Our reference: FOI 23-098
Derek MacLeod
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr MacLeod
Decision on your Freedom of Information Request
I  refer  to  your  request  of  19  December  2022,  to  the  Classification  Board  (the  Board),  seeking  access  to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
1
Authority to make decision
I am authorised to make decisions in relation to Freedom of Information requests under section 23(1) of the
FOI Act.
2
Material taken into consideration
In making my decision, I had regard to the following:
•  the terms of your request
•  the content of the documents captured by your request
•  the provisions of the FOI Act
•  the guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act
(the FOI Guidelines)
•  advice from officers with responsibility for the subject matter contained in the documents captured
by your request
3
Scope of your request
You requested access to:

“documentation relating to the classification of the film "Cannibal Holocaust". I specifically seek
classification reports, board reports, classifier blues/censor notes, and any classification decisions made
regarding the film”

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Decision
I have identified 42 documents that are relevant to your request. These documents were in the possession of
the Board when your request was received.
I have decided to:
  grant access in full to relevant information in 39 documents and
  grant partial access to three documents.
A  schedule  setting  out  the  documents  relevant  to  your  request,  with  my  decision  in  relation  to  those
documents, is at ATTACHMENT A.
My reasons for refusing access to information that is relevant to your request are set out below.
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Finding of facts and reasons for decision
My findings of fact and reasons for deciding that the exemptions identified in the schedule of documents apply
to the parts of documents are set out below.
5.1  Section 47F – Documents affecting personal privacy
Section 47F of the FOI Act provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure would involve the
unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person (including a deceased person).
Personal Information
Personal  information  has  the  same meaning  as  in  the  Privacy  Act.  Specifically, section  6  of the  Privacy  Act
provides  that  personal  information  means  information  or  an  opinion  about  an  identified  individual,  or  an
individual who is reasonably identifiable whether the information or opinion is true or not; and whether the
information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
Paragraph 6.131 of the FOI Guidelines states that for particular information to be personal information, an
individual must be identified or reasonably identifiable.
Paragraph 6.130 of the FOI Guidelines states that personal information can include a person’s name, address,
telephone number, date of birth, medical records, bank account details, taxation information and signature.
An individual is a natural person rather than a corporation, trust, body politic or incorporated association.
I am satisfied that parts of the documents marked ‘s47F’ includes personal information about a number of
individuals. This information consists of the names of private individuals.
Unreasonable Disclosure of Personal Information
Section  47F(2)  of  the  FOI  Act  provides  that,  in  determining  whether  the  disclosure  would  involve  the
unreasonable disclosure of personal information, I must have regard to the following matters:
(a)  the extent to which the information is well known
(b)  whether the person to whom the information relates is known to be (or to have been) associated
with the matters dealt with in the document
(c)
the availability of the information from publicly accessible sources
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(d)  any other matters that the agency or Minister considers relevant.
Paragraph 6.138 of the FOI Guidelines states that:
The  personal  privacy  exemption  is  designed  to  prevent  the  unreasonable  invasion  of  third  parties’
privacy. The  test  of  ‘unreasonableness’  implies  a  need  to  balance  the  public  interest  in  disclosure  of
government-held information and the private interest in the privacy of individuals. The test does not,
however,  amount  to  the  public  interest  test  of  s  11A(5),  which  follows  later  in  the  decision  making
process. It is possible that the decision maker may need to consider one or more factors twice, once to
determine if a projected effect is unreasonable and again when assessing the public interest balance.
I note that the AAT, in Re Chandra and Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs [1984] AATA 437 at paragraph
259, stated that:
... whether a disclosure is ‘unreasonable’ requires … a consideration of all the circumstances, including
the nature of the information that would be disclosed, the circumstances in which the information was
obtained, the likelihood of the information being information that the person concerned would not wish
to have disclosed without consent, and whether the information has any current relevance … it is also
necessary in my view to take into consideration the public interest recognised by the Act in the disclosure
of information … and to weigh that interest in the balance against the public interest in protecting the
personal privacy of a third party ...
Paragraphs 6.142 and 6.143 of the FOI Guidelines state:
6.142
Key factors for determining whether disclosure is unreasonable include:
  the author of the document is identifiable
  the documents contain third party personal information
  release of the documents would cause stress on the third party
  no public purpose would be achieved through release
6.143
As discussed in the leading s 47F IC review decision of ‘FG’ and National Archives of Australia
[2015] AICmr 26, other factors considered to be relevant include:
  the nature, age and current relevance of the information
  any detriment that disclosure may cause to the person to whom the information relates
  any opposition to disclosure expressed or likely to be held by that person
  the circumstances of an agency’s col ection and use of the information
  the fact that the FOI Act does not control or restrict any subsequent use or dissemination
of information released under the FOI Act
  any submission an FOI applicant chooses to make in support of their application as to their
reasons  for  seeking  access  and  their  intended  or  likely  use  or  dissemination  of  the
information, and
  whether disclosure of the information might advance the public interest in government
transparency and integrity
I  am  satisfied  that  the  disclosure  of  personal  information  contained  within  the  documents  would,  in  the
circumstances, constitute an unreasonable disclosure of personal information for the following reasons:
•  the individuals whose personal information is contained in the documents are identifiable
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•  no further public purpose would be achieved through the release of the personal information
