102Secrecy

102 Secrecy

(1) For the purposes of this section, an eligible person is a person who is or has been: (a) the Secretary of, or other officer of, the Department; or (b) the Director or the acting Director; or (c) a member of the staff referred to in section 88; or (d) engaged as a consultant to the Director; or (e) a national inspector; or (f) any other Commonwealth officer. (2) Subject to this section, an eligible person must not either directly or indirectly, except for the purposes of this Act, for the purpose of complying with Australia’s obligations under the Convention, or for the purpose of a prosecution for an offence against this Act: (a) make a record of, or divulge or communicate to any person, any confidential information concerning the affairs of another person acquired by the eligible person in the performance of duties in relation to this Act; or (b) produce to any person a confidential document relating to the affairs of another person given for the purposes of this Act; or (c) make a record of, or divulge or communicate to any person, any confidential information contained in the Register of Permits and Notifications. (3) An eligible person must not be required to divulge or communicate to a court any information referred to in subsection (2) or to produce in a court any documents referred to in that subsection, except when it is necessary to do so for the purposes of this Act or of a prosecution for an offence against this Act. (3A) If: (a) information is divulged or communicated to a person (the recipient) by an eligible person for the purposes of this Act or for the purpose of complying with Australia’s obligations under the Convention; and (b) at the time the information was divulged or communicated, the eligible person specified that the information was confidential information to which this subsection applies; the recipient must not, either directly or indirectly: (c) make a record of the information; or (d) divulge or communicate the information to another person. (3B) If: (a) information is divulged or communicated to a person (the recipient) by an eligible person for the purposes of this Act or for the purpose of complying with Australia’s obligations under the Convention; and (b) at the time the information was divulged or communicated, the eligible person specified that the information was confidential information to which subsection (3A) applies; the recipient must not be required to divulge or communicate the information to a court, unless it is necessary to do so: (c) for the purposes of this Act; or (d) for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence against this Act. (3C) If: (a) a document is produced to a person (the recipient) by an eligible person for the purposes of this Act or for the purpose of complying with Australia’s obligations under the Convention; and (b) at the time the document was produced, the eligible person specified that the document was a confidential document to which this subsection applies; the recipient must not, either directly or indirectly: (c) make a copy of the document; or (d) produce the document to another person. (3D) If: (a) a document is produced to a person (the recipient) by an eligible person for the purposes of this Act or for the purpose of complying with Australia’s obligations under the Convention; and (b) at the time the document was produced, the eligible person specified that the document was a confidential document to which subsection (3C) applies; the recipient must not be required to produce the document to a court, unless it is necessary to do so: (c) for the purposes of this Act; or (d) for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence against this Act. (3E) A person commits an offence if: (a) the person engages in conduct; and (b) the conduct contravenes subsection (2), (3A) or (3C).