41Z Collection and use of confidential information
An information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity may, for the purposes of this Part, collect and use any confidential information disclosed to the information sharing entity or restricted information sharing entity under this Part.
Division 3—Guidelines, protected disclosures and recording requirements
S. 41ZA inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZA Guidelines
(1) The Minister must issue guidelines in relation to the operation of this Part.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), guidelines issued must address—
(a) how an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity may demonstrate its capacity to handle confidential information responsibly and appropriately in accordance with this Part; and
(b) how the principles set out in section 41U are to be applied in practice by an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity when collecting, using or disclosing confidential information under this Part.
(3) Before issuing guidelines under subsection (1), the Minister must publish, on an appropriate Internet site—
(a) a draft of the proposed guidelines; and
(b) a statement that submissions may be made to the Minister on or before a specified date, being at least 28 days after the day on which the draft guidelines are published.
(4) As soon as practicable after finalising draft guidelines, the Minister must publish the guidelines on an appropriate Internet site.
(5) Subject to subsection (6), an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity must comply with any guidelines issued under this section when handling confidential information in accordance with this Part.
(6) Subsection (5) does not apply to any person or body specified in section 41T that has been prescribed to be an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity.
(7) Guidelines issued under subsection (1) are not legislative instruments within the meaning of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994.
(8) The Minister may review guidelines issued under subsection (1) at any time and may issue amended guidelines as the Minister considers necessary.
(9) If the Minister considers that an amendment to the guidelines is significant or substantial, the requirements of subsection (3) must be met before the amended guidelines may be issued.
S. 41ZB inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZB Use and disclosure in good faith protected
Section 41Z - Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 - Collection and use of confidential information | Zoe
The use or disclosure of confidential information under this Part in good faith and with reasonable care—
(a) does not for any purpose constitute unprofessional conduct or a breach of professional ethics on the part of the individual by whom it was made; and
(b) does not make the individual by whom it was made subject to any liability in respect of it; and
(c) without limiting paragraphs (a) and (b), does not constitute a contravention by the individual of any other Act.
S. 41ZC inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZC Recording requirements
An information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity must record the prescribed information in respect of its collection, use and disclosure of confidential information in accordance with this Part and the regulations.
Division 4—Relationship of this Part with other Acts
S. 41ZD inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZD Information sharing entities under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008
(1) This section applies if an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity is an information sharing entity within the meaning of Part 5A of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008.
(2) An information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity to which this section applies may collect, use or disclose confidential information either—
(a) under and in accordance with Part 5A of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008; or
(b) under and in accordance with this Part.
S. 41ZE inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZE Part does not affect handling of confidential information permitted by other Acts
This Part does not affect the collection, use or disclosure of confidential information by an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity that would otherwise be permitted by or under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, the Health Records Act 2001, this Act or any other Act*.*
S. 41ZF inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZF Restrictions on access to confidential information
(1) An information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity may refuse to give an individual access to that individual's confidential information under a relevant privacy law if the information sharing entity or restricted information sharing entity believes on reasonable grounds that giving the individual access to the information would increase a risk to the safety of a child or group of children.
relevant privacy law means—
(a) Health Privacy Principle 6; or
(b) Information Privacy Principle 6; or
(c) the Privacy Act 1988 of the Commonwealth; or
(d) the Privacy Act 1988 of the Commonwealth applied as a law of Victoria by another Act.
S. 41ZG inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZG Application of Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 to certain information sharing entities and restricted information sharing entities
(1) This section applies to an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity that is not—
(a) an organisation within the meaning of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014; or
(b) subject to the Privacy Act 1988 of the Commonwealth, or that Act as applied as a law of Victoria by any other law.
(2) The Privacy and Data Protection
Act 2014 applies to the handling of personal information or unique identifiers by the information sharing entity or restricted information sharing entity under this Part as if the entity were an organisation within the meaning of that Act.
S. 41ZH inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZH Information sharing entities and restricted information sharing entities authorised to disclose confidential information despite specified provisions
An information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity is authorised to collect, use or disclose confidential information in accordance with this Part and the regulations despite anything to the contrary in a provision of an Act—
(a) specified in Schedule 7; or
(b) prescribed for the purposes of this section.
