48Privilege and secrecy

#### 48 Privilege and secrecy 48 Privilege and secrecy > > (1) In this clause, mediation session means a meeting arranged for the mediation of a claim and includes any steps taken in the course of making arrangements for the session or in the course of the follow-up of a session. > > > (2) Subject to subclause (3), the same privilege with respect to defamation as exists with respect to judicial proceedings and a document produced in judicial proceedings exists with respect to— > > > > > (a) a mediation session, or > > > > > (b) a document or other material sent to or produced to a mediator, or sent to or produced at the Tribunal or the office of the registrar, for the purpose of enabling a mediation session to be arranged. > > > (3) The privilege conferred by subclause (2) only extends to a publication made— > > > > > (a) at a mediation session, or > > > > > (b) as provided by subclause (2)(b), or > > > > > (c) as provided by subclause (7). > > > (4) Evidence of anything said or of any admission made in a mediation session is not admissible in any proceedings before any court, tribunal or body except as is otherwise specifically provided by this Part. > > > (5) Except as provided by this Part, a document prepared for the purposes of, or in the course of, or as a result of, a mediation session, or any copy of the document— > > > > > (a) is not admissible in evidence in any proceedings before any court, tribunal or body, and > > > > > (b) cannot be the subject of a subpoena issued in any proceedings before any court, tribunal or body. > > > (6) Subclauses (4) and (5) do not apply with respect to any evidence or document— > > > > > (a) if the persons in attendance at, or identified during, the mediation session and, in the case of a document, all persons identified in the document, consent to the admission of the evidence or document, or > > > > > (b) in proceedings instituted with respect to any act or omission in connection with which a disclosure has been made under subclause (7). > > > (7) A mediator may disclose information obtained in connection with the administration or execution of this Part only in any one or more of the following circumstances— > > > > > (a) with the consent of the person from whom the information was obtained, > > > > > (b) in connection with the administration or execution of this Part, > > > > > (c) if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure is necessary to prevent or minimise the danger of injury to any person or damage to any property, > > > > > (d) if the disclosure is reasonably required for the purpose of referring any party or parties to a mediation session to any person, agency, organisation or other body and the disclosure is made with the consent of the parties to the mediation session for the purpose of aiding in the resolution of a dispute between those parties or assisting the parties in any other manner, > > > > > (e) in accordance with a requirement imposed by or under a law of the State (other than a requirement imposed by a subpoena or other compulsory process) or the Commonwealth.