106Limits on power to require information and documents

106 Limits on power to require information and documents

Excluded entities (1) A notice under subsection 104(1) must not require a person to give information or a document that is held by, or that originated with or was received from, an excluded entity. Public interest certificate (2) A notice under subsection 104(1) must not require a person to give information relating to a matter, or to give a document, specified in a certificate given to the Commissioner under subsection (3) of this section. (3) The Attorney‑General may give the Commissioner a certificate stating that, in the opinion of the Attorney‑General, giving information in relation to a specified matter, or giving a specified document, would be contrary to the public interest because it would do any of the following: (a) prejudice the security, defence or international relations of Australia; (b) involve the disclosure of communications between a Minister of the Commonwealth and a Minister of a State or Territory, being a disclosure that would prejudice relations between the Commonwealth government and the government of a State or Territory; (c) involve the disclosure of deliberations or decisions of the Cabinet or of a Committee of the Cabinet; (d) involve the disclosure of deliberations or advice of the Executive Council; (e) prejudice the conduct of an investigation or inquiry into crime or criminal activity that is currently being pursued, or prejudice the fair trial of any person; (f) disclose, or enable a person to ascertain, the existence or identity of a confidential source of information in relation to the enforcement of the criminal law; (g) prejudice the effectiveness of the operational methods or investigative practices or techniques of agencies responsible for the enforcement of the criminal law; (h) endanger the life or physical safety of any person. Parliamentary privilege (4) Nothing in section 104 affects the privileges and immunities of a House of the Parliament, a member of a House of the Parliament or a committee within the meaning of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987.