22Preservation of secrecy

22 Preservation of secrecy

(1)  [Section 22 Subsection (1) amended by No. 32 of 2006, s. 11, Applied:18 Dec 2006] A person who is or was at any time a member of the Committee, the Director, an authorized officer, or a Consumer Affairs Officer shall not, save in the course of his duty, the performance of his functions, or the exercise of his powers under this Act or where it is competent to him so to do by reason of a provision of this Act, directly or indirectly communicate any information that came to his knowledge in consequence of his being a member of the Committee, the Director, an authorized officer, or a Consumer Affairs Officer, as the case may be.

(2)  [Section 22 Subsection (2) amended by No. 13 of 2012, s. 20, Applied:30 May 2012] It is competent to the Director and every other authorized officer to communicate to a consumer whose complaint concerning any matter has been investigated by the Office, or to the Magistrates Court (Civil Division), information concerning that matter which has come to his knowledge as a result of the investigation and which is of a class of information that the Director has authorized, either generally or in a particular case, to be so communicated.

(3)  The provisions of subsection (1) shall not be construed to prohibit –

(a) [Section 22 Subsection (3) amended by No. 32 of 2006, s. 11, Applied:18 Dec 2006] the chairperson or the Director or any person authorized in writing by the Director from communicating to the appropriate Minister or official of the Crown in right of the Commonwealth or of Tasmania or of any other State or Territory of the Commonwealth information which the Director considers should be communicated for the purpose of the administration of any law of the Commonwealth or of Tasmania or of such other State or of any Act; or

(b) any person referred to in that subsection, when called as a witness in a proceeding for an offence against this Act, from answering any question that he is compellable to answer in that proceeding.