New South Wales Consolidated Acts

HOME BUILDING ACT 1989 - SECT 121A

121A Secrecy of information obtained from or relating to insurers or proposed insurers

(1) A person who acquires protected information in the exercise of functions under this Act must not, directly or indirectly, make a record of the information or divulge the information to another person if the person is aware that it is protected information, except in the exercise of functions under this Act.

: Maximum penalty--50 penalty units.

(2) Despite subsection (1), protected information may be divulged--

(a) to a particular person or persons, if the Minister or Authority certifies that it is necessary in the public interest that the information be divulged to the person or persons, or

(b) to a person, or authority, prescribed by the regulations, or

(c) to a person who is expressly or impliedly authorised to obtain it by the insurer or provider of an alternative indemnity product from which the information was acquired, or

(d) to the Minister or the Authority.

(3) A person cannot be required--

(a) to produce in any court any document or other thing that contains protected information and that has come into the person's possession, custody or control by reason of, or in the course of, the exercise of the person's functions under this Act, or

(b) to divulge to any court any protected information that has come to the person's notice in the exercise of the person's functions under this Act.

(4) Despite subsection (3), a person may be required to produce such a document or other thing in a court or to divulge protected information to a court if--

(a) the Minister or Authority certifies that it is necessary in the public interest to do so, or

(b) the insurer or provider of an alternative indemnity product to whom the information relates (or to whom the information contained in the document or thing relates) has expressly authorised it to be divulged to or produced in the court.

(5) An authority or person to whom protected information is divulged under subsection (2), and a person or employee under the control of that authority or person, are, in respect of that information, subject to the same rights, privileges and duties under this section as they would be if that authority, person or employee were a person exercising functions under this Act and had acquired the information in the exercise of those functions.

(6) This section does not apply to the divulging of information to, or the production of any document or other thing to--

(a) any law enforcement agency, or

(b) any person or body prescribed for the purposes of this subsection.

(6A) This section does not apply to the publishing of protected information in accordance with section 105R or a report in accordance with section 105Y.

(7) In this section--

"court" includes any tribunal, authority or person having power to require the production of documents or the answering of questions.

"functions under this Act" includes functions under the regulations or other instruments under this Act.

"produce" includes permit access to.

"protected information" means information about the business or commercial operations of an insurer or provider of an alternative indemnity product obtained from an insurer or provider under (or in connection with the administration or execution of) Part 6, 6A, 6B or 6C, not being information that is publicly available.