Section 18 — Official Information Act 1982: Refusal of requests

18 Refusal of requests A request made in accordance with section 12 of this Act may be refused only for one or more of the following reasons, namely: (a) That, by virtue of section 6 or section 7 or section 9 of this Act, there is good reason for withholding the information: (b) That, by virtue of section 10 of this Act, the Department or Minister of the Crown or organisation does not confirm or deny the existence or non-existence of the information requested: (c) That the making available of the information requested would— (i) Be contrary to the provisions of a specified enactment; or (ii) Constitute contempt of Court or of the House of Representatives: (d) That the information requested is or will soon be publicly available: (e) That the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or cannot be found: (f) That the information requested cannot be made available without substantial collation or research: (g) That the information requested is not held by the Department or Minister of the Crown or organisation and the person dealing with the request has no grounds for believing that the information is either— (i) Held by another Department or Minister of the Crown or organisation or a local authority; or (ii) Connected more closely with the functions of another Department or Minister of the Crown or organisation or of a local authority: (h) That the request is frivolous or vexatious or that the information requested is trivial. Paragraph (a) was amended, as from 1 April 1987, by section 4(2) Official Information Amendment Act 1987 (1987 No 8) by omitting the expression “ or section 8(1) ” . Paragraph (c)(ii) was amended, as from 1 April 1987, by section 10 Official Information Amendment Act 1987 (1987 No 8) by substituting the words “ the House of Representatives ” for the word “ Parliament ” . Paragraph (g)(i) and (ii) was amended, as from 1 March 1988, by section 57(1) Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (1987 No 174) by inserting the words “ or a local authority ” and the words “ or of a local authority ” , respectively. See section 1(2) of that Act.