(a) acquires information in the exercise of a function of
an office held by the person in the course of administering this Act, and
(b)
directly or indirectly makes a record of the information or discloses it to
another person,
is guilty of an offence under this Act unless the information
is recorded or disclosed in the exercise of the functions of the office or in
the course of administering this Act as a holder of that or any other office.
: Maximum penalty--50 penalty units.
(2) Despite subsection (1), information
may be disclosed--
(a) to a particular person or persons, if the Authority
certifies that it is necessary in the public interest that the information be
disclosed to the person or persons, or
(b) to a person who is expressly or
impliedly authorised to obtain it by the person to whom the information
relates, or
(c) to a person or authority prescribed by the regulations, or
(d) to the Minister, or to a person who is engaged in the administration of
this Act and is authorised in writing by the Minister to receive information
under this section.
(3) It is not an offence under this section if, in legal
proceedings, a person--
(a) discloses information in answer to a question that
the person is compellable to answer, or
(b) produces a document or other
thing that the person is compellable to produce.
(4) An authority or person
to which or to whom information is disclosed under this section, and a person
or employee under the control of that authority or person, are, in respect of
that information, subject to the same rights, privileges and duties under this
section as the authority or person would be if that authority, person or
employee were a person administering this Act and had acquired the information
in the course of administering this Act.
(5) This section does not apply to
the disclosing of information to, or to the production of any document or
other thing to, any of the following--
(a) the Independent Commission Against
Corruption,
(b) the Australian Crime Commission,
(c) the New South Wales
Crime Commission,
(c1) the NSW Police Force or the police force of another
State or a Territory,
(c2) the Australian Federal Police,
(d) the Ombudsman,
(e) any other person or body (including any public authority of the State or
the Commonwealth) prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this
section.
(5A) This section does not apply to the publishing of any
information if, in the opinion of the Minister, it is in the public interest
to do so.
(7) In this section, a reference to the production of a document or
other thing includes a reference to provision of access to the document or
other thing.