(1) If any evidence proposed to be given before, or the whole or a part of a
document produced or proposed to be produced to, the Joint Committee relates
to a secret or confidential matter, the Committee may, and at the request of
the witness giving the evidence or the person producing the document must--
(a) take the evidence in private, or
(b) direct that the document, or the
part of the document, be treated as confidential.
(1A) If any evidence
proposed to be given before, or the whole or a part of a document produced or
proposed to be produced in evidence to, the Joint Committee relates to the
proposed appointment of a person as Ombudsman, Director of Public
Prosecutions, Information Commissioner, Privacy Commissioner, Chief or other
Commissioner of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission or Inspector of the Law
Enforcement Conduct Commission, Commissioner for the New South Wales Crime
Commission or Inspector of Custodial Services, the Committee must (despite any
other provision of this section)--
(a) take the evidence in private, or
(b)
direct that the document, or the part of the document, be treated as
confidential.
(1B) Despite any other provision of this section except
subsection (6), the Joint Committee must not, and a person (including a member
of the Committee) must not, disclose any evidence or the contents of a
document or that part of a document to which subsection (1A) applies.
:
Maximum penalty--20 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 months, or both.
(1C)
Despite any other provision of this section except subsection (6), the
Joint Committee (including a member of the Committee) must not, and any person
assisting the Committee or present during the deliberations of the Committee
must not, except in accordance with section 31BA (3), disclose whether or not
the Joint Committee or any member of the Joint Committee has vetoed, or
proposes to veto, the proposed appointment of a person as Ombudsman, Director
of Public Prosecutions, Information Commissioner, Privacy Commissioner, Chief
or other Commissioner of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission or Inspector
of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, Commissioner for the New South
Wales Crime Commission or Inspector of Custodial Services.
: Maximum
penalty--20 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 months, or both.
(2) If a
direction under subsection (1) applies to a document or part of a document
produced to the Joint Committee--
(a) the contents of the document or part
are, for the purposes of this section, to be regarded as evidence given by the
person producing the document or part and taken by the Committee in private,
and
(b) the person producing the document or part is, for the purposes of
this section, to be regarded as a witness.
(3) If, at the request of a
witness, evidence is taken by the Joint Committee in private--
(a) the
Committee must not, without the consent in writing of the witness, and
(b) a
person (including a member of the Committee) must not, without the consent in
writing of the witness and the authority of the Committee under subsection
(5),
disclose or publish the whole or a part of that evidence.
: Maximum
penalty--20 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 months, or both.
(3A) The
Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman must make a request under subsection
(1) for evidence to be taken in private, or for a direction to be given that a
document, or part of a document, be treated as confidential, if--
(a) the
Ombudsman or officer must give the evidence before, or produce the whole or
part of the document to, the Joint Committee, and
(b) the evidence proposed
to be given, or the whole or part of the document proposed to be produced,
would disclose information obtained by the Ombudsman or officer, in connection
with the administration or execution of this Act, from a public authority or
other person, and
(c) the public authority or other person has informed the
Ombudsman or officer that the information is confidential.
(3B) If, at the
request of the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman, evidence referred to
in subsection (3A) is taken by the Joint Committee in private--
(a) the
Committee must not disclose or publish the whole or part of the evidence
without the written consent of the public authority or other person, and
(b)
a person, including a member of the Committee, must not disclose or publish
the whole or part of the evidence without--
(ii) the authority of the Committee
under subsection (5).
: Maximum penalty--20 penalty units or imprisonment for
3 months, or both.
(4) If evidence is taken by the Joint Committee in private
otherwise than at the request of a witness, a person (including a member of
the Committee) must not, without the authority of the Committee under
subsection (5), disclose or publish the whole or a part of that evidence.
:
Maximum penalty--20 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 months, or both.
(5)
The Joint Committee may, in its discretion, disclose or publish or, by writing
under the hand of the Chair, authorise the disclosure or publication of
evidence taken in private by the Committee, but this subsection does not
operate so as to affect the necessity for the consent of a witness under
subsection (3) or the consent of a public authority or other person under
subsection (3B).
(6) Nothing in this section prohibits--
(a) the disclosure
or publication of evidence that has already been lawfully published, or
(b)
the disclosure or publication by a person of a matter of which the person has
become aware otherwise than by reason, directly or indirectly, of the giving
of evidence before the Joint Committee.
Note : The Defamation
Act 2005 makes provision for 2 defences in respect of the publication of
defamatory matter that is contained in evidence taken by, or documents
produced to, the Joint Committee in private, but only if the evidence or
documents have been disclosed or published in accordance with this section.
Section 28 of the Defamation Act 2005 (when read with clause 8 of Schedule 2
to that Act) ensures that such documents attract the defence relating to
public documents in defamation proceedings.
Section 29 of the Defamation Act 2005 (when read with clause 17 of Schedule 3
to that Act) ensures that proceedings in which such evidence is taken or
documents produced attract the defences relating to fair reports of
proceedings of public concern in defamation proceedings.