Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

RESERVE BANK ACT 1959 - SECT 79A

             (1)  In this section:

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

"financial institution" means a body (other than the Reserve Bank) that has at any time carried on, is carrying on, or proposes to carry on, a business that consists of, or includes, the provision of financial products or financial services (including a body that has previously carried on such a business but has ceased to exist).

"officer" means:

                     (a)  the Governor, the Deputy Governor, the Secretary to the Department or any other member of the Reserve Bank Board; or

                    (aa)  a member of the Payments System Board; or

                     (b)  a staff member of the Reserve Bank Service; or

                     (d)  the Statistician or a member of the staff of the Australian Bureau of Statistics; or

                     (e)  any other person who, because of his or her employment, or in the course of that employment:

                              (i)  has acquired protected information; or

                             (ii)  has had access to protected documents.

"produce" includes permit access to.

"protected document" means a document given or produced (whether before or after the commencement of this section) under, or for the purposes of, this Act, the Banking Act 1959 , the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 , the Payment Systems and Netting Act 1998 or the repealed Banks (Shareholdings) Act 1972 and containing information relating to the affairs of:

                     (a)  a financial institution; or

                     (b)  a body corporate (including a body corporate that has ceased to exist) that has at any time been, or is, related (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 ) to a financial institution that is a body corporate; or

                     (c)  a person who has been, is, or proposes to be, a customer of a financial institution;

It also includes a document given or produced under, or for the purposes of, the performance or exercise of the functions or powers of the Reserve Bank under Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001 . It does not however include any document to the extent that it contains information that has already been lawfully made available to the public from other sources.

"protected information" means information disclosed or obtained (whether before or after the commencement of this section) under, or for the purposes of, this Act, the Banking Act 1959 , the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 , the Payment Systems and Netting Act 1998 or the repealed Banks (Shareholdings) Act 1972 and relating to the affairs of:

                     (a)  a financial institution; or

                     (b)  a body corporate (including a body corporate that has ceased to exist) that has at any time been, or is, related (within the meaning of the Corporations Law) to a financial institution that is a body corporate; or

                     (c)  a person who has been, is, or proposes to be, a customer of a financial institution;

It also includes information disclosed or obtained in the course of, or for the purposes of, the performance or exercise of the functions or powers of the Reserve Bank under Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001 . It does not however include any information that has already been lawfully made available to the public from other sources.

"Statistician" means the Australian Statistician referred to in subsection 5(2) of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975 .

             (2)  Subject to this section, a person who is or has been an officer must not, except for the purposes of this Act, the Banking Act 1959 , Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001 , section 62ZZD of the Insurance Act 1973 , the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 , the Payment Systems and Netting Act 1998 or the repealed Banks (Shareholdings) Act 1972 , directly or indirectly:

                     (a)  disclose to any person, or to a court, any protected information acquired by the first‑mentioned person in the course of his or her duties as an officer; or

                     (b)  produce to any person, or to a court, a protected document.

Penalty:  Imprisonment for 2 years.

Note 1:       Subsection 4B(2) of the Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose an appropriate fine instead of, or in addition to, a form of imprisonment.

Note 2:       Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.

             (3)  Subsection (2) does not prohibit a person from disclosing prohibited information, or producing a protected document, if the person to whose affairs the information or document relates:

                     (a)  is the employer of the first‑mentioned person; or

                     (b)  agrees in writing to the disclosure of the information or the production of the document, as the case may be.

             (6)  Subsection (2) does not prohibit a person from disclosing protected information, or producing a protected document, to:

                     (a)  the Governor, the Deputy Governor or any other member of the Reserve Bank Board; or

                    (aa)  a member of the Payments System Board; or

                     (b)  a staff member of the Reserve Bank Service;

for the purposes of the performance of the functions, or the exercise of the powers, of the Bank under a law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory.

          (6A)  Subsection (2) does not prohibit a person from disclosing protected information, or producing a protected document, to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission if the person is satisfied that the disclosure of the information, or the production of the document, to that body will assist it to perform its functions or exercise its powers under Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001 .

          (6B)  Subsection (2) does not prohibit a person from:

                     (a)  disclosing protected information that is information disclosed or obtained in the course of, or for the purposes of, the performance or exercise of the functions or powers of the Reserve Bank under Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001 ; or

                     (b)  producing a protected document that is a document given or produced under, or for the purposes of, the performance or exercise of the functions or powers of the Reserve Bank under Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001 ;

if the disclosure or production is:

                     (c)  to the Minister; or

                     (d)  to the Secretary of the Department for the purpose of advising the Minister, or to an officer of the Department authorised by the Secretary for the purpose of advising the Minister.

             (7)  Subsection (2) does not prohibit a person from disclosing information, or producing a document, if the information, or the information contained in the document, as the case may be, is in the form of a summary or collection of information that is prepared so that information relating to any particular person cannot be found out from it.

             (8)  A person who is or has been an officer cannot be required to disclose to a court any protected information, or to produce in a court a protected document, except when it is necessary to do so for the purposes of this Act, the Banking Act 1959 , Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001 , the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 , the Payment Systems and Netting Act 1998 or the repealed Banks (Shareholdings) Act 1972 .

             (9)  A document that:

                     (a)  is a protected document; or

                     (b)  contains protected information;

is an exempt document for the purposes of section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 .

          (9A)  For the avoidance of doubt, information or a document that, as permitted by subsection 127(2A) of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 , is disclosed to the Bank does not become, because of that disclosure, protected information or a protected document.