Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) This section applies if the chief executive or commissioner has information that leads the chief executive or commissioner to reasonably suspect that--
(a) an information offence has been committed; and
(b) a person may be able to give information about the offence.
(2) The chief executive or commissioner may, by written notice, require the person to give information about the information offence to the chief executive or commissioner.
(3) The written notice must--
(a) require the person to give information about the information offence to the chief executive or commissioner at a stated reasonable time and place; and
(b) warn the person it is an offence to fail to give the information, unless the person has a reasonable excuse; and
(c) if the person is an individual, advise the person that--
(i) it is not a reasonable excuse for the person to fail to give the information because the information might tend to incriminate the person; and
(ii) the information, and any evidence directly or indirectly derived from the information that might tend to incriminate the person, is not admissible in evidence against the person in a civil or criminal proceeding, other than a proceeding for an offence about the falsity of the information.
(4) The person must give the information, unless the person has a reasonable excuse.
Maximum penalty--90 penalty units.
(5) It is not a reasonable excuse for the person to fail to give the information because the information might tend to incriminate the person.
(6) However, if the person is an individual, the information, and any evidence directly or indirectly derived from the information that might tend to incriminate the person, is not admissible in evidence against the person in a civil or criminal proceeding, other than a proceeding for an offence about the falsity of the information.
(6A) Subsection (6B) applies if the person is an individual and is called as a witness in a proceeding against someone else for the information offence.
(6B) The person is not entitled to refuse to answer a question in relation to the information offence because answering the question might tend to incriminate the person for an information offence (the particular offence).
(6C) However, the person's answer, and any evidence directly or indirectly derived from the answer, is not admissible against the person in a civil or criminal proceeding for an information offence, whether or not the particular offence.
(6D) Also, nothing in subsection (6B) requires a person who is an individual to answer a question that might tend to incriminate a person who is an individual of an offence that is not an information offence.
(7) In a proceeding for an offence against subsection (4), it is a defence for a person to prove that the information sought was not in fact relevant to the information offence suspected to have been committed.
(8) The dismissal of an employee because the employee gave information under this section is a harsh, unjust or unreasonable dismissal under the Industrial Relations Act 1999, chapter 3.
(9) In this section--
information includes a document containing information.
information offence means an information offence under section 50.