Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) An external person commits an offence if:
(a) the person:
(i) makes a copy or other record of any protected information or of all or part of any protected document; or
(ii) discloses any protected information to another person or to a court; or
(iii) produces all or part of a protected document to another person or to a court; and
(b) in doing so, the person is not acting in the course of performing or exercising functions, powers or duties under or in relation to this Act.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years.
(2) An external person cannot be required to:
(a) disclose any protected information to a court; or
(b) produce all or part of a protected document to a court;
unless that disclosure or production is necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.
(3) In this section:
"court" includes any tribunal, authority or person having power to require the production of documents or the answering of questions.
"external person" means a person who is or was:
(a) the person presiding at an external inquiry; or
(b) a person providing assistance in such an inquiry to the body holding the inquiry.
"produce" includes permit access to.
"protected document" means a document that:
(a) is given to or otherwise acquired by the body holding the external inquiry concerned for the purposes of that inquiry; and
(b) has not been made available to the public by that body under this Part.
"protected information" means information that:
(a) is disclosed to, or obtained by, an external person for the purposes of the inquiry concerned; and
(b) has not been made available to the public under this Part by the body holding that inquiry and is not contained in oral evidence given in public at the hearing of that inquiry.