Section 24 — Freedom of Information Act 1982: Power to refuse request—diversion of resources etc.

(1) If an agency or Minister is satisfied, when dealing with a request for a document, that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to the request (see section 24AA), the agency or Minister: (a) must undertake a request consultation process (see section 24AB); and (b) if, after the request consultation process, the agency or Minister is satisfied that the practical refusal reason still exists—the agency or Minister may refuse to give access to the document in accordance with the request. (2) For the purposes of this section, the agency or Minister may treat 2 or more requests as a single request if the agency or Minister is satisfied that: (a) the requests relate to the same document or documents; or (b) the requests relate to documents, the subject matter of which is substantially the same.