Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts(1) In this section:
"officer" means—
(a) the ombudsman; or
(b) a person who is a member of the staff referred to in section 30; or
(c) a person, not being a person referred to in paragraph (b), to whom the ombudsman has delegated any of his or her powers under section 32 or who is an authorised person.
(2) Subject to this section, an officer shall not, either directly or indirectly, and either while the person is, or after ceasing to be, an officer, make a record of, or divulge or communicate to any person, any information acquired because of the person being an officer, being information that was disclosed or obtained under the provisions of this Act, including information provided by the Commonwealth ombudsman or the ombudsman of a State or information disclosed to or obtained by the ombudsman in the exercise of a power of the Commonwealth ombudsman or of the ombudsman of a State delegated to the ombudsman as provided by section 32 (3).
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months, or both.
(3) Subsection (2) does not prevent an officer—
(a) from making a record of, or divulging or communicating to any person, information acquired in the performance of the officer's duties as an officer for purposes connected with the exercise of the powers and the performance of the functions of the ombudsman under this Act; or
(b) from divulging or communicating information to a person—
(i) if the information was provided by an officer of an agency in the performance of the person's duties as such an officer—with the consent of the principal officer of the agency or of the responsible Minister of the agency; or
(ii) if the information was provided by a person otherwise than as set out in subparagraph (i)—with the consent of the person who provided the information.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), subsection (2) does not prevent the ombudsman from disclosing, in a report prepared under the Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act 2004 , matters that, in the ombudsman's opinion, should be disclosed in the course of setting out the grounds for the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report.
(5) Where the Minister or the Commonwealth Attorney-General gives to the ombudsman a certificate in writing certifying that—
(a) the disclosure of information or documents concerning a matter; or
(b) the disclosure of a document;
would, for a reason specified in the certificate, being a reason referred to in section 11 (5) or (6), as the case may be, be contrary to the public interest, an officer shall not, either directly or indirectly and either while the person is, or after ceasing to be, an officer, except as provided in subsection (6)—
(c) divulge or communicate to any person any information acquired under the provisions of this Act concerning such a matter or such a document; or
(d) divulge or communicate any of the contents of such a document to any person; or
(e) give such a document, or a copy of, or an extract from, such a document, to any person.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months or both.
(6) Subsection (5) does not prevent an officer, in the performance of his or her duties as an officer—
(a) from divulging or communicating information referred to in that subsection to another officer; or
(b) from giving any of the contents of, a copy of or an extract from a document referred to in that subsection to another officer; or
(c) from returning such a document that has been produced to the officer to the person lawfully entitled to the custody of the document.
(7) Subject to subsection (8), where the ombudsman proposes, for purposes connected with the exercise of powers or performance of functions under this Act, to provide information, or to send a document, or a copy of or extract from a document, to the Commonwealth ombudsman or the ombudsman of a State, the ombudsman shall satisfy himself or herself that a law of the Commonwealth or the State makes provision corresponding to the provision made by this section with respect to the confidentiality of information acquired by the Commonwealth ombudsman or the ombudsman of the State, as the case may be.
(8) Subsection (7) does not apply in relation to any information or document obtained by the ombudsman in the exercise of a power of the Commonwealth ombudsman or the ombudsman of the State that the ombudsman was authorised to exercise under section 32 (3).
(9) A person who is or has been an officer is not compellable, in any proceedings before a court or before a person authorised by a law, or by consent of parties, to hear, receive and examine evidence, to disclose any information acquired because of the person's being or having been an officer, being information that was disclosed or obtained under the provisions of this Act.