•  the individuals would not expect the information to be placed in the public domain, and detriment
may be caused to the individuals to whom the information relates, and
•  the FOI Act does not control or restrict any subsequent use or dissemination of information released
under the FOI Act.
For the  reasons outlined  above,  I decided that the  parts of the  documents  marked  ‘s47F’  are  conditionally
exempt from disclosure under section 47F of the FOI Act.
Where information is found to be conditionally exempt, I must give access to that information unless access at
this  time  would,  on  balance,  be  contrary  to  the  public  interest.  I  have  addressed  the  public  interest
considerations below.
5.2  Public interest considerations
Pursuant to section 11A(5) of the FOI Act, I must give access to conditionally exempt information unless access
to  that  information  at  that  time  would,  on  balance,  be  contrary  to  the  public  interest.  I  have  therefore
considered whether disclosure of the conditionally exempt information would be contrary to the public interest.
I note that paragraph 6.5 of the FOI Guidelines states that the public interest test is considered to be:
•  something that is of serious concern or benefit to the public, not merely of individual interest
•  not something of interest to the public, but in the interest of the public
•  not a static concept, where it lies in a particular matter will often depend on a balancing of interests
•  necessarily broad and non-specific and
•  relates to matters of common concern or relevance to all members of the public, or a substantial
section of the public.
Factors favouring disclosure
Section 11B of the FOI Act provides that factors favouring access to conditionally exempt information in the
public interest include whether access to that information would do any of the following:
•  promote the objects of the FOI Act (including all matters set out in sections 3 and 3A)
•  inform debate on a matter of public importance
•  promote effective oversight of public expenditure
•  allow a person to access his or her own personal information.
Having regard to the above, I consider that disclosure of the conditionally exempt information at this time:
•  would provide access to documents held by an agency of the Commonwealth which would promote
the objects of the FOI Act by providing the Australian community with access to information held by
the Australian Government.
•  would not inform debate on a matter of public importance
•  would not promote effective oversight of public expenditure
•  would not allow you access to your own personal information.
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Factors weighing against disclosure
I consider that the following factor weighs against disclosure of the conditionally exempt information at this
time, on the basis that disclosure:
•  could reasonably be expected to prejudice the protection of a number of individuals’ right to personal
privacy
o  I note that the substance of the information that is relevant to your request has been released to
you and disclosure of the personal information would not provide you with any further insight into
the workings of government beyond that substantive information.
In making my decision, I have not taken into account any of the irrelevant factors set out in section 11B(4) of
the FOI Act, which are:
(a)
access  to  the  conditionally  exempt  information  could  result  in  embarrassment  to  the
Commonwealth Government, or cause a loss of confidence in the Commonwealth Government
(b)  access  to  the  conditionally  exempt  information  could  result  in  any  person  misinterpreting  or
misunderstanding that information
(c)
the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to which the request for
access to the document was made
(d)  access to the conditionally exempt information could result in confusion or unnecessary debate.
Conclusion – disclosure is not in the public interest
For the reasons set out above, after weighing all public interest factors for and against disclosure, I decided
that, on balance, disclosure of the conditionally exemption information would be contrary to the public interest.
I am satisfied that the benefit to the public resulting from disclosure of the conditionally exempt information is
outweighed by the benefit to the public of withholding that information.
5.3  Section 22 – deletion of irrelevant and/or exempt material
Section 22 of the FOI Act applies to documents containing exempt material and allows an agency to delete such
material from a document.
I decided that the documents captured by your request contain material which can reasonably be regarded as
irrelevant to your request. As such, an edited copy of those documents has been prepared for release to you in
accordance with section 22(1)(a)(ii) of the FOI Act. This information is marked ‘s22’ in the documents released
to you.
The  documents  contain  personal  identifiers  of  public  servants.  When  your  request  was  acknowledged,  we
notified you that personal information of public servants below the SES level and all email addresses, signatures
and direct telephone numbers would be considered irrelevant to the scope of your request unless you told us
that you were expressly seeking access to that information. On the basis that you did not notify us otherwise,
I decided this information is irrelevant to your request and it has been deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act
as outlined above.
In addition, as I decided to grant you partial access to the information relevant to your request, I have prepared
an edited copy of the documents being released by deleting the exempt information from the documents under
section 22(1)(a)(i) of the FOI Act.
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6
Legislative provisions
The  FOI  Act,  including  the  provisions  referred  to  in  my  decision,  are  available  on  the  Federal  Register  of
Legislation website: www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A02562.
7
Your review rights
Your review rights in relation to this decision are set out at ATTACHMENT B.
8
Publication of material released under the FOI Act
Where I have decided to release documents to you, the Board may also publish the released material on its
Disclosure  Log.  The  Board  will  not  publish  personal  or  business  affairs  information  where  it  would  be
unreasonable to do so.
For  your  reference  the  Disclosure  Log  where  this  information  will  be  published  can  be  found  here:
www.infrastructure.gov.au/about-us/freedom-information/freedom-information-disclosure-log.
Further information
The  Department  of  Infrastructure,  Transport,  Regional  Development,  Communications  and  the  Arts  (the
Department)  provides  the  Board  with  administrative  support  in  the  processing  of  requests  for  access  to
documents under the FOI Act. If you require further information regarding this decision, please contact the
Department’s FOI Section at xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely

