YOUNG OFFENDERS ACT 1997 - SECT 66
Disclosure of records
YOUNG OFFENDERS ACT 1997 - SECT 66
Disclosure of records
66 Disclosure of records
(1) A person who acquires information or prepares a record in the exercise of
functions under this Act must not, directly or indirectly, divulge the
information to another person except in the exercise of functions under this
Act.
: Maximum penalty--500 penalty units (in the case of a corporation) or 50
penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months, or both, in any other case.
(2)
Despite subsection (1), information may be divulged in the following
circumstances--
(a) records of, or relating to, cautions and conferences may
be divulged to the child, a person responsible for the child or a legal
representative of the child,
(b) records of, or relating to, cautions and
conferences under this Act may be divulged to an investigating official,
specialist youth officer, conference convenor, conference administrator, the
Director of Public Prosecutions or a court for the purpose of determining
whether or not to take action under this Act,
(c) records of, or relating to,
cautions and conferences under this Act may be divulged to the Children's
Court for the purpose of making a decision concerning sentencing,
(d) records
of, or relating to, warnings under this Act may be divulged to a youth liaison
officer for the purpose of taking action under section 16A,
(e) records of,
or relating to, cautions and conferences under this Act may (subject to any
regulations made for the purposes of subsection (3)) be divulged to an
authorised officer of the Department of Justice,
(f) records of, or relating
to, warnings, cautions and conferences under this Act may (subject to any
regulations made for the purposes of subsection (3)) be divulged to a person
employed in the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research,
(f1) records of, or
relating to, warnings, cautions and conferences under this Act may (subject to
any regulations made for the purposes of subsection (3)) be divulged to a
person employed in the Australian Bureau of Statistics or the Australian
Institute of Criminology, but only if the name and other information
identifying a person to whom any such record relates have been removed,
(g)
records of, or relating to, warnings, cautions and conferences under this Act
may (subject to any regulations made for the purposes of subsection (3)) be
divulged to an authorised officer of the Department of Justice for use in
connection with the Department's Youth on Track scheme or such other early
intervention or diversionary program administered by the Department that is
prescribed by the regulations,
(h) any records divulged to an
authorised officer of the Department of Justice under paragraph (g) may
(subject to any regulations made for the purposes of subsection (3)) be
divulged by an authorised officer of the Department to a non-government
organisation engaged by the Department to provide services in connection with
the Department's Youth on Track scheme or such other early intervention or
diversionary program administered by the Department that is prescribed by the
regulations.
(2A) Despite subsection (1), information (including records)
referred to in that subsection may (subject to any regulations made for the
purposes of subsection (3)) be divulged to the Ombudsman, or a person
authorised by the Ombudsman, for the purposes of the exercise of any of the
functions of the Ombudsman.
(2B) Despite subsection (1), information
(including records) referred to in that subsection that is in the form of
statistical data and does not identify any person to whom the information
relates may--
(a) be divulged to the Minister or a person employed in the
Department of Justice who is involved in the administration or execution of
this Act, and
(b) be included in any report to Parliament.
(3) The
regulations may make for provision for or with respect to the divulging of
records in the circumstance referred to in subsection (2) (e)-(h) or (2A).
(4) In this section--
"authorised officer of the Department of Justice" means any of the following
persons employed in the Department--
(a) the Secretary,
(b) a Deputy
Secretary,
(c) the Chief Executive of Juvenile Justice or a Deputy Chief
Executive of Juvenile Justice,
(d) a juvenile justice officer,
(e) such
other persons employed in the Department (or persons belonging to a class of
employee) as may be prescribed by the regulations.