Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) After conducting an inquiry under this Act into a complaint in respect of action taken by an intelligence agency (other than a preliminary inquiry under section 14), the Inspector - General must (subject to subsection (2)) take reasonable steps to give a written response relating to the inquiry to the complainant, unless the Inspector - General is satisfied on reasonable grounds that doing so will prejudice security, the defence of Australia or Australia's relations with other countries.
(2) The Inspector - General must not give the response until the head of the relevant agency and the Inspector - General have agreed that the terms of the proposed response will not prejudice:
(a) security, the defence of Australia or Australia's relations with other countries; or
(b) law enforcement operations, including methodologies and investigative techniques; or
(c) the privacy of individuals; or
(d) confidential commercial information; or
(e) the fair trial of a person or the impartial adjudication of a matter.
(3) The Inspector - General must give a copy of the response to the responsible Minister.