40 Right to be given access to particular documents

(1) Subject to this Act, an individual has a right to be given access under this Act to—

(a) documents of an agency to the extent they contain the individual's personal information; and

(b) documents of a Minister to the extent they contain the individual's personal information.

Notes—1 See part 2 for how to exercise this right to access.
2 Exclusions of the right are provided for under the Right to Information Act, chapter 3, part 4 (which provides particular circumstances where an entity may refuse to deal with an application) and section 67 (which applies the Right to Information Act, section 47 which in turn provides grounds on which an entity may refuse access).3 A limitation on the right is provided for under section 88 (which provides that, in particular circumstances, an entity may delete irrelevant information from a document before giving access).

(2) Subsection (1) applies to documents even if they came into existence before the commencement of this Act.

Note—
Section 47 deems an access application to apply only to documents that are, or may be, in existence on the day the application is received.