CHILD PROTECTION ACT 1999 - SECT 187
Confidentiality of information obtained by persons involved in administration of Act
CHILD PROTECTION ACT 1999 - SECT 187
Confidentiality of information obtained by persons involved in administration of Act
187 Confidentiality of information obtained by persons involved in
administration of Act
(1) This section applies to a person who—
(a) is or has been—
(i) a public
service employee, a person engaged by the chief executive, or a police
officer, performing functions under or in relation to the administration of
this Act; or
(ii) a licensee or the executive officer of a corporation that
is a licensee; or
(iii) a person employed or engaged by a licensee to perform
functions under or in relation to the administration of this Act; or
(iv) an
approved carer or other person in whose care a child has been placed under
this Act; or
(v) a member of, or person employed or engaged by, a recognised
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander agency; or
(xii) a
service provider, or person engaged by a service provider, performing
functions under or in relation to chapter 5A , part 4 ; or
(xiii) a
prescribed delegate for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child; or
(xiv) a person given information about a child by the chief executive under
section 148BI; or
(xv) a person allowed to view a document or information
under section 113; and
(b) in that capacity acquired information about
another person’s affairs or has access to, or custody of, a document about
another person’s affairs.
(2) The person must not use or disclose the
information, or give access to the document, to anyone else.
Penalty—
Maximum penalty—100 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment.
(3) However,
the person may, subject to subdivision 1 , use or disclose the information or
give access to the document to someone else—
(a) to the extent necessary to
perform the person’s functions under or in relation to this Act; or
(b) if
the use, disclosure or giving of access is for purposes related to a child’s
protection or wellbeing; or
Example—
An approved carer in whose care a
child has been placed under this Act may disclose relevant information about
the child to a person, including, for example, a school teacher or member of
the carer’s immediate family, to help the person understand and meet the
child’s needs.
(c) if the use, disclosure or giving of access—
(i)
relates to the chief executive’s function of cooperating with government
entities that have a function relating to the protection of children or that
provide services to children in need of protection or their families; or
(ii)
is for the performance by the chief executive (adoptions) of his or her
functions under the Adoption Act 2009; or
(iii) is otherwise required or
permitted under this Act (including, for example, this division or chapter 5A
, part 4 ) or another law; or
(d) to the extent necessary to protect a person
from a serious and imminent risk to the person’s safety or health; or
(e)
if the person to whom the information relates—
(i) is, or becomes, an adult;
and
(ii) consents in writing to the use, disclosure or giving of access.
(4)
Also, the person may disclose the information or give access to the
document—
(a) to another person, to the extent that the information or
document is about the other person; or
(b) to the chief executive or an
authorised officer, to enable the proper administration of chapter 4 .
Note—
For the disclosure of information that is about the person and a
third party, see section 188C.
(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared
that a person participating in the development, implementation or revision of
a child’s case plan under this Act is performing a function under this Act.