Fiona Jolly
Authorised Decision Maker
Director
Classification Board

30 January 2023

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link to page 1
ATTACHMENT A.
SCHEDULE OF DOCUMENTS FOI 23-098
Doc  Num
Date of
Description of document
Decision on access
Provision
No.  of
document
of FOI
Pages
Act
1.
1
1/11/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - CIAR - Dec
Access granted in full
s22
Report 2
to relevant
information
2.
1
25/10/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - CIAR - Dec
Access granted in full
s22
Report 1
to relevant
information

3.
2
25/10/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - CIAR - Class Cert
Access granted in part  s22
s47F
4.
3
25/10/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - CIAR - Board
Access granted in full
s22
Report
to relevant
information
5.
2
28/10/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - CIAR - Class
Access granted in full
s22
Report
to relevant
information
6.
1
28/10/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - CIAR - Blues 2
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
7.
16
20/10/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - CIAR - Blues 1
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
8.
2
10/10/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - AC - Review
Access granted in full

Board Decision

9.
1
6/10/2005
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Typed Board  Access granted in full
s22
Report
to relevant
information
10.
1
23/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Handwritten  Access granted in full
s22
Board Report
to relevant
information
11.
1
23/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - AC - Notification
Access granted in part  s47F
to Applicant

12.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - AC - Draft Review  Access granted in full

Board Decision

13.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Handwritten  Access granted in full
s22
Board Report
to relevant
information
14.
2
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - RR
Access granted in full

Certificate

15.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Notification
Access granted in full

letter

16.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - decision
Access granted in full
s22
notes
to relevant
information
7

Doc  Num
Date of
Description of document
Decision on access
Provision
No.  of
document
of FOI
Pages
Act
17.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
1
to relevant
information
18.
8
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Blues 1
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
19.
2
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
2
to relevant
information
20.
6
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Blues 2
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
21.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - Rescreen memo
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
22.
2
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
3

to relevant
information
23.
6
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Blues 3
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
24.
2
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
4
to relevant
information
25.
12
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Blues 4
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
26.
2
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
5
to relevant
information
27.
7
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Blues 5
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
28.
2
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - RR Cert
Access granted in full

29.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Voting
Access granted in full
s22
memo
to relevant
information
30.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
1
to relevant
information
31.
4
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Blues 1
Access granted in full

32.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
2
to relevant
information
33.
5
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Blues 2
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
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Doc  Num
Date of
Description of document
Decision on access
Provision
No.  of
document
of FOI
Pages
Act
34.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
3
to relevant
information
35.
5
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Blues 3
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
36.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
4
to relevant
information
37.
6
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Blues 4
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
38.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Prelim
Access granted in part  s22
decision
s47F
39.
2
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Class Report  Access granted in full
s22
5
to relevant
information
40.
11
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Blues 5
Access granted in full
s22
to relevant
information
41.
1
30/01/2023
41 -Cannibal Holocaust - C2 - Board
Access granted in full
s22
Dec Report
to relevant
information
42.
1
30/01/2023
Cannibal Holocaust - C1 - Board Dec
Access granted in full
s22
Report
to relevant
information

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ATTACHMENT B.
YOUR REVIEW RIGHTS
If you are dissatisfied with my decision, you may apply for a review of it.
Information Commissioner review or complaint
You have the right to seek a review by the Information Commissioner of this decision.
An application for IC review must be made in writing to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) within 60 days of the decision.
If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your FOI request, you can lodge a complaint with the
OAIC.  However, the OAIC suggests that complaints are made to the agency in the first instance.
While there is no particular form required to make a complaint to the OAIC, the complaint should be in writing
and set out the reasons for why you are dissatisfied with the way your request was processed. It should also
identify the Classification Board as the agency about which you are complaining.
You can make an IC review application or make an FOI complaint in one of the following ways:
  online at www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/reviews-and-complaints/
  via email to xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
  by mail to GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001, or
  by fax to 02 9284 9666.
More information about the Information Commissioner reviews and complaints is available on the OAIC website
here: www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/foi-review-process.
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Document Outline