50Commissioner may make public statements

50  Commissioner may make public statements

 (1) Nothing in this Act prevents the Commissioner from:

 (a) disclosing information to the public; or

 (b) making a public statement;

about the performance of the Commissioner’s functions or exercise of the Commissioner’s powers, or an inquiry under Division 2 of Part 3, if, in the Commissioner’s opinion, doing so would be in the public interest.

 (2) In considering whether to disclose information or make a statement under subsection (1), the Commissioner must have regard to whether the information is, or the statement contains:

 (a) information relating to:

 (ii) a veteran’s lived experience with a suicide risk; or

 (b) information that is personal and private; or

 (c) operationally sensitive information; or

 (d) intelligence information.

 (3) In considering whether to disclose information or make a statement under subsection (1), the Commissioner must also have regard to whether the disclosure of that information, or the making of that statement, is likely to interfere with the conduct of inquiries under this Act or other contemporaneous inquiries.

Example: A contemporaneous inquiry conducted by the Inspector‑General of the Australian Defence Force under section 110C of the Defence Act 1903.

 (4) Before disclosing information or making a statement under subsection (1) that is critical (either expressly or impliedly) of a Commonwealth entity, an official of a Commonwealth entity or any other person, the Commissioner must give the head (however described) of the entity, the official or the person concerned, a reasonable opportunity to respond to the information or statement.