Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

MIGRATION ACT 1958 - SECT 439

             (1)  This section applies to a person who is or has been:

                     (a)  a member of the Tribunal; or

                     (b)  a person acting as a member of the Tribunal; or

                     (c)  an officer of the Tribunal; or

                     (d)  a person providing interpreting services in connection with a review by the Tribunal.

             (2)  This section applies to information or a document if the information or document concerns a person and is obtained by a person to whom this section applies in the course of performing functions or duties or exercising powers under this Act.

             (3)  A person to whom this section applies must not:

                     (a)  make a record of any information to which this section applies; or

                     (b)  divulge or communicate to any person any information to which this section applies;

unless the record is made or the information is divulged or communicated:

                     (c)  for the purposes of this Act; or

                     (d)  for the purposes of, or in connection with, the performance of a function or duty or the exercise of a power under this Act.

Penalty:  Imprisonment for 2 years.

             (4)  Subsection (3) applies to the divulging or communication of information whether directly or indirectly.

             (5)  A person to whom this section applies must not be required to produce any document, or to divulge or communicate any information, to which this section applies to or in:

                     (a)  a court; or

                     (b)  a tribunal; or

                     (c)  a House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory; or

                     (d)  a committee of a House, or the Houses, of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory; or

                     (e)  any other authority or person having power to require the production of documents or the answering of questions;

except where it is necessary to do so for the purposes of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.

             (6)  Nothing in this section affects a right that a person has under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 .

             (7)  For the purposes of this section, a person who is providing interpreting services in connection with a review by the Tribunal is taken to be performing a function under this Act.

             (8)  In this section:

"produce" includes permit access to.