S. 41ZI inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZI Disclosure of confidential information is not breach of Family Violence Protection Act 2008
Sections 166(2) and 207(3) of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 do not prevent a disclosure of confidential information that is made by an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity for the purposes of this Part.
S. 41ZJ inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZJ Disclosure of confidential information is not breach of Judicial Proceedings Reports Act 1958
Sections 3 and 4 of the Judicial Proceedings Reports Act 1958 do not prevent a disclosure of confidential information that is made by an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity for the purposes of this Part.
Division 5—Offences
S. 41ZK inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZK Unauthorised use and disclosure of confidential information collected under this Part
(1) A person must not use or disclose confidential information disclosed to the person under this Part except in accordance with this Part.
(2) It is a defence to a charge under subsection (1) if the person used or disclosed the confidential information in good faith and with reasonable care.
See also section 41ZB.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to the following uses and disclosures of confidential information—
(b) if the person to whom the information relates is incapable of giving consent to the use or disclosure, a use or disclosure made with the consent of the person's authorised representative;
(e) a use or disclosure made to the extent reasonably required to enable the investigation or the enforcement of a law of this State or of any other State or of a Territory or of the Commonwealth;
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to the use or disclosure of confidential information by a person who is given the confidential information under section 41Y.
(5) A person does not commit an offence against subsection (1) only for the reason that the person uses or discloses confidential information in a way that does not comply with guidelines issued under section 41ZA(1).
Despite non-compliance not being an offence—
(a) this does not preclude non-compliance being taken into account in dealing with a complaint made under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, the Health Records Act 2001 or the Privacy Act 1988 of the Commonwealth; and
(b) non-compliance may lead to a person or body ceasing to be prescribed as an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity.
S. 41ZL inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZL Intentional or reckless unauthorised use and disclosure of confidential information
(1) A person must not use or disclose confidential information disclosed to the person under this Part in a manner that is unauthorised under this Part and that the person—
(a) knows is unauthorised under this Part; or
(b) is reckless as to whether the use or disclosure of the information is unauthorised under this Part.
Penalty: In the case of a person other than a body corporate, 600 penalty units or imprisonment for 5 years or both;
In the case of a body corporate, 3000 penalty units.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the following uses and disclosures of confidential information—
(b) if the person to whom the information relates is incapable of giving consent to the use or disclosure, a use or disclosure made with the consent of the person's authorised representative;
(e) a use or disclosure made to the extent reasonably required to enable the investigation or the enforcement of a law of this State or of any other State or of a Territory or of the Commonwealth;
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to the use or disclosure of confidential information
by a person who is given the confidential information under section 41Y.
(4) A person does not commit an offence against subsection (1) only for the reason that the person uses or discloses confidential information in a way that does not comply with guidelines issued under section 41ZA(1).
Despite non-compliance not being an offence—
(a) this does not preclude non-compliance being taken into account in dealing with a complaint made under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, the Health Records Act 2001 or the Privacy Act 1988 of the Commonwealth; and
(b) non-compliance may lead to a person or body ceasing to be prescribed as an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity.
S. 41ZM inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZM False claim that person is or represents an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity
(1) A person who is not an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity must not, in any way, claim or hold themselves out to be an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity.
(2) A person who is not authorised by an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity to collect confidential information under this Part on behalf of the information sharing entity or restricted information sharing entity must not, in any way, claim or hold themselves out to be authorised to collect such information on the information sharing entity or restricted information sharing entity's behalf.
(3) It is a defence to a charge under subsection (1) if the person reasonably believes that the person is an information sharing entity or a restricted information sharing entity.
(4) It is a defence to a charge under subsection (2) if the person reasonably believes that the person is authorised by the information sharing entity or restricted information sharing entity to collect the confidential information on the information sharing entity or restricted information sharing entity's behalf.
Division 6—Review
S. 41ZN inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZN Review of operation of Part within 2 years
(1) The Minister must cause an independent review of the operation of this Part to be conducted within 2 years of the commencement of this Part.
(2) The Minister must cause a copy of the review to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 6 months after the end of the period of the review.
S. 41ZO inserted by No. 11/2018 s. 8.
41ZO Review of operation of Part within 5 years
(1) The Minister must cause an independent review of the operation of this Part to be conducted within 5 years of the commencement of this Part.
(2) The Minister must cause a copy of the review to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 6 months after the end of the period of the review.