Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

PRIVACY ACT 1988 - SECT 96

             (1)  A person who is, or has at any time been, the Commissioner or a member of his or her staff or is acting, or has at any time acted, for or on behalf of the Commissioner shall not, either directly or indirectly, except in the performance of a duty under or in connection with this Act or in the course of acting for or on behalf of the Commissioner:

                     (a)  make a record of, or divulge or communicate to any person, any information relating to the affairs of another person acquired by the first‑mentioned person because of that person's office or employment under or for the purposes of this Act or because of that person acting, or having acted, for or on behalf of the Commissioner;

                     (b)  make use of any such information; or

                     (c)  produce to any person a document relating to the affairs of another person furnished for the purposes of this Act.

Penalty:  $5,000 or imprisonment for 1 year, or both.

Note:          This subsection and subsection (2) also apply to persons who were members of the staff of the Commission at any time before the separate Office of the Privacy Commissioner was established: see Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Privacy Amendment (Office of the Privacy Commissioner) Act 2000 .

             (2)  A person who is, or has at any time been, the Commissioner, or a member of his or her staff or is acting, or has at any time acted, for or on behalf of the Commissioner shall not be required:

                     (a)  to divulge or communicate to a court any information relating to the affairs of another person acquired by the first‑mentioned person because of that person's office or employment under or for the purposes of this Act or because of that person acting, or having acted, for or on behalf of the Commissioner; or

                     (b)  to produce in a court a document relating to the affairs of another person of which the first‑mentioned person has custody, or to which that person has access, because of that person's office or employment under or for the purposes of this Act or because of that person acting, or having acted, for or on behalf of the Commissioner;

except where it is necessary to do so for the purposes of this Act.

             (3)  Nothing in this section prohibits a person from:

                     (a)  making a record of information that is, or is included in a class of information that is, required or permitted by an Act to be recorded, if the record is made for the purposes of or pursuant to that Act; or

                     (b)  divulging or communicating information, or producing a document, that is, or is included in a class of information that is or class of documents that are, required or permitted by an Act to be divulged, communicated or produced, as the case may be, if the information is divulged or communicated, or the document is produced, for the purposes of or under that Act.

             (4)  Nothing in subsection (2) prevents a person being required, for the purposes of or under an Act, to divulge or communicate information, or to produce a document, that is, or is included in a class of information that is, or class of documents that are, required or permitted by that Act to be divulged, communicated or produced.

             (5)  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.