TAXATION ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT ACT 1992No. 47, 1992 - SECT 5 Provision of taxation information to law enforcement agencies and to eligible Royal Commissions

TAXATION ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT ACT 1992No. 47, 1992 - SECT 5

5. Section 3E of the Principal Act is amended:

   (a)  by inserting in subsections (1), (2) and (4) ", or to an authorised
Royal Commission officer," after " an authorised law enforcement agency
officer";

   (b)  by inserting after subsection (6) the following subsections:

"(6A) If information is communicated to an authorised Royal Commission officer
under subsection (1):

   (a)  the person or persons constituting the eligible Royal Commission
        concerned may, in a manner that does not identify, and is not
        reasonably capable of being used to identify, the person to whom the
        information relates:

        (i)    communicate the information to the appropriate executive
               authority in a report by the eligible Royal Commission; or

        (ii)   divulge the information in the course of a proceeding conducted
               by the eligible Royal Commission, other than a proceeding
               conducted in private; and

   (b)  the person or persons constituting the eligible Royal Commission
        concerned may communicate the information to the appropriate executive
        authority in a report by the eligible Royal Commission; and

   (c)  the person or persons constituting the eligible Royal Commission
        concerned may divulge the information in the course of a proceeding
        conducted in private by the eligible Royal Commission where each
        person present is covered by one of the following categories:

        (i)    the person or persons constituting the eligible Royal
               Commission;

        (ii)   an official of the eligible Royal Commission;

        (iii)  if the person to whose affairs the information relates is a
               company:

                (A)  a person who is, or has been, a director or officer of
                     the company; or

                (B)  a person who is, or has been, directly involved in, or
                     responsible for, the preparation of information given to
                     the Commissioner on behalf of the company;

        (iv)   if the person to whose affairs the information relates is not a
               company - that person;

        (v)    the person who gave the information to the Commissioner;

        (vi)   a barrister or solicitor representing either of the following
               in relation to the proceeding:

                (A)  a company covered by subparagraph (iii);

                (B)  a person covered by sub-subparagraph (iii)(A) or (B) or
                     subparagraph (iv) or (v).

"(6B) A person does not contravene subsection (2) because of anything done for
the purposes of enabling a thing mentioned in paragraph (6A)(a), (b) or (c) to
happen.

"(6C) If information is communicated to the appropriate executive authority
under paragraph (6A)(b), the executive authority:

   (a)  must not divulge or communicate the information to another person, or
        make a record of the information, except for the purposes of, or in
        connection with, the disclosure of the information to
        an authorised law enforcement agency officer; and

   (b)  must not voluntarily give the information in evidence in a proceeding
        before a court; and

   (c)  is not to be required to divulge or communicate the information to a
        court.

"(6D) If information is communicated to an authorised law enforcement agency
officer under paragraph (6C)(a), this section has effect as if the information
had been communicated to the officer under subsection (1).";

   (c)  by inserting the following definitions in subsection (11):

" 'appropriate executive authority', in relation to an eligible Royal
Commission, means:

   (a)  in the case of an eligible Royal Commission of the Commonwealth - the
        Governor-General; or

   (b)  in the case of an eligible Royal Commission of a State - the Governor
        of the State; or

   (c)  in the case of an eligible Royal Commission of the Northern Territory
        - the Administrator, or acting Administrator, of the Northern
        Territory; or

   (d)  in the case of an eligible Royal Commission of the Australian Capital
        Territory - the Chief Minister, or acting Chief Minister, of that
        Territory; or

   (e)  in any other case - the person specified in the regulations;
'company' has the same meaning as in section 6 of the Income Tax Assessment 
Act 1936 ;".