17Disclosure of expunged records

17 Disclosure of expunged records

(1)  Unless authorised by the Secretary under section 18 , a person with access to official criminal records must not directly or indirectly disclose any information about another person’s expunged charge, or expunged conviction, held in those records without the consent of that other person.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  Subsection (1) does not apply to –

(a) an archive or library, or an authorised officer of an archive or library, that makes available to a member of the public, or to another archive or library, under the normal procedures of the archive or library, material that is normally available for public use and that contains information about an expunged charge or expunged conviction; or

(b) the Secretary, or any person acting under the direction of the Secretary, in informing a data controller that holds information about an expunged charge or expunged conviction; or

(c) the Commissioner of Police, or any person acting under the direction of the Commissioner of Police, disclosing to the ACC, for incorporation into the police information sharing system known as the National Police Reference System or any system for the sharing of police information that replaces that system, the fact that a charge or a conviction has become an expunged charge or expunged conviction.

(3)  Subsection (1) does not apply to the disclosure of information if the disclosure is necessary for the purposes of this Act.

(4)  Subsection (1) does not apply to the disclosure of statistical or other information if the disclosure could not reasonably be expected to lead to the identification of any person to whom it relates.

(5)  It is a defence to a charge for an offence against subsection (1) to show that the defendant acted in good faith in the honest belief that –

(a) he or she had lawful authority to disclose the information; or

(b) the charge or conviction had not been expunged; or

(c) the person who made the application to have the charge expunged had consented to the disclosure of the information.