(1) The Commissioner may request the head of a Commonwealth agency to whom an investigation report is given to give the Commissioner, within a specified time, details of any action that the head of the Commonwealth agency has taken, or proposes to take, with respect to a recommendation included in the investigation report.
(2) The head of the Commonwealth agency must comply with the request.
(3) If the Commissioner is not satisfied with the response of the head of the Commonwealth agency to the request, the Commissioner may refer to the person mentioned in subsection (4):
(a) the Commissioner's recommendation and the reasons for that recommendation; and
(b) the response of the head of the agency to the recommendation; and
(c) the Commissioner's reasons for not being satisfied with that response.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), the person is:
(a) if the Commonwealth agency is a parliamentary office:
(i) for a parliamentarian who is a senator--the President of the Senate; or
(ii) for a parliamentarian who is a member of the House of Representatives--the Speaker of the House of Representatives; or
(b) if the Commonwealth agency is a Department of the Parliament established under the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 :
(i) for the Department of the Senate--the President of the Senate; or
(ii) for the Department of the House of Representatives--the Speaker of the House of Representatives; or
(iii) otherwise--both the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives; or
(c) if the Commonwealth agency is established or continued in existence by an Act and paragraph (b) does not apply--the Minister administering that Act; or
(d) if the Commonwealth agency is a Commonwealth entity and neither paragraph (b) nor paragraph (c) applies--the Minister having general responsibility for the activities of the entity.
(5) If the Commissioner refers material to a person under subsection (3), the Commissioner may also send a copy of that material to:
(a) the President of the Senate for presentation to the Senate; and
(b) the Speaker of the House of Representatives for presentation to the House of Representatives.
(6) The Commissioner must exclude the following from the copy of the material sent under subsection (5):
(a) section 235 certified information;
(b) information that the Commissioner is satisfied is sensitive information.
(7) Before sending a copy of material under subsection (5), the Commissioner must consult with the head of each Commonwealth agency or State or Territory government entity to which the material relates about whether the material contains sensitive information.