HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ACT 1981 No. 24 of 1981 - SECT 15 Evidence

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ACT 1981 No. 24 of 1981 - SECT 15

15. (1) Where the Commission has reason to believe that a person is capable of
furnishing information, producing documents or giving evidence relevant to a
matter under examination or inquiry under this Act, a member may, by notice in
writing served on that person, require that person -

   (a)  to furnish to the Commission or to a prescribed person, within the
        time and in the manner specified in the notice, any such information;

   (b)  to produce to the Commission or to a prescribed person, within the
        time specified in the notice, any such documents; or

   (c)  to appear before the Commission or before a prescribed person at a
        time and place specified in the notice to give any such evidence and
        to produce any such documents.

(2) Where the Attorney-General furnishes to the Commission a certificate
certifying that the disclosure of information concerning a specified matter
(including the furnishing of information in answer to a question) or the
disclosure of the contents of any documents would be contrary to the public
interest -

   (a)  by reason that it would prejudice the security, defence or
        international relations of Australia;

   (b)  by reason that it would involve the disclosure of communications
        between a Minister and a Minister of a State or of the Northern
        Territory, being a disclosure that would prejudice relations between
        the Commonwealth Government and the Government of a State or the
        Administration of the Northern Territory;

   (c)  by reason that it would involve the disclosure of deliberations or
        decisions of the Cabinet or a committee of the Cabinet; or

   (d)  for any other reason specified in the certificate that could form the
        basis for a claim by the Crown in right of the Commonwealth in a
        judicial proceeding that the information or the contents of the
        documents should not be disclosed, then, subject to sub-section (3), a
        member is not entitled to require a person to furnish any information
        concerning the matter, to answer questions concerning the matter or to
        produce those documents.

(3) Where the Attorney-General has certified in accordance with sub-section
(2) that the disclosure of information or of the contents of a document would
be contrary to the public interest but the certificate does not specify a
reason referred to in paragraph (2) (a), (b) or (c), the Chairman shall
consider whether the information or the contents of the document should be
disclosed and, if he considers that the information or the contents of the
document should be so disclosed, the person on whom the notice was served
shall furnish the information or produce the document accordingly.

(4) In considering whether information or the contents of a document should be
disclosed as mentioned in sub-section (3), the Chairman shall take as the
basis of his consideration the principle that it is desirable in the interest
of securing the effective performance of the functions of the Commission that
the Commission should be made aware of all relevant matters but shall pay due
regard to any reason specified by the Attorney- General in the certificate as
a reason why the disclosure of the information or of the contents of the
document, as the case may be, would be contrary to the public interest.

(5) The Commission may require the evidence referred to in paragraph (1) (c)
to be given on oath or affirmation, and for that purpose any prescribed person
may administer an oath or affirmation.

(6) The oath or affirmation to be taken or made by a person for the purposes
of this section is an oath or affirmation that the answers he will give to
questions asked him will be true.

(7) A person shall not -

   (a)  without reasonable excuse, refuse or fail to comply with a notice
        under this section to the extent that the person is capable of
        complying with it;

   (b)  in purported compliance with such a notice, knowingly furnish
        information that is false or misleading; or

   (c)  when appearing before the Commission or a prescribed person, knowingly
        give evidence that is false or misleading.

Penalty: $1,000.
(8) Without limiting the generality of the expression "reasonable excuse" in
paragraph (7) (a), it is hereby declared for the removal of doubt that it is a
reasonable excuse for a person to refuse to furnish information or produce a
document that he is required to furnish or produce under this section, or to
refuse to answer a question that he is asked when giving evidence under this
section, that the information, the production of the document or the answer to
the question might tend to incriminate him.

(9) A person who is required to appear before the Commission or before a
prescribed person is entitled to be paid such fees and allowances for expenses
as are prescribed.

(10) In relation to a time when a person is acting as Chairman, references in
this section to the Chairman shall be read as references to that person.