(1) The Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman must not disclose information obtained in connection with the administration or execution of this Act unless the disclosure is made as follows—
(a) for information obtained from a public authority—with the consent of—
(i) the head of the authority, or
(ii) the responsible Minister,
(b) for information obtained from another person—
(i) with the consent of the person, or
(ii) for proceedings relating to the discipline of police officers before the Commissioner of Police or the Industrial Relations Commission,
(c) for information relating to the safety, welfare or well-being of a child or young person—to a police officer, the Department of Communities and Justice or another public authority the Ombudsman considers appropriate in the circumstances,
(d) to a person, if the Ombudsman believes on reasonable grounds that—
(i) disclosure to the person is necessary to prevent or lessen the likelihood of harm being done to a person, and
(ii) there is a risk of harm, including self-harm, being done to a person,
(e) for proceedings under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, Part 5 arising as a consequence of a decision made by the Ombudsman in relation to an access application under that Act,
(f) for proceedings under the Police Act 1990, section 167A,
(h) for criminal proceedings resulting from an investigation under this Act, if the investigation related, whether or not entirely, to a matter referred by the Inspector of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission to the Ombudsman for investigation,
(i) for proceedings under or in relation to the following—
(i) this section or section 19A, 19B, 19C, 31H, 31R, 31U or 37,
(j) to a law enforcement agency for an inquiry or investigation to determine whether proceedings referred to in paragraph (i) should be commenced,
(k) to a medical practitioner or psychologist in relation to the provision of medical or psychiatric care, treatment or counselling, including psychological counselling, by the Ombudsman or an officer of the Ombudsman,
(ka) if the information is identifying information—for a reason specified in section 31Z(2),
(l) for information that relates or may relate to a breach of a law of the State, another State, the Commonwealth or a Territory—to a law enforcement agency,
(o) in connection with the administration or execution of this Act.
Maximum penalty—50 penalty units.
(2) Subsection (1) does not prevent the Ombudsman from disclosing information—
(a) to a person exercising functions under the law of another State, the Commonwealth or a Territory, which are similar to the functions exercised by the Ombudsman, if the Ombudsman is of the opinion the disclosure is appropriate, or
(b) about a decision made by the Ombudsman under section 13, 13AA, 13A or 15, including the commencement, progress, discontinuance or conclusion of an investigation, or
(c) to correct a public record about—
(i) an investigation under this Act, or
(ii) the exercise of a function of the Ombudsman.
(3) In this section—
identifying information has the same meaning as in section 31Z.
law enforcement agency means—
(a) the NSW Police Force, or
(b) a police force of another State or Territory, or
(c) the Australian Federal Police, or
(d) another authority or body responsible for the enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth or of the State or another State or Territory.
s 34: Am 1978 No 81, Sch 1 (3); 1983 No 189, Schs 1 (9), 2 (11); 1983 No 193, Sch 1 (10); 1984 No 153, Sch 16; 1990 No 48, Sch 1; 1990 No 79, Sch 1 (6); 1993 No 38, Sch 4; 1993 No 47, Sch 1; 1998 No 123, Sch 2.1 [1]; 2003 No 40, Sch 1.34 [3] [4]; 2004 No 55, Sch 1.15 [1] [2]; 2005 No 64, Sch 1.23 [1] [2]; 2009 No 54, Sch 2.33 [5]; 2010 No 54, Sch 3.8; 2013 No 65, Sch 3 [1]; 2015 No 58, Sch 3.66 [6]; 2016 No 61, Schs 6.35 [19] [20], 7.3 [4]; 2019 No 25, Sch 5.27[3]. Subst 2022 No 39, Sch 1[15]. Am 2022 No 14, Sch 5[3] (am 2022 No 39, Sch 3[1]) [10] (subst 2022 No 39, Sch 3[2]) [11] (subst 2022 No 39, Sch 3[2]) [11A] (ins 2022 No 39, Sch 3[2]) [12] (subst 2022 No 39, Sch 3[2]).