not be
released during the prospective lifetime of the data subjects, viz.
for 75 years after the creation of the
records (adults)
for 99 years after the creation of the
records (children).
These periods are, to some extent, arbitrary. In any
particular group of records the likelihood is that some few data subjects will
still be living and many will be long deceased by the time the records are
released - depending on their age at the time the record was created.
Resource limitations do not permit access decisions to be
made or reviewed at the level of individual documents or record items. A single
decision is made in respect of each group (consignment) prepared for transfer
and, as a general rule, if a consignment contains some material which should be
withheld, the consignment will be closed in its entirety. Where consignments
are arranged chronologically, records are released progressively.
The Public Records Act and Freedom of Information
Closure under the Public
Records Act 1973 does not
preclude the public from gaining access under Freedom of Information
provisions. Where access is sought to individual documents within a closed
consignment, it may be more appropriate to make an application under Freedom of Information
which will be referred by the Keeper of Public Records to the agency
responsible for the records.
Special Acess
Special access to closed records is granted only in
exceptional circumstances. The Minister needs to be satisfied that there is a
countervailing public interest in making records available for the proposed
research which:
·
Outweighs the reasons for withholding their release from all
other researchers - in this case the personal privacy of the data subject.
·
Justifies the resources required in order to support the investigation, preparation and
supervision involved in satisfying the request.
Public Benefit or Interest
The proposed research needs to be described fully and
precisely together with the justification for granting special access on grounds
of public benefit or interest.
An evaluation of public benefit or interest may be made on
the following grounds:
·
likely benefits* (eg. research which will provide an
authoritative account of significant political, social or economic events in
Victorian or Australian history; contribute to medical, legal, community
welfare studies of direct benefit to the community).
·
availability of the results of the research through publication,
broadcast, etc.
·
demonstrated qualifications* of the applicant in the area of
research and the extent of substantial and authoritative research already
carried out and published on the selected topic.
·
whether the research project is officially sponsored by a
government agency.
*(supporting opinion from others in a position to judge
would be an advantage).
Individual Benefit or Interest
Applications may be recommended where individuals are
seeking access to their own records or access to records of other individuals
where individual benefit or interest has been established and outweighs the
invasion of personal privacy involved in making the records available.
Circumstances where access may be recommended include:
·
research of medical or other records of relatives in relation to
an inheritable disease or condition.
·
investigations by individuals seeking to establish legal rights
or entitlements (eg. property titles, claims for damages).
Personal Privacy Protection
Projects which meet the public benefit or interest criteria
set out above may, nevertheless, be refused on grounds that they would involve
an unreasonable disclosure of the personal affairs of data subjects.
Biographical, genealogical and other kinds of research into the lives of
individuals during the closed period would normally be deemed to involve such a
breach.
Statistical research, where an undertaking is given not to
reveal details identifying individuals, may be considered where the work
otherwise meets the public benefit or interest criteria.
Evaluation of Applications for Special Access
The Public Records Act accords the Minister a
discretionary power to grant special access to closed records.
Applications for special access are examined in light of the established
criteria and a recommendation is made by the Keeper of Public Records to the
Minister.
The following factors are taken into account, when
applications for special access are being considered, by the Keeper of Public
Records:
·
If the researcher undertakes not to reveal details about
individuals then an evaluation of the public benefit or interest will be made
according to the criteria outlined above.
·
Research projects which identify the data subject are considered
to constitute an invasion of privacy which outweighs any public
benefit/interest identified and as such would not warrant a recommendation that
special access be granted.
·
Claims that information about the data subject is already widely
known cannot be considered, as it is not possible to verify precisely what
information in the record is known publicly nor how widely it is known.
Conditions
If special access is granted, conditions may be applied to
which the applicant will be required to agree before the records are released.
These may include:
·
reporting progress towards completion of the project;
·
non-disclosure of specified information and/or vetting of
material before publication, broadcast, etc. and agreement to deletions as
required;
·
no use of material obtained other than for production of the
final text of the proposed work.
Application for Special Access
Researchers wishing to apply for special access should write
to:
Keeper of Public Records
Public Record Office Victoria
PO Box 2100
North Melbourne VIC 3051