Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to subsection (1A), a person who is, or has at any time been, the Inspector-General or a member of the staff of the Inspector-General or who is acting, or has at any time acted, as the Inspector-General or as a member of the staff of the Inspector-General shall not, either directly or indirectly, except in the performance of his or her functions or duties or in the exercise of his or her powers under this Act:
(a) make a record of, or divulge or communicate to any person or to a court, any information acquired under this Act by reason of the person holding, or acting in, that office; or
(b) make use of any such information.
Penalty: $5,000 or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
(1AA) Subject to subsection (1A), a person who is, or has at any time been, the Inspector-General or a member of the staff of the Inspector-General or who is acting, or has at any time acted, as the Inspector-General or as a member of the staff of the Inspector-General must not, either directly or indirectly, except in the performance of his or her functions or duties or in the exercise of his or her powers under Division 9 of Part VII or section 60A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 :
(a) make a record of, or divulge or communicate to any person or to a court, any information acquired under that Division or section by reason of the person holding, or acting in, that office; or
(b) make use of any such information.
Penalty: $5,000 or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
(1AB) Subject to subsection (1A), a person who is, or has at any time been, the Inspector-General or a member of the staff of the Inspector-General or who is acting, or has at any time acted, as the Inspector-General or as a member of the staff of the Inspector-General must not, either directly or indirectly, except in the performance of his or her functions or duties or in the exercise of his or her powers under section 50A of the Archives Act 1983 :
(a) make a record of, or divulge or communicate to any person or to a court, any information acquired under that section by reason of the person holding, or acting in, that office; or
(b) make use of any such information.
Penalty: $5,000 or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
(1A) Subsections (1), (1AA) and (1AB) do not apply if the Inspector-General:
(a) believed on reasonable grounds that the making of the record, or the divulging, communicating or use of the information (the conduct ) by the person mentioned in the subsection is necessary for the purpose of preserving the well-being or safety of another person; and
(b) authorised the person mentioned in the subsection to engage in the conduct for that purpose.
(2) An offence against subsection (1), (1AA) or (1AB) is an indictable offence.
(3) Notwithstanding that an offence against subsection (1), (1AA) or (1AB) is an indictable offence, a court of summary jurisdiction may hear and determine proceedings in respect of such an offence if the court is satisfied that it is appropriate to do so and the defendant and the prosecutor consent.
(4) Where, in accordance with subsection (3), a court of summary jurisdiction convicts a person of an offence against subsection (1), (1AA) or (1AB), the penalty that the court may impose is a fine not exceeding $2,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, or both.
(5) If a person is prohibited by this section from disclosing information, the person must not be required to:
(a) produce in a court any document of which the person has custody, or to which the person has access, because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under this Act, Division 9 of Part VII or section 60A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 or section 50A of the Archives Act 1983 ; or
(b) divulge or communicate to a court any information obtained by the person because the person is performing those functions or duties or exercising those powers;
except where it is necessary to do so:
(ba) if the person has custody of, or access to, the document because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under this Act--for the purposes of this Act; and
(bb) if the person has custody of, or access to, the document because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under Division 9 of Part VII of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 --for the purposes of that Division; and
(bc) if the person has custody of, or access to, the document because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under section 60A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 --for the purposes of that section; and
(bd) if the person has custody of, or access to, the document because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under section 50A of the Archives Act 1983 --for the purposes of that section; and
(c) if the information is obtained by the person because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under this Act--for the purposes of this Act; and
(ca) if the information is obtained by the person because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under Division 9 of Part VII of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 --for the purposes of that Division; and
(d) if the information is obtained by the person because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under section 60A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 --for the purposes of that section; and
(e) if the information is obtained by the person because the person is performing functions or duties or exercising powers under section 50A of the Archives Act 1983 --for the purposes of that section.
(6) In this section:
"court" includes any tribunal, authority or person having power to require the production of documents or the answering of questions.
"produce" includes permit access to.
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