FOI Guide No. 2    Issued : October 2001 Issued by the Office of the Information Commissioner (WA) Tel: 9220 7888  Fax: 9325 2152  Email: info@foi.wa.gov.au              1                                                                                                                 Confidential Communications This is a plain English guide to the application  of the exemption in clause  8(2) of the FOI Act.  An agency can refuse access to exempt matter or an exempt document.  The word “matter” refers to a piece of information.  It can be a whole page or part of a page, or a single word or figure on a page.  Parts of a page can be exempt when other parts are   not.   Exemptions   are   not   mandatory;   agencies   have   discretion   to   disclose          documents that may be technically exempt where that may properly be done. Purpose Criteria Information of a confidential nature The  exemption  in  clause  8(2)  protects  the  free  flow  of      confidential information so that individuals and organizations who   provide   information   to   government   agencies   on   a   genuinely   confidential   basis   can   be   assured   that   the          information will remain confidential. The   exemption   will   only   apply   if   all   of   the   following              requirements are met: the information is confidential in nature it was communicated in confidence to the agency its  disclosure  could  reasonably  be  expected  to  prejudice the future supply of information of that particular kind to the government or to an agency the public interest considerations favouring non-disclosure outweigh  any  other  public  interest  considerations favouring its disclosure It  only  includes  information  that  is  both  secret  from  the applicant and generally inaccessible to the public at large.   It can include the identity of the provider of the information as well as the information given. Information  can  be  confidential  in  nature  even  if  it  is known by a small number or limited class of persons.  The wider and more diverse is the group of people who know the information,  the  less  likely  it  is  that  the  information  will  be confidential. The   confidential   nature   of   information   may   change.   Information  that  was  confidential  at  one  point,  may  not  be confidential at the time that access to it is sought. Merely   marking   a   document   as   “Confidential”   or   as “commercial  in  confidence”  will  not  make  it  confidential  for the  purpose  of  the  exemption.    It  may  be  a  factor  to  be considered along with all the circumstances surrounding the giving  of  the  information  to  decide  if  it  is  confidential  in nature.