New South Wales Consolidated Acts

COMMUNITY SERVICES (COMPLAINTS, REVIEWS AND MONITORING) ACT 1993 - SECT 47

47 Protection of complainant against retribution

(1) A person who takes or threatens to take detrimental action against another person because that other person or any other person:

(a) makes, or proposes to make, a complaint to a service provider, an Official Community Visitor or the Ombudsman, or

(b) brings, or proposes to bring, proceedings before the Tribunal, or

(c) provides, or proposes to provide, information, documents or evidence to an Official Community Visitor, the Ombudsman or the Tribunal,

is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months, or both.

(2) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under this section if it is proved:

(a) that the action referred to in subsection (1) on which the prosecution was based was taken or proposed in bad faith, or

(b) that any material allegation was known by the person making it to be false.

(3) In this section, "detrimental action" means action causing, comprising or involving any of the following:

(a) injury, damage or loss,

(b) intimidation or harassment,

(c) discrimination, disadvantage or adverse treatment in relation to employment,

(d) dismissal from, or prejudice in, employment,

(e) prejudice in the provision of a community service,

(f) disciplinary proceedings.