Public Archives and Records Offices

Information contained in records and documents which are subject to the FOI Act and are held by archive repositories may be exempt under section 21 if the records and documents are catalogued and included in the repository's Publication Scheme or that of the parent authority if the repository itself does not have a Scheme. The Publication Scheme should explain how the records and documents may be accessed.

The Public Services Quality Group of the National Council on Archives has produced a "Standard for Access to Archives", providing guidance on what constitutes an acceptable standard of service for archive repositories, including availability to the public. Where a personal visit to an archive repository is not practicable for members of the public some alternative should be provided by the repository, such as a paid research service or reference to a list of professional researchers.