34Prohibition on disclosure of protected information

#### 34 Prohibition on disclosure of protected information Offence (1) A person commits an offence if: (a) the person is, or was at any time, an entrusted public official; and (b) the person has, or has at any time had, a duty, function or power under this Act; and (c) the person discloses information to another person; and (d) the information is protected information; and (e) the disclosure is not an authorised disclosure. Penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years or 120 penalty units, or both. Entrusted public official (2) Each of the following persons is an entrusted public official: (a) the Minister; (b) the Chief Executive Medicare; (c) the Secretary of a relevant Department; (d) an APS employee in a relevant Department; (e) a Departmental employee within the meaning of the Human Services (Medicare) Act 1973; (f) any other person employed or engaged by the Commonwealth to provide services to the Commonwealth in connection with a relevant Department or Services Australia; (g) any other person employed or engaged (however described) by a person described in paragraph (f) to provide services in connection with the services mentioned in that paragraph. Relevant Department (2A) For the purposes of this section, each of the following is a relevant Department: (a) the Department administered by the Minister who administers this Act; (b) the Department administered by the Minister who administers the Health Insurance Act 1973; (c) the Department administered by the Minister who administers the Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997; (d) the Department administered by the Minister who administers the Human Services (Medicare) Act 1973; (e) the Department administered by the Minister who administers the National Health Act 1953. Protected information (3) Information is protected information if the information relates to a person (including a deceased person) other than the person who obtained it and: (a) the information is obtained by a person in the course of performing duties or functions, or exercising powers, under this Act; or (b) the information was information to which paragraph (a) applied and is obtained by a person by way of an authorised disclosure under section 36. Authorised disclosure (4) A disclosure of information is an authorised disclosure if the disclosure is one that a person may make under section 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 41A or 41B.