Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2018A00130:clause:2_40a:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2018A00130
Segment Type: clause
Provision Reference: sch 2 cl 40A (pt 1/2)
Character Range: 10288–13123

40A  Consideration period for applications for access to records
 (1) The consideration period for an application to which section 40 applies is the period starting on the day after the application is received by the Archives and ending:
 (a) subject to paragraph (b), at the end of the shorter of the following periods (the initial period):
 (i) 90 business days;
 (ii) a period of business days prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subparagraph; or
 (b) if the initial period is extended on one or more occasions under this section—at the end of the initial period as so extended.

Extending the initial period—by agreement with applicant
 (2) The Director‑General may, with the applicant's written agreement and before the end of the consideration period, by written notice given to the applicant extend the application's initial period (including that period as previously extended under this section) by a specified number of business days.
 (3) If the Director‑General requests the applicant to enter into an agreement for the purposes of subsection (2), the Director‑General must inform the applicant that he or she is not obliged to comply with the request.

Extending the initial period—number of items exceeds the application cap
 (4) The Director‑General may, before the end of the consideration period, by written notice given to the applicant extend the application's initial period (including that period as previously extended under this section) by a specified number of business days, if the Director‑General reasonably believes that:
 (a) the applicant has made one or more applications for which the consideration period has not ended; and
 (b) the number of items that describe the records covered by those one or more applications exceeds the following number:
 (i) unless subparagraph (ii) applies—25;
 (ii) if the regulations prescribe a larger number for the purposes of this subparagraph—that larger number.
 (5) For the purposes of paragraph (4)(b), an item is the smallest discrete unit used by the Archives to describe a record in a series for purposes related to the care, management or retrieval of the record.
Example: For records in a file:
(a) if the file is divided into parts—each of the parts is a separate item; and
(b) if the file is not divided into parts—the file is a single item.

Limit on extensions under subsection (4)
 (6) A particular extension under subsection (4) must not have the effect that an application's initial period is extended under that subsection by more than the number of business days worked out using the following formula (rounding up to the nearest whole number):
where:
application cap means the number applicable under subparagraph (4)(b)(i) or (ii).
items requested means the number of items that the Director‑General reasonably believes describe