New South Wales Consolidated Acts

OMBUDSMAN ACT 1974 - SECT 21

21 Limits on secrecy and privilege

(1) This section applies if, in an investigation under this Act or an inquiry under section 19, the Ombudsman requires any person:

(a) to give any statement of information, or

(b) to produce any document or other thing, or

(c) to give a copy of any document, or

(d) to answer any question.

(2) The Ombudsman must set aside the requirement if it appears to the Ombudsman that any person has a ground of privilege, whereby, in proceedings in a court of law, the person might resist a like requirement and it does not appear to the Ombudsman that that person consents to compliance with the requirement.

(3) The requirement may however be made despite, and is not required to be set aside because of:

(a) any rule of law which, in proceedings in a court of law, might justify an objection to compliance with a like requirement on grounds of public interest, or

(b) any privilege of a public authority which the public authority might claim in a court of law, or

(c) any duty of secrecy or other restriction on disclosure applying to a public authority.